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PETA slams space scientists

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Wow.

PETA has pulled some questionable stunts in their time but this takes the dairy-free cake.

My cousin Muriel in Australia scanned this news article that appeared this morning in her local paper, The Porpoise Spit Bugle, and sent it over to me.

Have a read below, but the gist of the article is PETA’s attention-seeking stunt to have scientists rename the Milky Way.

Check it out and let me know how you feel about these type of publicity campaigns. Do they help or hinder our vegan cause?

People for the unethical treat of people

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Old quote from People for the ethical treat of animals:

PETA exists to stamp out oppression in all its forms. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Tonight in Washington D.C., People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals is hosting a black tie gala called Animals’ Party to honour people they say have done great work for animals.

Good for them right?

PETA can piss off.

One of those being honoured at the gala tonight is Dan Donovan, an elected official who is the current United States Representative for New York’s 11th congressional district.

I can only assume that Dan Donovan is being recognised by PETA due to his cosponsoring of a resolution to condemn the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China.

This recognition of Dan Donovan by the most visible animal rights group on the planet is such a hot mess of conflict, disregard and downright insult that I am not sure how to verbalise my protest.

Maybe bullet points will help me:

  • Dan Donovan cosponsoring a resolution against dog meat trade in China reeks of speciesism and imperialism. Dan is one of those non-vegans who think the good ol’ USA approach to animals is to kill billions of farm animals every year but worship domesticated pets such as dogs. I don’t see Dan standing up to argue against USA-centric laws and legislations that allow billions of animals to be mistreated. When people in the USA condemn China for being cruel but still consume and wear state-sanctioned animals themselves, it is hypocritical with racial overtones. I don’t think this sort of action is to be applauded. Chinese dogs are not more special than USA cows, chickens and pigs. I don’t think a non-vegan should be honoured by a vegan organisation for saving one type of animal while they do nothing for others. Especially when this is condemning a practice specific to a particular culture/s.
  • Dan Donovan voted to support the resolution to clear the way to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The ACA has undoubtedly given hope to millions of people who were otherwise left helpless when faced with serious illness or injury. Even though the GOP have no defined alternative to the ACA, the political party is aggressively moving forward with plans to dismantle it. I am distraught in the knowledge that an animal rights group is celebrating a politician who is active in the stripping away of healthcare provisions and protections for millions of at-risk humans.
  • Dan Donovan was the District Attorney who presided over the grand jury investigation into the death of Eric Garner at the hands of police. To say the failure of the jury to indict the officer involved was controversial is beyond an understatement. Donovan has been accused of not pushing hard enough to seek an indictment against the white officer who was filmed pushing the unarmed African-American Garner to the ground in a chokehold apparently for selling single cigarettes (pleas from Garner of “I can’t breathe” went ignored by the officer). Donovan has also been heavily criticised for not pursuing indictments against other officers involved in the death and for seemingly using race-baiting to drum up political support via an email newsletter. I am flummoxed as to why an animal rights group would overlook this contentious and upsetting history of a person they want to publicly recognise.
  • Dan Donovan has publicly stated he personally objects to same-sex marriage. Do you know what I would like to publicly state, PETA? I personally object to an animal rights group recognising a human who announces homophobic and discriminatory viewpoints directed at me and my community.
  • Dan Donovan voted in favour of the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015. This callous and opportunistic vote is another clear example of how US politicians work overtime to control the choices of women and the bodies of women. I am deeply saddened that an animal rights organisation would what to honour a politician with such little respect for the rights of women to exercise self-management of their bodies, lives and futures.

I could go on for a while, but I think you catch my drift.

PETA. It is not enough to care about dogs. A person shouldn’t be heralded as an animal rights champion in front of celebrities and dignitaries during an expensive gala event in Washington D.C. because they simply signed their name to a speciesist and arguably racially-driven resolution.

PETA. You have a grave responsibility to protect and champion the rights of humans as well as animals. Millions of people look to you as a voice of compassion and honouring a known homophobe, anti-choice politician who holds beyond dubious records when it comes to the protection of black people is an abomination and severe mark against your legacy.

