October 2 is Gandhi’s birthday, which the animal rights movement has apparently appropriated in order to celebrate “emancipation day for our bovine brothers and sisters,” or some such thing. And you know how much love I have in my heart for the animal rights movement. So I thought I ought to find something worthy of the occasion.
This one’s a thinker, so bear with me.
PETA has a strict no-fur policy. Look at the group’s zany website and scroll down under “Why animal rights?” — It says “Animals Are Not Ours To Wear.” Simple enough. I don’t agree with that (I’m wearing at least two or three right now!), but I understand it. Totally unambiguous.
But now PETA has announced that it’s been collecting fur coats from indignant activists — or, presumably, from brainless ass-tards who suddenly realized in horror that the chinchilla isn’t an organic fiber grown in the Amazon rainforest — and donating them to an African charity:
If an animal’s skin has already been stolen from its rightful owner, how can you make the best of an awful situation? By giving the skin to charity!
Recently, PETA Europe donated around 100 fur coats and leather and wool items to the charity Let’s Help Africa in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The charity then took the coats into the freezing mountains of Lesotho and gave them to needy farmers and poor herd boys. Even when the temperature plummets to below freezing, these folks have no choice but to spend their days working outside.
PETA-approved fur-wearers! We found them!
So let me get this straight. Someone in Lesotho (yes, I had to look it up…) wants a fur coat because they live in a cold climate. They didn’t kill the animals to make the garment. They didn’t buy the coat. In fact, the coat may have been made and purchased years or even decades ago. They didn’t ask for it. Someone just gave it to them. Not only does PETA say that’s okay, but the group makes it happen and then proudly blogs about it.
But if some poor schlub in New York City wants to give his grandmother’s mink to his fiancée as an engagement gift, or if (heaven forbid) some working stiff in Finland or Russia wants to save up for a year and buy a fur coat (even a second-hand one) to give his wife, PETA has the recipient of that little gift practically marked for death. Or at least a little spray paint and public humiliation.
Has PETA just made a massive strategic blunder? Or are they really that hypocritical? If some people can morally wear fur, then why can’t the rest of us? Is this a Breakfast Club moment? (John Bender: “How come Andrew gets to get up? If he gets up, we’ll all get up, It’ll be anarchy!”) Those under 30, ask your parents…
By the way, PETA in the United States claims it’s also giving fur coats to an American charity called the Human Relief Organization, which then sends them to a Nigerian group called Igbo Common Causes. Honestly, I’m skeptical, since the purported “thank you” letter from Igbo misspells both “causes” and “Nigeria.” You be the judge.
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The idiocy is astounding.
I think you might be missing the point. I am by no means pro-Peta, but even they don’t see the rationality in destroying fur coats (that animals have already died for) when there is some genuine good they could be user for.
Just saying, not everything they do has to be terrible.
Geez. As if things weren’t bad enough in Africa. What with the rouge elephant attacks, getting eaten all over the place, having to fight civil wars in nothing but sweat pants, and baseball hats, and getting jumped and poisoned by venomous wild ivy, they gotta deal with condescending peta hippies now too?
Hey. Remember those furry “Wookie” boots from the late 70’s? Weren’t those stupid?
Buying fur causes a demand for it, I think that is the core of PETAs argument. They’re just putting (already exsisting) furs to good use instead of dumping them into a landfill somewhere.
Usually I agree with your view on the hypocrisy that is PETA but this time not so much.
A point you missed, they are giving the coats to herd boys. So in fact they are giving fur to folks that make thier living exploiting animals.
Yikes… I don’t get some PeTA members… Obviously dead animal clothes aren’t any less dead animals because you give them to charity.
You’d think this would be a smoking gun for their own hypocrisy, but even at their most inconsistent, people come to defend them!
Will they start giving away disease-ridden lab rats as pets for third-world children?
Will they start donating liberated McDonald’s factory cattle to impoverised farmers in India?
Are they going to start distributing “I’d rather be naked than wear fur” leaflets throughout Saudi Arabia?
It’s not a question of whether or not it’s good to give away things like fur coats and what-have-you (though you’d imagine people in colder climates could use them the most, but I digress…) but it’s a question of whether this is in any way consistent with PETA’s philosophy. The answer is a big red NO!
I agree that this isn’t necessarily hypocritical. BUT don’t forget, they’re also against helper animals. So their “charity” is selective.
I think the problem is the people who pay attention to PETA ,if you pay for a fur coat why are you giving it to PETA ???the animal is already dead and the money is gone, your going to end up whit no money ,cold and not really Chic LOL
The problem is that if I wear a fur coat that once belonged to my grandmother, I would get red paint thrown on me by these retards. But it’s okay for that same fur coat to go to someone in need? Hey, I’m all for helping those in need, whether fur is involved or not, but the logic here is ridiculous, especially coming from a group who would rather see children die than have animals tested in search of a cure for the diseases killing them.
You can’t make this stuff up! What’s the difference to the animal if some herd boy in Africa wears a mink instead of a woman in Minneapolis? I guess to PETArds, there’s an answer in there somewhere.
BTW, I think the Humane Society or some other less moonbatty animal welfare organization will take fur coats relinquished by people who decide they don’t want to wear fur anymore and use those as bedding for orphaned animals. Apparently, it makes them feel better or something.
doesn’t PETA also say its tax deductible to donate your fur coats??
