Well said Cheryl  I gave up on PETA years ago when if any one remember the
Florida keys 3 toed deer.  Well PETA go in front of the hunters to stop the
"slaughter".  What was going on was the deer had have an explosion of
population almost 12 to 1 for their feeding area and had been infected by a
worm that interfered with digestion plus higher water levels meant no food.
The government  did a special hunting term.  Well PETA in their wisdom even
after their own people told them that the deer were starving to death and
all that could be saved had been.  They got their high and mighty butts out
in front of the hunters.  Some were stupid enough to wear antlers and dress
in deer suits; a few were shot by mistake and most were arrested for not
wearing orange in an hunting area.  They did their job the deer were saved
till they died of starvation from being eaten alive by worms.  The wildlife
were walking around and having to shot the deer that were dying at their
feet 80% of the population was lost while the government figured at least
40% of the pop would have been saved with the hunting term.   The government
had put food out but still was not enough  PETA never once brought food in
or tried to move the deer.  They just had to show off for the camera and
helped cause a species to be on the endangered list.  One of PETA finest
moments that was the day PETA was taken off my charity list.  Their response
to the situation was that they made a mistake but they were doing it for all
the right reasons.

The bottom line, in my opinion! It's sad to see, but that's how it is,
and we have to live with it. We live on the food chain, too.

I don't have a problem with a political approach per se - in fact I think
that in the long run, groups that work toward more far-reaching social
change ultimately do more good for the most animals than those who
work with individual animals. **Which is not to say that people who work
in rescue, or do veterinary work, or any other work involving specific
animals, aren't doing good.** In fact, I myself am best at working with
individuals, and greatly prefer that over political work, but that's due
to what works for my personality, rather than because of my ideals. I
respect the work of political organizations that reflect my own beliefs
(or those that are compatible with my beliefs). I just hate doing the
actual tasks of political work, as important as I think it is. So I do
what I do best, and I'm glad there are others who like the work I hate. :)

The reason I can't stand PETA has little to do with their "radicalism".
I have a great deal of respect for many radical ideas, and for people
who put those ideas into practice. Many radicals are responsible for
stepping beyond the bounds of ordinary society and spearheading changes
that we now take for granted. But not all radical ideas are good ideas...
and I think PETA took a detour a long time ago into an emotionally
twisted, illogical set of "principles" - such as they are. I mean, they
oppose the keeping of pets... so take it from there.

Joyce

I have no qualms about eating something if 1. you hunt and kill it
yourself with a minimum of suffering possible in order to eat it or use
its hide  2.  it is raised in a way that gives it a decent life and a
clean, quick death without pumping it full of drugs, hormones, or other
unnatural things (such as putting ground up cattle bones in cattle
feed).

I do have ethical issues with cage raised chickens and so I buy meat
and eggs from free-range chickens.

PETA is too radical for me.  I prefer to concentrate my attention on
the importance of speuter, combatting animal abuse and caring for
strays rather than crusading against someone who likes venison.

--Fil

How can you ensure that your dinner had a quick and relatively painless
death, unless you are in the slaughterhouse to witness it?  Not to
mention the cruelty of battery farming, I think in these days of mass
production, you can never be sure of that.

I don't support PETA any more, as they aren't radical enough for me,
and I think they waste too much money on publicity.  I prefer to work
with local groups here in the UK, such as a group that campaigns/does
actions to get rid of the fur trade which IMO has no place in this any
more in a so-called civilised world.  I've been a vegetarian for about
15 years now, I did it because of factory farming methods, which
sickened me - and I probably wouldn't want to hunt or fish for my food
now as I don't really feel the need to eat it any more, but I think
hunter/gatherer is the only way I would eat it (if I absolutely had no
choice for survival).

Just my 2 pence worth.

Marcia