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PETA Condemns Pokemon For Promoting Animal Abuse
SchrodingerZ writes "PETA, the same group that last November protested Mario for 'wearing fur,' has condemned the Pokémon media franchise and video game series. In light of the recent release of Pokemon Black and White Versions 2, the activist group is protesting that the Pokemon game series 'paints a rosy picture of what amounts to thinly veiled animal abuse.' As many of us know Pokemon is about young children who capture wild animals for the sole purpose of having them battle in non-fatal sparing matches. 'Much like animals in the real world, Pokémon are treated as unfeeling objects and used for such things as human entertainment and as subjects in experiments. The way that Pokémon are stuffed into pokéballs is similar to how circuses chain elephants inside railroad cars and let them out only to perform confusing and often painful tricks that were taught using sharp steel-tipped bullhooks and electric shock prods,' says a statement from the group. Ironically within Pokemon B/W 2 there an organization known as Team Plasma , which deals with taking Pokemon and retuning them to the wild. PETA is so up in arms that they have even created an anti-pokemon parody game in which you play as an escaped Pokemon battling your trainer. I recommend trying it, just for the laughs."
One of the funniest headlines I've read all year. Don't need TFA.
sig: sauer
Well, my days of not taking PETA seriously are certainly coming to a middle.
Look, we all eschew mistreatment of animals, but aside from the deceit and near criminality of PETA as an organization . . . they're just downright fucking retarded:
The way that Pokémon are stuffed into pokéballs is similar to how circuses chain elephants inside railroad cars and let them out only to perform confusing and often painful tricks that were taught using sharp steel-tipped bullhooks and electric shock prods,'
No. No, they are NOTHING ALIKE. For one thing, elephants are real and pokemon don't actually fucking exist.
PETA is probably also listening to Smash Mouth and fearing Y2K.
Don't feed the trolls.
How is Mario ever "wearing fur"? Are they referring to Racoon Mario? When he touches the Leaf, he becomes a fucking racoon. He's not "wearing a racoon suit, cosplay style," he physically transforms into a fucking racoon
I mean damn PETA come on, this is why people start thinking you're just a bunch of nutjobs....
Here's to the crazy ones
...as of 3mins ago and will keep supporting them in hopes of seeing more headlines like these, pure comedy. Thank you PETA.
If PETA had their way, we would not eat meat, nor use leather. No farmer would keep cows around just for the hell of it. Lots of dead cows.....
If anybody at PETA had actually bothered to play Pokemon Black and White for more than five minutes, they'd have met a group of villains named Team Plasma. This group was a parody of real world "revolutionary" groups like the Black Panthers or PETA, who attempt to present themselves as fighting for a worthy cause, when in reality they're just after personal gain and a feelings of self-satisfaction. Team Plasma tries to convince you the player that your treatment of pokemon is cruel, and that Pokemon hate people as a result. Yet the real message of the story is learning that catching a pokemon isn't just about stuffing it into a ball and forcing it to fight: It's about building a bond of trust and mutual friendship between the pokemon and trainer, which if properly fostered allows them to accomplish anything together. If anything, PETA should be commending Pokemon for it's progressive attitude. But I guess that doesn't make for as eye-catching a headline.
Will they be nude?
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
The "Westboro Baptist Church" style of marketing? You're actually probably a lot more right than you know. Groups like this stay relevant by generating ever more insane news clips. Oh sure, they probably believe (most of them, anyways) their basic message, but they do and say the really stupid stuff like this because it gets them noticed. And they thrive on attention. They're like children throwing temper tantrums (probably with the same level of maturity). The absolute worst thing you can do to them, and the best thing you can do for society, is to studiously ignore them. It might get worse for a while, but it will be vastly better once they learn that saying things like this won't get them noticed.
Of course, I live in a country where the Kardashians are popular, so that'll never happen.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Yes, this does seem to be PETA's primary function these days. Anytime a story comes up about PETA people work themselves into a lather. Even when it's about something as obvious as the fact that cramming animals into tiny balls and then making them fight in gladiatorial style combat may be ethically questionable.
But being a target for hate is a valid role, albeit a rather painful one. People expend their vitriol on PETA and other animals rights groups wind up looking better by comparison. "Hey," they say, "we're not PETA. You can talk to us and consider our suggestions rather than just dismissing them out of hand." Ultimately, partly thanks to PETA acting as lightning rod, the goal is furthered.
This reminds me of when groups like Greenpeace complains about something popular just to get attention. It's just some activist noise making about something topical to bring attention to themselves. What I find funny is that by pulling these stupid stunts, all they are doing is making themselves (and their cause) look bad. Maybe the next time someone hears about an actual legitimate issue in animal welfare they'll think of this and pay it no mind ('Hey, isn't that the same stuff those wackos who complained about Pokemon were going on about?') . The way they trade credibility for publicity (not that they had much credibility to start with) makes me think PETA cares more about their own 15 seconds of fame than actually bringing any benefit to animals.
