“WEIRD” PETA CAMPAIGN OFFENDS INFERTILE COUPLES
Leave it to those crazy animal rights radicals at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) to find a way to offend yet another group of rational Americans. This time it’s people struggling to have children.
The Toronto Sun recently reported in its “Weird News” column that PeTA is offering a free vasectomy to “one lucky man (who) can be reproduction-free, free of charge” if the winner can prove his pet was neutered after March 29.
The bizarre contest is “in honor of National Infertility Awareness Week,” which begins April 24. PeTA highlighted the promotion on its website, and included a link to the week’s sponsor, the National Infertility Association (NIA).
Linking human infertility with the neutering of pets didn’t sit well with the NIA and thousands of families affected by infertility. Through its website, www.resolve.org, the advocacy group immediately protested the insensitive vasectomy promotion as a “trivialization” of infertility, a disease that affects approximately ten percent of the U.S. population.
In its online promotion of the contest, PeTA drew a parallel between pet over-population and the “human population crowding out animal life on the planet.” Here’s an excerpt from the web text:
“Every year in the U.S., an estimated 6 to 8 million lost, abandoned, or unwanted dogs and cats enter animal shelters. The best way to combat the companion-animal overpopulation crisis is to have your cat or dog neutered. And with a global population of almost 7 billion humans, more of our species could use a (voluntary) snip too.”
More than 2,000 people signed an online petition urging PeTA to remove all references to National Infertility Awareness Week from its promotion. Bloggers in the infertility community condemned PeTA for using infertility as a publicity hook for its offensive campaign.
It was only after PeTA leaders were deluged with thousands of emails and phone calls that the radical organization complied with the petition request. As of today, PeTA is still offering the free vasectomy, but the link and references to National infertility Awareness Week has been removed.
Final score: Zero for PeTA, one for sanity and humanity.