PETA. Your celebration of Dan Donovan hurts people of colour, women and members of the LGBT community.

PETA. I call on you to rescind your honouring of Dan Donovan for all of the reasons listed above. You cannot build a kind and compassionate world for animals while you lift up those who work hard to diminish people of colour, women and members of the LGBT community.

People for the unethical treatment of people

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I’m torn.

Do I write ANOTHER blog post about People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) following ANOTHER appalling social media post by the group or do I ignore it?

Does using my platform to denounce and shine a light on the sexist and anti-women tactics employed by PeTA make a difference? Or am I just giving them more attention?

All I know is that it doesn’t feel right to sit around and say nothing. Not responding to this latest social media atrocity makes me feel culpable.

Therefore, I thoroughly denounce and reject this recent tweet by PeTA.


As you can see, PeTA has taken the despicable phrase spoken by Donald Trump as part of his description of how he physically treats women and they’ve attempted to turn it into a humorous slogan for rescuing cats.

This is a crass and insensitive campaign by PeTA.

By attempting to appropriate the vile language of sexual assault for the sake of making a joke statement about animal protection, PeTA has trivialised the plight of women.

Language surrounding sexual assault and harassment of women IS NOT theirs to reappropriate for another cause, no matter how noble that cause is deemed. Their actions are unethical, inconsiderate, ill-advised and show absolutely no respect for survivors of sexual assault.

The act of raising awareness for animal protection does not need to borrow language associated with human forms of oppression, nor does it have the right to do so.

PeTA knowingly uses these tactics to be provocative with zero concern shown for how their actions affect real people. They do not seem to understand or care that their actions are part of a broader problem.

The animal rights organisation has erased women from the situation, only to replace them with cats. They are showing no regard for the gravity of sexual assault, instead reducing it to a punchline meme to grab cheap and quick attention for their campaign.

Animal rights defenders need to do better when it comes to campaigning ethically. PeTA are amongst the worst offenders when it comes to humiliating, erasing and ridiculing people in the name of animal protection. It needs to end.

Women are under attack globally, both physically and institutionally. PeTA should accept that they have a responsibility to not only stop contributing to the subjugation of women, but to also work towards redressing it actively.

I sigh heavily in closing. How do we reach them? PeTA‘s actions are not in my name and I must make that heard. It’s the very least I can do.

Please tweet your concerns to PeTA.

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PeTA moves on to penis size shaming

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I almost can’t believe I’m writing this post.

After offending people on the grounds of their weight, sexuality, personal gender identity and a myriad of identifiable traits, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) have moved on to ridiculing penis size in their campaign to improve outcomes for animals.

See the screen grab from their Twitter account below.

dick small

I suppose I will start by saying that there is nothing wrong with alerting people to the fact that chemicals in food stuffs can affect the development of their child’s genitals.

I think that is an important public service announcement to share.

So why do I have a problem with this campaign?

The campaign is built around the idea that having a bigger penis is better. The second tweet actually reads ‘your son deserves better’. A ‘big’ penis is a reality for some people, an average sized penis is a reality for the majority of people and a penis considered smaller is the reality for some people.

Just like their fat-shaming campaigns, PeTA are ridiculing the idea of people who are not considered to have the best physical attributes. They are not simply saying the chemicals in chicken can harm genital development, they are ridiculing the idea of a person having a smaller penis.

Body shapes come in all different sizes and for many different reasons. PeTA should not exclusively link eating vegan with having the idealised body shape. Neither should they exploit entrenched and damaging social norms about penis size to champion the vegan cause. Not every small penis on the planet is chicken induced and to try and perpetuate the shame and embarrassment felt by people who do have small penises (for whatever reason) is irresponsible, damaging and hurtful.

Don’t even get me started on the fucking sick use of crying babies next to the repeated terminology ‘small dick’.

I am really, really, really fucking tired of PeTA trying to make people feel shit about themselves or fearful of not being the best human specimen. Get a fucking grip, PeTA. Save animals without attacking the self-esteem and emotional wellbeing of humans.

