Tim McLean’s incomprehensible murder onboard a Greyhound bus was sickening and we at PETA are horrified by this appalling crime. We feel sorry for the victim’s family and friends and the passengers who witnessed this gruesome killing, for they will surely be scarred forever by this tragic incident.
But our sympathies don’t stop there. Human compassion need not be some small cake from which we can only take one slice. We can surely open our hearts a bit wider and feel upset for the millions of others who—never having known the love of a family or a kind touch—are slaughtered in vile and shocking ways every day. The victims happen not to be human, but why should that seal us off to caring? They are certainly like us in important and relevant ways. They are made of flesh, blood and bone. They are terrified of the knife, and they cry out and don’t want to be eviscerated.
The killings we have witnessed on the slaughterhouse floor, the cries of the animals and their desperate struggles, don’t make the news, so it’s PETA’s job to put them there. None of us can go back and stop the killing on the bus or prevent madmen from doing other appalling things, but we can attempt to open our eyes, hearts and minds to other forms of preventable violence. That’s why we attempted to place an ad showing that what Tim McLean endured is what animals who are killed for nothing more than a fleeting taste of flesh endure. We ask people to stop for a moment and think that when they turn away from plentiful, wonderful vegetarian foods and buy meat instead, they are paying someone to wield the knife, to terrify, to kill.
Most people want to be kind, but that means more than petting the family dog. In our busy world, most people do not consider that chickens and turkeys often have their throats cut while they are still conscious; that pigs have their teeth, tails and testicles cut off without any painkillers; that cows are often skinned alive; and that the lowly fish—who is not a swimming potato, but a sentient being who feels pain—is cut open while still conscious.
We hope some good will come from our asking others to reflect on the real-life experiences of animals who end up in the supermarket freezer. We thank all the people who have examined their own eating habits and have told us they will reduce the amount of violence in this world by going vegetarian. Already, thousands of people have visited PETA’s Web site—many to let us know that they hate us, but many to learn what really happens in slaughterhouses and to watch our “Meet Your Meat” video on [url=http://www.meat.org]http://www.meat.org[/url].
If anyone can sit through that video and not act, what does that say? And if someone who eats meat refuses to watch it, what does that say?
We urge people to embrace mercy and nonviolence—toward all beings—starting at breakfast every day. By showing compassion for all regardless of race, religion, sex or species, each of us can make good on our stated desire to help reduce pain and bloodshed in the world.
Ingrid E. Newkirk is the president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; PETA.org.
