THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606220029
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 35 lines
Regarding ``Consider responsible pet ownership'' (letter, May 29): PETA donated 30 copies of ``Kids Can Save the Animals'' to be sold at Tidewater Humane's wonderful production of ``Noye's Fludde'' which raised money last month to help pet owners afford spaying and neutering of companion animals.
Those books were sent directly to my home, and I was surprised that they seemed to be packed in styrofoam ``peanuts.'' I doubted that PETA would use styrofoam, and my faith was upheld when the ``peanuts'' turned out to be made of corn starch. I threw them into my back yard, where they dissolved after the next rain.
Believe it or not, PETA is the voice of sanity amid our self-destructive meat-feeding frenzy; and, yes, PETA does histrionics, in-your-face counter-advertising and legal protest to be heard above the din of our meat culture, which is not fueled by hunger but by money.
The media shout at us: Eating steak will make you strong! Eating fish will make you smart! Wearing fur will make you glamorous! Killing deer will prove your manhood!
The voice of peace must shout just as loud: You don't have to kill anything!
So, Hampton Roads, these are your new neighbors: people passionate about respecting Earth and restoring it to harmonious viability for future generations; passionate about people starving in Third World nations because their grain is being fed to cattle and the meat exported; passionate about all the animals with whom we share this planet, both those we bring into our homes and love and those we exploit, abuse and slaughter.
BETTY J. ATKINSON
Virginia Beach, June 17, 1996 by CNB