PETA Responds to My Email

Well the feeling of empowerment was short lived as I received a response to my email that sent them Tuesday night. The response was what I expected, totally preachy and missing the point entirely. I had a response all ready for them until the reality of what I was engaging in hit me harder than a sucker punch to the stomach.  No matter what I say them, they are still going to turn it around on me as being uncaring and uncivil.

I feel like no matter what I say them it will be like speaking to a brick wall. They really are an infuriating organization. Campaigning the welfare of animals at the expense of the human race. Don't get me wrong I'm all for the spaying / neutering of pets. My own pet is neutered. But what does offering a vasectomy have to do with honoring of National Infertility Awareness Week? Nothing. One has nothing to do with the other, and they still don't see the insensitivity in linking the two together.

In their response they justified their choice of this campaign with two worthless paragraphs on breeding whether by choice or not of ANIMALS and compared it to humans. WHAT?

Part of me wants to respond. I already have a draft penned and ready to type out. The other part of me is telling me not to. Does that make me a coward? Probably.

I guess I'm just blown away by the outright thoughtlessness and insensitivity of this whole situation. Did they really think IFers weren't going to take offense by them offering a free vasectomy in honor of NIAW? Its the biggest slap in the face to IFers and they don't even see it. They don't even have a clue, and I'm not sure my response will provide that clearity for them. Because clearly, according to them, I'm in the wrong.

When I really think about it, I'm disheartened that the saving of pets/animals and the urging of spaying and neutering of pets (and now humans) is being made at my expense and the expense of the entire IF community. But that is what PETA does, save animals at the expense of the entire Human race.

Here is their reponse to my email:

Dear Ms S

Thank you for contacting PETA about your objections to our contest offering a free vasectomy. We are sorry that you are offended and are taking this as a personal attack. We did not intend it to be. Our goal was to bring about discussion of animal overpopulation, the need to spay and neuter dogs and cats, and the impact of human overpopulation on the environment.


A lot of men have entered the contest, and there is great interest in it, which focuses attention on the tragic suffering and death of homeless dogs and cats. Furthermore, the cost of a vasectomy is not cheap, and not everyone wants to reproduce. Having one’s own child may be a compelling urge for some, but nobody should condemn those who choose to avoid causing pregnancy or any organization that provides them with a means to do so. Many who choose to have a vasectomy consider it a moral conundrum for some of us to be spending thousands of dollars trying to reproduce ourselves when there are homeless children, including some with disabilities, who want for homes, and when the environment is being ravaged as human population increases. Since most of the e-mails we are receiving from people who’ve read about our contest on infertility blogs are quite uncivil, perhaps some soul searching needs to be done on the part of those who would rather throw stones than engage in discourse.

PETA works very hard to prevent the births of puppies and kittens who will end up abandoned in animal shelters or struggling to survive on the streets. Breeding, both purposeful and accidental, is responsible for the euthanasia of millions of these loving companions each year. Sterilization is both the easiest and the most effective means available of ensuring animals’ happiness and safety. Male animals who have been neutered are far less likely to roam far from home or fight. Neutering greatly diminishes and possibly eliminates reproductive urges (which are not the same in dogs as they are in humans). In addition, these animals will never get testicular cancer and run less risk of contracting prostate disease. Female animals who have been spayed avoid the trauma of giving birth and will no longer go into heat.

Consider the fate of the millions of unwanted animals whose parents were never spayed and neutered. Born into a hostile world, they are caged among strangers at animal shelters or, worse, abandoned on the sides of roads. They are run over by cars and attacked by other animals. They are infected with painful, contagious, and deadly diseases. Those unlucky enough to run into cruel humans are often drowned, beaten with baseball bats, suffocated in plastic bags, stabbed, shot, starved, set on fire, used as bait, and tortured in countless other ways. And the saddest tragedy of all is that before they meet some gruesome death, they reproduce, and the cycle of animal suffering continues.

Thank you again for contacting us and for the opportunity to share our thoughts.

Sincerely,

The PETA Staff

Yeah...and as you can read, they just don't get it.

Shame On You, PETA

PETA decided to honor National Infertility Awareness Week by openly mocking those who suffer from Infertility by way of their latest campaign, "Win a Vasectomy". This was first brought to my attention by this post from Keiko at Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed.

I stewed in this for a while. I was too angry to form a coherent sentence much less form my outrage in a letter or email to the PETA president Ms Ingrid Newkirk. I finally wrote one. And while it isn't as eloquent as Keiko and a few others letters that I have read, I'm just proud that I actually wrote something. Below is my letter:

Dear Ms Newkirk,

I'm sure by now you have received numerous emails from offended individuals like myself regarding PETA's latest "Win a Vasetomy" campaign. I'll be quick. I don't find that this campaign honors National Infertility Awareness Week at all. I find it offensive, insensitive and downright hurtful. Offering sterilization to honor an association like Resolve.org, who has set aside NIAW to educate the public about infertility, while simultaniously building up the confidence of the infertility community, is tactless and disgusting. It doesn't honor NIAW in any way, instead it mocks a community of people that struggle with a disease they didn't ask for. Yes, infertility is a disease, not just a "difficult issue".

And comparing the overpopulation of animals and humans is just absurd. There are certain parts of the world, like the Western world that does not suffer from human overpopulation, so your campaign is again absurd.

Did you know that 1 in 8 couples struggle with infertility? Chances are, there are most likely more than a few of your employees that are currently struggling with infertility, and it is campaigns like this one that just perpetuates the ignorance, instead of educating.

By not being able to have children, I'm not doing the world a favor. However, this campaign seems suggests otherwise.

Please do the honorable thing and disassociate Resolve.org and NIAW from this campaign.

Sincerely,

Jonelle

Whew, all done. Time for bed.