http://www.washingtontimes.com/comme...5338-5284r.htm


Behind PETA's lettuce curtain

By Bob Barr
July 23, 2005

Here's what the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wanted you
to see this week: two Playboy Playmates -- clad only in lettuce --
handing out vegetarian hot dogs on Capitol Hill Wednesday as cameras
clicked away.
Here's what PETA didn't want you to see: two PETA employees
attending a court hearing Tuesday in North Carolina on charges they
killed and dumped 31 cats and dogs in a shopping center's trash bins.
While the court case is pending, the controversy swirling around PETA
and associated animal rights extremists, is again Page One news.
Veterinarian clinics and animal shelters turned the pets over to
PETA in hopes they could be adopted. Instead, they were killed by an
organization dedicated to "ethical" treatment of animals.
It's just another example of the misguided agenda, and hypocrisy, of
the animal rights movement. It's a campaign that affects not only PETA
and its supporters, but hurts each and every one of us.
In our 21st-century world of wonder drugs and lightning-fast
advances in medical technology, we live longer, healthier lives than
ever. Every day, researchers in hospitals, universities and -- yes --
private corporations like pharmaceutical companies, come closer and
closer to curing, or at least postponing death from, such scourges as
cancer, heart disease, diabetes and mental illness. Like it or not, much
of this progress is achieved by testing cures on animals and not because
the men and women working for such companies are cruel people. They do
this because they view life as precious, devote their professional lives
to preserve it, and because federal law mandates and regulates it.
On the other hand, we have the extreme wing of the animal rights
movement, often operating behind the shield of its more recognized
visage -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA. These
folks believe there can never be any justification for animal testing.
If achieving their goal means humans must suffer, then inflicting
needless pain, trauma, grief and death on people is merely a necessary
means to a worthwhile end. And, a report by the Anti-Defamation League
-- hardly a bastion of extreme conservatism -- says radical
environmental and animal-rights groups have wreaked more than $100
million in damage over the past two decades.
I'll begin with a disclaimer. I like animals. Playing fetch with our
chocolate Lab or watching her frolic with our grandchildren are
activities I enjoy greatly. That said, I also love people. As ethical
and moral creatures, we have a responsibility to care for and show
compassion for all creatures of the Earth. But we also have a duty to
protect our fellow human beings, which includes working to find cures
for pain, suffering and disease.
However, to extreme animal-rights advocates, researchers who work to
this end are not brave scientists fighting to cure disease, but greedy
degenerates who cut corners and torture animals for little or no public
benefit.
To show how wildly inaccurate these assumptions are, let's review
some facts. First, research labs using animals are extensively
regulated. Agencies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the
National Institutes of Health regularly conduct surprise site visits,
and no lab director would risk losing funding -- or subjecting
themselves to possible criminal jeopardy -- by flunking an inspection.
Further, major labs employ licensed veterinarians to safeguard the
animals' health.
Another argument often bandied about by animal-rights activists over
a decaf latte in a "Fair Trade" coffee shop turns on the ludicrous claim
animal research makes no real contribution to saving lives. Examples to
the contrary could fill an encyclopedia, but let's look at just one --
diabetes.
Before scientists discovered insulin treatments, there was little
more they could do for severe diabetics than send them home to die.
However, by injecting animals with insulin, they learned to manage the
disease, greatly enhancing quality of life and saving an immeasurable
number of human lives. Ironically, that same knowledge now allows pets
to receive insulin injections, saving the lives of dogs and other
domesticated animals.
Given this reality, there can only be one argument from animal-
rights activists: Human lives are worth less than animal lives. If you
don't believe the animal rights movement's radical fringes actually
think this way, look at what they actually do.