PeTA BS

To be honest, I'm not real familiar with Penn and Teller. I've heard the names, many times to be sure, but I had never seen what either of them looked like, or sounded like. My first exposure to them was a video I found entitled, "Bulls**t."



I watched it because it had to do with radical animal rights terrorist group PeTA. You don't have to know me for long, to learn that I am not an animal rights freak. Rights? Like, to vote? To bear arms? To freedom of the press? Not for critters.

Now, I totally support animal welfare. Because I'm anti-AR does not mean I am pro-torture, or pro-bullfighting, or pro-cockfighting. I believe in treating animals humanely. But that doesn't mean I believe that my dog has the right to run free without collar or leash, or that my horse has the right to not be ridden on quiet trails in the woods. I don't think the neighbor's cow has the right to live a long life of luxury and never be a cheeseburger. I believe she should be treated humanely and slaughtered quickly. I don't think a deer has the right to eat all of the field corn it wants and never become venison sausage.

I did quite a bit of research on the Humane Society of the United States recently, given their opposition to hunting. I support my neighbor's right to hunt and eat whatever legal game he chooses, whether it is a cute animal or not. Although HSUS comes off as a more mainstream, animal welfare group, the words of its leaders paint a more vivid and realistic picture. They share the same ideals as PeTA: no meat, no milk or eggs, no leather or wool, no animal use at all, not even pets. HSUS is not the same as your local animal shelter, which probably gives a damn about the animals. They don't run any animal shelters. They are a political group. They oppose stronger penalities for domestic terrorism. They support legislation that cripples many small family farms.

Your right to swing your arm, ends at my face

I would never expect someone to blindly believe everything I say. So do some research. Read what both sides have to say about the other. If after all of that, you decide you want to be a vegan, you have my blessing. All I ask is that you don't try to make ME become a vegan too. I respect your rights, even though I may not agree with your lifestyle. Afford me the same. (Don't worry, I won't try to make you like venison. More for me.)