PETA's advertisement crossed 'visible' line

A letter published in the Windsor (Ontario) Star, Tuesday, August 12, 2008
On my morning commute, I heard a news story about PETA and an ad that they were planning on running in the Portage Daily Graphic in regards to the brutal and senseless slaying of Tim McLean. The news item was so disturbing that I assumed that the story must be wrong -- so I visited PETA's website and lo and behold it is true. It is PETA's intention to run an ad in the very community directly affected by this tragedy -- "comparing the similarities between this gruesome bus butchering and the acts of cruelty and killing performed every day by the meat industry."

I was so outraged that I wrote the following letter to PETA:

PETA -- First and foremost, let me say that I generally have good thoughts when I think of your group. I know that one of your major premises is to incite an overreaction in your campaigns in order to draw attention (whether it be good or bad).

However, with that being said, I would like to say that you have crossed a very visible line in your ad Cannibalistic Attack on Greyhound Bus. As a slightly Americanized Canadian citizen (I live across the river from Detroit), I am becoming desensitized to mindless violence due to overexposure, however, when this horrific story broke, even I was shocked to the very core of my being -- especially with the act occurring on my home turf of Canada.

I cannot fathom under what circumstance this "brainchild" of an ad was born. How could you be so insensitive to the community and to the families of the victims?

I don't care what kind of message you are trying to send, you have gone too far with this one act of insensitivity -- apparently you need training on how to curb cruelty to humans.

SHANNON PRESLEY BEAUMONT

LaSalle

QUESTION: Even if you have the most honorable of intentions, can you use the most dishonorable tactics to acieve your goal? I say if you wallow with pigs, you become a pig. Maybe the PETA people consider it a good thing, though.