Extremists In Action

Wow, what can you say about PETA? The group whose leader famously said, “Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we’d be against it” is at it again. This time it’s launched an anti-fishing campaign targeted at kids. And the content is nothing short of ridiculous.

Now I know, that’s the game PETA plays-be as ridiculous and over the top as possible in order to get media coverage and raise money. Oh and along the way they try to influence people to become vegans. In this case its ridiculous and over the top antics have activists protesting outside elementary schools in hopes that little kids will join the anti-fishing cause.

PETA’s kid oriented Web site that accompanies the effort comes complete with a “bedtime stories” section where one fish (and fish are renamed sea kittens by the way) becomes “bitter and insane” and “spends her days plotting revenge against the land kittens who live such happy lives in comfortable homes free from the terror of being eaten.”

Not even PETA would argue that they aren’t extremists.

But I guess it really was high time for another publicity stunt. You see, the last time PETA made any real headlines was over the summer when two of its employees were charged with animal cruelty, of all things, after they were found dumping dead dogs and cats in a shopping center garbage bin. Now that can’t be good for business.

So how offensive is this latest effort? Well the fact that it targets unsuspecting children is pretty low, but let’s remember this is the same group that brought us an animal rights campaign called “Holocaust on Your Plate” that sought to compare the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis during World War II to eating beef and chicken. With that in mind almost nothing PETA does surprises me anymore.