People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals co-founder Ingrid Newkirk recently claimed in the Washington Examiner that her animal liberation group is not “lefty.” Oh, really? Let’s review PETA’s record.
If you think DEI politics is toxic, consider this: PETA’s main cause is fighting “speciesism.” Speciesism is an “ism” invented by the animal liberation movement. Essentially, it describes the concept of treating animals differently than we treat humans. “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,” Newkirk has said. Morally, to PETA, humans are on the same level as swine.
PETA also embraces the Left’s penchant for imposing its moral views on the rest of us. PETA’s motto is “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any way.”
To PETA, using animals is the same as abusing them. PETA is not just about imposing vegan diets. It wants to end human use of animals generally.
The American tradition of hunting and fishing? PETA wants that stopped.
The American tradition of eating turkey on Thanksgiving? Gone. (And there would be no butter for the mashed potatoes, either.)
Taking your children to the zoo or aquarium? Gone. PETA calls zoos and aquariums “prisons” and compares zoos to slavery.
PETA is even opposed to pet ownership. “It would have been in the animals’ best interests if the institution of ‘pet keeping’ … never existed,” PETA has written. Newkirk herself has said, “In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether.”
PETA embodies left-wing fascism. PETA has a moral code, and it wants to force it on everyone else. It’s similar to how gender ideologues want to force people to use “they/them” pronouns, but far more pervasive.
Speaking of which, PETA has gotten in on language policing, too. PETA doesn’t want you to use the phrase “bring home the bacon.” It wants you to say, “bring home the bagels.”
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Does any of the above sound conservative? Of course not.
There are small political overlaps between conservative philosophy and the animal rights agenda from time to time, such as not using taxpayer funds on animal testing. But animal rights is not a conservative movement, and PETA is no conservative group.
Will Coggin is the vice president of research at Berman and Company.