And by the way, Pokemon are clearly partners, not slaves. The games make generally that pretty clear and go on ad nauseam about poke-friendship or something like that, in fact, something about humans being mean to their Pokemon was even a central part of the plot of the last games, not that any of this is relevant if causing a fuss is your only actual goal.
PETA's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad History of Killing Animals
In 2011, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) behaved in a regrettably consistent manner: it euthanized the overwhelming majority (PDF) of dogs and cats that it accepted into its shelters. Out of 760 dogs impounded, they killed 713, arranged for 19 to be adopted, and farmed out 36 to other shelters (not necessarily "no kill" ones). As for cats, they impounded 1,211, euthanized 1,198, transferred eight, and found homes for a grand total of five. PETA also took in 58 other companion animals -- including rabbits. It killed 54 of them.
NB that in Virginia, stats only need to be kept for animals taken in with the intent of putting them up for adoption.
Think that's a fluke?
Get this:
PETA's "Thank You" for Killing Shelter Pets
When the No Kill shelter in Shelby County, Kentucky, recently announced that they had run out of space -- and were hence going to have to start killing healthy dogs and cats -- officials received a nice basket of gourmet cookies, with a note signed by PETA: "Thank you for doing the right thing for animals."
Surely I'm joking here. This must be a weak stab at satire. Many people have written about Ingrid Newkirk's vicious pet-killing program -- her organization has personally liquidated over 27,000 animals -- but PETA has always responded with hurt and outrage (and lawyers). People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals don't celebrate killing, goes the lie -- they see it as a regrettable necessity.
Surely Newkirk wouldn't be so foolish as to express her ghoulish agenda in this way, as a naked statement accompanied by a gift. No group of self-styled vegans would publicly wed their name to the Pro-Kill Equation: butchery = the right thing.
Well, Nathan Winograd (who developed the somewhat different No Kill Equation) reported on this in detail, and I suggest you examine his photographic evidence. A lovely basket of "Allison's Gourmet Cookies" -- shipped fresh from California -- with a handwritten note signed: "The PETA Staff." If you'd like further evidence, and to read the reverse side of this charming note, Shelby County No Kill Mission has produced an affecting video about the episode.
To understand just how grotesque this is, you have to know a little bit about Shelby. This is not simply one of America's fifty-one No Kill communities. It has a special significance: Last year's save rate sent Shelby County to the top -- it is now one of the most successful examples of No Kill in the nation.
The last animal killed for lack of space in Shelby County was on May 27, 2008. Since then, they've enjoyed a save rate that is almost precisely the inverse of PETA's kill rate. Whereas PETA slaughters 97% of the pets delivered to their hellish "Shelter of Last Resort," in 2011 Shelby saved 98.52% of the cats and 94.46% of the dogs in their care.
Shelby County runs an open admission shelter: They do not turn animals away. They have an impeccable history -- despite PETA's dire predictions, their No Kill community has never been associated with hoarding or animal abuse of any kind. (In fact, none of the legitimate No Kill organizations has been guilty of these crimes, but that's another story.) The Shelby program has a tiny budget: $147,000. Compare that to PETA's annual plunder: over $32.3 million from unsuspecting donors.
These people clearly did not play Pokemon Black and White. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/3/7/
PETA needs to turn its attention toward the care and feeding of abandoned Tamagotchi. These were purchased for children who, after having grown up, have abandoned their pets to the bottoms of toy chests or the back of sock drawers. PETA needs to fund a reserve for forgotten Tamagotchi.
Right after they get their Save the Skeets campaign off the ground.
Have gnu, will travel.
As batshit crazy as this is, it's not the worst example of PETA making themselves look like the brain-dead nut cult that they are. The crazy bitch who runs that group wrote a letter to Arafat once complaining about the PLO using a donkey laden with explosives to try to kill people in Israel. No complaint about killing the PEOPLE, mind you.
If you're an animal lover, support the ASPCA.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
This is an organisation whose time came and went, but doesn't realise it and is futilely thrashing at anything that'll generate a headline containing their name. People are more aware of the issues they once touted, but are filtering out their sensationalist over the top antics that often obscure their message.
Has beens, right up there with the *AA.
So Peta hates animal abuse but apparently love abuse on humans. That games shows a drunk human getting his ass kicked and abused by an animal, that is more retarded then the original complaint. I guess we should be worried about the harm to fictional animals not real ones.
Honestly, people, why is this story even here? PETA shits out a turd like this once a week. And Slashdot has given them exactly what they wanted.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Read the rest at the link. If you want to know more get Penn and Teller's Bullshit! on DVD and watch the PETA episode.
