PETA Schmeta

Charles, at Liminality, wrote an excellent post on hate mail. Coincidentally, I wrote a not so nearly eloquent one on hate comments just last week.

The reason that Charles recieved the hate mail was because of a post he'd written a long time ago about another blogger's response toward dogs in his neigbourhood. Let's link it up, the original post inspiring the hate mail is here, and its follow-up is here.. Read those, (I recommend them, as they're excellently written) and you'll know what I'm about to talk about.

I've been thinking about what I read from Charles for a couple days now. It couldn't have been more timely, as with having witnessed a village where they butcher dogs first hand (here) and stewing in my own thoughts about the subject, I'm just about boiling. But not in an angry way, as "boiling" might imply. I think I mean that I'm ready to try to get off the stove.

I recently read an article about Beyonce being "attacked" by PETA members for having taped a baby alligators mouth shut during a photo shoot. That BITCH! Taping up an alligator's mouth. How DARE she! (Fume, fume,....ahhh puh-lease.) When I read that article, I have to admit - I rolled my eyes at PETA while wanting to wag my finger at Beyonce for not making some kind of delicious alligator soup. Yah, PETA, EAT IT! The article I read (not the one linked) noted another PETA protest of P-Diddy having penguins at one of his parties. Poor Artic seeking penguins. They were scared out of their ice loving minds. Turns out, the penguins were of the warm weather inclined kind and trained for entertainment. But still, how DARE P-Diddy exploit helpless penguins (and again) blah blah blah.

I thought about the dog I'd seen hanging in a window, and the many other dogs hanging in coolers nearby. I thought about the dogs and many other animals I would, by my Western sensibilities, consider cruelly treated. Where the hell is PETA? Oh, I figured out, reading the gossip columns, they're busy condemning movie stars. I'll guess they're doing some good work in other areas, but their persistient persual of the high glamour, high profile, bullshit cases makes them seem desperate.

PETA SCHMETA.

The essay written at Liminality, (and here's where I urge you to go read it, if you haven't already, raises a whole host of other issues. I won't bother commenting on his "hate mail," it is what it is, and Charles responds wonderfully to it. What I've been thinking about are the posts which started it all.

When I read Shawn's post alluding to the fact he'd set captive dogs free, I too wondered what had become of them. Were they better off? My mentality matched Shawn's at the time. "Poor dogs! Thoghtless owners! Yay, liberation!" That is surely an understandable response. But is it the right one?

Let's explore this tomorrow.
My eyes are rolling in back of me head, and Kamikaze hasn't been fed for more thn 12 hours. Quick,...someone call PETA to protest me.

I will expand tomorrow.