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Dulce María

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Estoy tan feliz que mi favorita pop star Mexicana, Dulce María, está hablando sobre elefantes. Comparten con sus amigos hispanohablantes.

I am very happy that my favourite Mexican pop star, Dulce María, is speaking about elephants. Share with your Spanish-speaking friends.

Y ahora una musica.

And now some music.

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Oppression takes many forms

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In the aftermath of the horrendous murders at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, the UK arm of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) published a statement that in part said:

Violence is a social issue, and violence to animals and human beings are interlinked. Yesterday’s losses are being felt by all compassionate people, including those who stand for animal rights. We at PETA stand with Charlie Hebdo in rejecting oppression and violence in all its forms.

I applaud PETA for making this statement but also challenge them to stand by these words in relation to their own campaigns. Reject oppression and violence in all its forms.

PETA, do you understand how your representations of unrealistic body shapes can contribute to unhappiness, depression and feelings of alienation for individuals and whole sections of society?

The projection of a slim body type as the ideal is insulting, unrealistic, hurtful and alienating for tens of millions of vegan activists who do not look like this.

Your campaign images designed to ridicule and shame millions of humans are a form of oppression and violence.

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Proposed bus advert from PETA UK
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Design used for PETA billboard

PETA, do you see a correlation between hyper sexualisation of women in your campaigns and wider media and the normalisation of the commodification of women in the real world, as well as the staggering amount of physical and sexual violence perpetuated against women?

Your campaigns utilising images of women in sexually compromising situations are perpetuating oppression and violence.

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Recent PETA billboard in UK

PETA, are you aware that countless vegan activists want you to stop using sexist, exploitative, body shaming and divisive tactics in your campaigns?

Here are some words from just two of those activists:

“Overall I agree with PETA’s mission wholeheartedly, but I think their often sexist and fat-shaming campaigns cross the line of decency and detract from the AR message that they’re trying to promote.” – Quarrygirl.com

“PETA’s sexist, racist, and body-shaming campaigns do the opposite of spread compassion. Knock it off, nerds.” – Laura Beck, Vegansaurus.com

PETA, did you know that potentially millions of people want to join you in your fight for animals but not at the expense of other social justice issues?

Here are some thoughts on our fight for social justice.

Yes, we know you are desperately racing to stop cruelty to non-human animals.

We are too.

But we are also in a desperate race to stop violence against women. We are in a desperate race to stop debilitating and crippling self-esteem issues. We are in a desperate race to stop body shaming. We are in a desperate race to stop the normalisation of alienating humans based on their appearance. We are millions of people strong and we want to stand beside PETA but are currently unable. We want to stop all kinds of violence, subjugation and perpetuation of negativity.

We know there are individuals within PETA that agree with this sentiment. Please stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our request. You are not losing anything by rejecting outdated campaigns that perpetuate harm to people. You will be gaining millions of supporters who are more than willing to fight alongside you in your quest to end animal exploitation and suffering.

We are committed to improving outcomes for animals and humans alike.

Veganism is an extension of the fight for social justice, not a reason to suspend it.

To repeat the quote from the PETA statement: reject oppression and violence in all its forms.

If you are reading this and would like to see PETA put a stop to sexist and body-shaming campaigns, please voice your feelings in the comments below and share this story with PETA USA and PETA UK via Twitter.

Extra note: this is not an attack to diminish the crucial work PETA has carried out for decades in the name of compassion. You can support the important work they do without supporting some of their tactics. In fact, it is the voices of PETA supporters and campaigners that are most needed when it comes to this issue.

Vegan art competition

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You London vegans are so greedy.

You are not satisfied with being able to eat vegan fish and chips in multiple locations. Having a vegan beer festival doesn’t seem to quieten you. Two huge monthly parties in the shape of London Vegan Drinks and London Vegan Potluck leave you wanting more events. More vegan cake companies than you can keep track of isn’t enough.

OK. Let’s see if this scratches that vegan itch.

Announcing a vegan art competition!

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