Please turn in your polyhedral dice and delete your /. account, you have just lost all your nerd points.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
The "Westboro Baptist Church" style of marketing? You're actually probably a lot more right than you know. Groups like this stay relevant by generating ever more insane news clips. Oh sure, they probably believe (most of them, anyways) their basic message, but they do and say the really stupid stuff like this because it gets them noticed. And they thrive on attention. They're like children throwing temper tantrums (probably with the same level of maturity). The absolute worst thing you can do to them, and the best thing you can do for society, is to studiously ignore them.
When WBC came to protest at UW-Madison, we gathered sponsors.
The sponsors donated $X for every minute that WBC protested.
The proceeds were used to fund LGBT student organizations on campus.
WBC is welcome to come back and raise more money for LGBT causes any time.
Are battles like cockfights?
Whether battles are like cockfights or like dogfights depends on whether you've brought a Blaziken or a Houndoom.
But being a target for hate is a valid role, albeit a rather painful one. People expend their vitriol on PETA and other animals rights groups wind up looking better by comparison. "Hey," they say, "we're not PETA. You can talk to us and consider our suggestions rather than just dismissing them out of hand." Ultimately, partly thanks to PETA acting as lightning rod, the goal is furthered.
In my experience it's just the opposite. You approach someone as being interested in animals rights/welfare, and immediately get, "Oh, like those nutbars who think fish are sea kittens." Then you've got to try and convince them that you're not like PETA, and defining yourself by what you're not never works. Consciously or sub-consciously, they think, "You wouldn't need to deny it if there wasn't some truth to it."
PETA don't act as a lightning rod to draw away hatred, they act as a copper dome all of us, drawing in hatred.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism_treadmill#Euphemism_treadmill
That's exactly what the euphemism treadmill is.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
How someone treats another living thing when that living thing is powerless to
defend itself is a very good test of the mental wellness of that person.
Anyone who thinks it is "ok" or "cool" to abuse animals needs to be removed
from society.
And all you little jerkoffs who think all this is something to joke about
need your nuts kicked so hard they come out the top of your little dickeating
skulls.
.
The ability to tell the difference between a fantasy game and reality "is a very good test of the mental wellness of that person."
People who think other humans should have their "nuts kicked so hard they come out the top of your little dickeating
skulls...need to be removed from society."
FTFY
This is just false. At best it's ridiculously naive, and at worse, it encourages animal cruelty.
If you self-identify as having any specific concern for animal welfare, you first have to jump the PETA hurdle. They're a severe detriment to their own supposed cause, and everyone else with similar interests. Many of those other folks really are rational, decent people.
As such, a dollar donated to PETA is a dollar donated in support of animal neglect and abuse. There's no way around it.
People forget what PETA really stands for. They want ALL animals to be free, includings pets such as cats, since "owning" a cat is abuse in their eyes.
If you wanted to show the American voter is willing to go that far, you would show laws aimed at REALLY protecting kids most dangerous enemy, the average driver. You don't. The greatest child killer in the USA goes free and unchecked.
People are willing to do a lot of meaningless things to feel good but they won't do anything real. That is why PETA will fail.
And as a cat owner, good riddance to them.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
There is no "Animal Liberation Front" per se. At least not as an organized entity one can support or not support. Merely is a label that various people liberating animals can apply to, i guess, more easily communicate the motivation for their actions. And PETA exists just to get attention, good and bad, and as a nice magnet to attract criticism of the animal rights movement. It is easy to say, "Oh, I think PETA is crazy too, but I'm (or such and such) is more sensible, and this is why, and here are the facts." So it serves a purpose. Also you can get free stickers!!!! Also, on another note, destruction of property without loss of life is different than violence if you follow some of the reasoning of certain ideologies, methinks
It's such a crock. PETA have responded to these accusations any number of times, the gist of their response being that the animals are so severely injured or traumatised that it's better they be put down. I don't see a problem with this response. I know PETA's a favourite whipping boy for Slashdot folk (along with Greenpeace and vegetarians - another time perhaps) but whatever you think of their views or their tactics, criticising them becuase they put down severely injured animals really misses the point of what they're about.
PETA's kill-rate is higher than the busiest public kill shelters in the country. PETA shelters killed 95% of all animals they took into their care in 2011, because caring for them would cost money they could otherwise spend running ads trying to make you feel guilty about having pets and eating cows.
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
I've never played Pokemon, but PETA just gave me an awesome idea. Capture REAL animals, cram them into metal balls, and force them to fight. Thanks, PETA!
PETA seems to protest everything except actual animal abuse. Their record for their owned animal shelters in the US isn't any better than other groups. In fact, they apparently terminate more animals than the "average" shelter does, rather than see the animals "abused" by new owners.
What I can't understand is why they get any press. Or is the press just because they seem to have more nubile young women in their protests than most organizations, making for good eye candy backgrounds while their representatives speak during interviews?
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.