PETA makes it so easy for people to hate them. I personally LOVE to hate PETA. They are a living joke. Their “fearless” leader says it’s okay for her to use an animal byproduct to live but no one else should. I wonder how many people on their staff use any sort of hormone therapy (including birth control).
They aren’t doing the animals any favors. These animals will not thank them in the end. They will eat them. The ones that don’t eat them will likely stomp them to death. Animals respect the food chain and so should people.
That is not to say that animals shouldn’t be treated with respect (which of course they often aren’t), but people should not be bullied into changing their way of life. If they really wanted to help animals they would be trying to change animal cruetly laws in the cities and towns, not spending money on ads with people who can not stick to their convictions or have no idea what they are talking about. Not only that but they put the lives of animals before the lives of people. A bear isn’t going to put your life before his when he is hungry. He will eat you and feel no guilt, remorse or anything but full and maybe a little sleepy.
Oh and the whole helper pet thing makes me sick. I read an article on PETA that said that people don’t need helper animals. The example the writer gave was one of his own. He had been hurt in an accident and said he was out for 3 months. He said he had friends and family help him get by. His thinking (totally backwards)was that if he did three months without mobility, and his family and friends helped, he could see no reason for helper pets. That’s the kind of thinking I don’t understand. How can someone compair three months to a life time of disability? Having helper pets gives those people dignity and friendship, instead of making them a burden on their family and friends.
Sorry for the rant. I just hate PETA so much!
No helper animals? Next thing you know, our friends at PETA will mount a campaign saying any kind of animal domestication is unethical, and start “liberating” pets and livestock.
Those African shepherds might not have a livelihood, but hey, they’ll have their donated fur coats…
I was under the impression they’ve been doing that for years.
Someone with better knowledge out there — help us out.
The fur makes them look glamorous.
“some working stiff in Finland or Russia wants to save up for a year and buy a fur coat (even a second-hand one) to give his wife, PETA has the recipient of that little gift practically marked for death. Or at least a little spray paint and public humiliation.”
Why would anyone buy a fur in Finland? Its not that fucking cold in there now a days, and Finnish people dont like furs. And save for a year to buy a bloody fur? Are you out of your mind. Finland is one of the richest IT-technology countries in the world – so we dont have polar bears walking up on the streets.
So get your facts together and next time blame those russians for being into fur and etc.
Finnish people -> IT-people, Nokia, Wipro, ENZO, UPM-KYMMENE (enzo and upm are the worlds largets forest industry companies in the whole wide world.).
Russians -> Vodka?
To those who want to talk about their grandma’s fur coat or whatever. First of all, when have you ever seen red paint being thrown on someone in fur or leather? I mean SEEN IT with your eyes, not read about it, not heard about it. You’re talking about extremist action, that’s like saying all Muslims are terrorists because you’re read about a few that are.
But, the difference between YOU wearing your grandma’s fur coat on the street, and giving it to these poor people in Africa is this: When YOU’RE wearing the coat, you’re perpetuating an industry. Ever seen an item you liked on someone & then bought one that was similar? I know I have. So you wear grandma’s coat, she sees it & goes & buys one similar. Only its new. So more animals have died, not less.
Instead, you give it to these herders. Okay, someone says “But they’re animal exploiters”… Again, sorry we’re not as extreme as you’d like us to be, but we’re not concerned with taking away the livelihood of people in Africa that are practically starving as it is. First let’s handle the bloated over-fed Americans who are perpetuating the corporate meat industry!
This actually sounds like a good business opportunity for someone. If I were a cold, impoverished goatherd, I think I’d much rather have a decent, warm, inexpensive coat, plus $100, than a $2000 fur that’s (probably) neither as warm nor as water-resistant, nor as durable.
Someone could be buying those things off them and shipping them back to the U.S. or wherever to sell.
I love eating animals! I also love skinning them and selling them for high prices. Thats basically how I make a living and how I keep the cat population in my neighborhood at bay. Running animals over in my truck at high speeds is also a hobby of mine.
People
Eat
Tasty
Animals
Okay…I just received my grandmother’s absolutely gorgeous, teal-coloured, 100% wool coat…and it has an attached rabbit fur collar. It’s 25 yrs old and it is in perfect condition. I was only able to meet my grandmother once in my entire life, as I was adopted and only found my birth family last year. Two weeks after I met her, she died. The rest of the family feels that, altho she was in very poor health and they didn’t expect her to live thru the summer, that when she heard that I’d found my parents, she held on long enough to be able to meet myself and my children. I absolutely cherish that coat and I WILL be wearing it. Let the first person walk up to me and say anything and they might become a coat themselves!!!
BTW…I AM a hippie, but I’m not an extremist. I was raised on a farm and I eat meat. As such, I support small farmers, but do see the evils of the more commercial farms. I have seen firsthand just about every type of farm animal you could imagine being slaughtered, so I know what’s involved. As such, I know that every part of those animals that was able to be harvested, was. I don’t believe in only using an animal for non-sustenance reasons, nor do I approve of any type of sport hunting. I love my animals and I love the Earth, but I’m not naive enough to think that we can change our biology to something we’re not supposed to be.
Human beings were made to eat meat…sorry, but if we weren’t our bodies would not process it. Our bodies were NOT however made to process grains and we weren’t really made to process milk past infancy. Mother’s milk…not cows!
But I digress…
Basically, I’ll be wearing my grandmother’s coat with pride…probably while eating a nice, roast lamb…mmmm, tasty baby sheep.