Who could be far more prolific at killing dogs than Michael Vick? Try PETA

Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick has a new book out called Finally Free, which suggests that he has been living in a world of illusion. His book-signing tour has been cancelled, thanks to various death threats. The crimes Vick has been accused in regard to a dog-fighting ring are indeed repulsive (like hanging dogs that didn’t “perform”), but although he spent time in jail for that, some people apparently feel that pet species are next to humans in the evolutionary line—unlike, say, cows and chickens. But the anonymous people who threaten Vick with various forms of violent retribution, whether out of “legitimate” anger over what he did or used as an excuse by bigots to express themselves in a more “acceptable” context, don’t exactly have clean hands either way.

There are some people in the animal rights movement who have commendable motives, but one might question that of others. Every time I walk past the Regional Animal Services facility in Kent, I always get the impression that the people there who take an “interest” in me view me as a threat to their charges, or at least more an “animal” than the dogs and cats in the facility. The curious thing about this is that it wasn’t that long ago that this very same facility was cited as a bastion of animal cruelty. The same can be said about the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Ingrid Newkirk, the organization’s president, has in the past made statements that question her sanity; she seems to be one of those people who is more comfortable with animals than people, combining the kind of misanthropy and unnatural psychological connection that Dian Fossey was accused of having with her gorillas. 

Newkirk’s disdain for humans has caused her to remark that she is “opposed to having children” because “Having a purebred human baby is like having a purebred dog; it’s nothing but vanity, human vanity.” She also put chickens on the same level with Holocaust victims.  No doubt she has influenced a great many
susceptible minds to her particular brand of propaganda. Take for instance a billboard sponsored by PETA that depicts a shark with a human leg sticking out of its mouth, with the caption "Payback is Hell." I suppose it is too much to expect these people to see the irony in this; sharks and other carnivores feed on other animals, and usually in much more gruesome ways than humans.

All of this could be accepted as the usual bluster of advocates, save for one minor detail. PETA is far, far worse than Vick ever was, or could be. PETA has animal shelters across the country, but if its Virginia facilities is any example, it is a horror worse than anything it has accused others of being. According to state records, since 1998 PETA has received 33,658 dogs, cats and other animals; of those, 29,938 have been “euthanized.” In 2012, 1,675 of 1877 pets were euthanized, and at the end of the year PETA only reported one animal “on hand” at its facilities; in justification, PETA refers to this sleep-induced slaughter more “ethical” than other methods. If Newkirk has any explanation for this, it would likely be along the lines of “Pets are nothing but vanity, pure vanity.”

PETA, of course, isn’t the only “animal-loving” organization guilty of massive hypocrisy, and while we can judge Michael Vick harshly, no one is really innocent—not even the “animal lovers.”