[Jacob-list] PETA/ FMD/ Burger King -

[Edd Bissell]

PETA hopes Foot-and-Mouth Comes to U.S.
Animal rights leader hopes disease comes to U.S.
By Alan Elsner, National Correspondent
NORFOLK, Va., April 2 (Reuters) - While U.S. authorities take precautions to
prevent foot-and-mouth from entering the country, the president of People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals, possibly the world's most influential
animal rights organization, openly hopes the disease crosses the Atlantic.
"If that hideousness came here, it wouldn't be any more hideous for the
animals -- they are all bound for a ghastly death anyway. But it would wake
up consumers," said PETA co-founder and president Ingrid Newkirk.
Interviewed on Friday in the office she shares with four cats, Newkirk said:
"I openly hope that it comes here. It will bring economic harm only for those
who profit from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a
concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for animals, good for
human health and good for the environment."
Border officials, zoos and theme parks have been taking precautions to
prevent the disease, which is raging in Britain and has spread to several
other European countries, from entering the United States, which has not seen
an outbreak since 1929. Last week, pigs suspected of carrying the disease on
a North Carolina hog farm tested negative.
Meanwhile PETA workers report vastly increased demand for its "vegetarian
starter kits" from worried meat eaters. That number would no doubt rocket
higher if either foot-and-mouth or "Mad Cow" disease reached American shores.
Since its founding in 1980, PETA has emerged as a powerful force, campaigning
on the principle that animals should not be eaten, worn, experimented on or
used for entertainment. The organization, founded in Newkirk's basement in a
suburb of Washington DC, now occupies several stories of a headquarters in
Norfolk, Virginia. It employs 130 people, has 700,000 members, revenues of
$17 million and has opened small branch offices in Britain, Germany, Italy
and India.
DOGS WANDER THE WORKPLACE The PETA building looks and feels much like any
corporate headquarters except for the dozens of dogs wandering around and
sitting on special mattresses. Employees are encouraged to bring their pets
to work. Many also take part in civil disobedience campaigns and boast long
arrest records. For example, Kristie Phelps, who runs a campaign against
circus animals, occasionally strips naked, paints her body with tiger
stripes, and crouches in a cage outside the Big Top for an hour to dramatize
the plight of caged circus beasts. "Nothing promotes discussion and dialogue
better than a naked woman in a cage. It gives me perspective on the lifetime
of suffering these animals endure," she said.
PETA can call on a cadre of film stars, entertainers and supermodels to
publicize its campaigns. Businesses, from McDonald's to L'Oreal and Gillette
to General Motors to Calvin Klein -- all of which have altered some of their
practices in response to PETA campaigns -- have learned not to take the
organization lightly. Avon, Revlon, Estee Lauder and L'Oreal ended animal
testing to develop cosmetics as did Gillette; Calvin Klein stopped producing
fur for its clothes; General Motors ended crash tests on animals while The
Gap stopped using leather from animals in India and China.
PETA's latest target is Burger King, with its 11,330 restaurants in 58
countries selling 2.6 billion hamburgers a year. PETA wants Burger King to
fall into line with McDonald's, which last year, after an 11-month campaign,
agreed to unannounced inspections of its slaughter houses. It said it would
halt the practice of starving chickens to encourage egg production, increase
the space given to battery hens and stop slicing off hens' beaks.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE SCENES Last week, a dozen PETA supporters showed up outside a
Burger King in Washington, set up a video screen on the sidewalk showing
horrific slaughterhouse scenes and started handing out leaflets to passersby.
One protester, Sarah Clifton, walked into the restaurant and joined the line.
When she reached the front, she sprang onto the counter and began shouting:
"This restaurant is shut down for cruelty to animals. Everyone please leave."
A police officer wrestled her to the ground but she continued shouting for
another 20 minutes until two more officers arrived to drag her away. No
sooner was she out the door when Nick Potch jumped up and started yelling
anti-meat slogans. He too was manhandled away but by the time the
demonstration was done, it had tied up business for about half an hour and
required six police squad cars to be summoned. Both protesters were charged
with unlawful entry and released several hours later. They face April 12
court appearances. Typically, such cases are often dismissed or end with
fines, which the protesters pay out of their own pockets.
Burger King spokeswoman Kim Miller said the chain had seen around 30 such
demonstrations in the past month but no direct impact on sales. She said
Burger King took issues of safety and animal welfare very seriously and was
forming an advisory council on animal well-being. Newkirk said PETA choses
its targets carefully and never backed away from a campaign once it was
launched. "Our opponents know we never let up. They have to concede to some
degree. They have to alleviate some of the misery they are causing before we
back down," she said.
The organization has its enemies. It has been accused of extremism in some of
its methods and in arguing that all animal experimentation is morally wrong
and could be replaced by human epidemiological studies and other techniques.
Right now, PETA is targeting the March of Dimes charity which gives a small
percentage of its resources to organizations that do animal experimentation.
Already, several corporate contributors to the March of Dimes have earmarked
their contributions for non-animal uses.


Edd Bissell
New Market, Tn.
www.eddbissell.com