Comments on I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA -- November 2007

[Guest guest]

"I am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA" is now available on HBO "on demand." It can also be reserved at Netflix.com. Canadians can watch it on The Movie Network on Wednesday, November 21. And it will air many more times on HBO over the next few weeks. Go to: http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/iamananimal/index.html and click on "schedule" to find out when.I urge you not to wait for it on Netflix. If you don't have HBO, find a neighbor who does, offer to bring over a fabulous desert or lovely bottle of wine, and ask if you can please watch the documentary with them. Since it is a prime-time HBO documentary, it isn't like asking your neighbor to watch Meet Your Meat or any other video they might see as animal rights propaganda. The documentary is engaging and enjoyable to watch, while sharing extraordinary information about

society's treatment of animals, which you will be happy your neighbors got a chance to see. Embedded in an engrossing documentary about a woman who some people will love, some will judge as crazy, but whom everybody will find fascinating, are brief flashes of some of the most horrifying animal cruelty footage I have ever seen. It includes animals being skinned alive for fur coats and cows struggling on the floor drenched in their own blood. Most surprising and gratifying is the turkey slaughter footage, airing across America during Thanksgiving week. I think most people have little sympathy for turkeys compared with concern for other animals -- believing turkeys to be less intelligent or sentient. But I think all viewers will have sympathy for the live turkey at the Butterball slaughterhouse, pinned beneath a 200lb man who is amusing himself by sitting on her as if she is a footstool, and slowly squashing her as

she pathetically kicks her legs.Please, please thank HBO for airing this documentary. HBO takes comments about its documentaries at http://tinyurl.com/d6og4The documentary, particularly the second half, includes criticism of PETA tactics made by other activists who feel that PETA tactics trivialize the animal rights cause. (Make sure you watch the film from the beginning so you get the whole picture.) Those activists make good points, and come across as saner and more realistic than the PETA activists. And of course it is better for the animals if animal advocates seem grounded and likeable. But the irony is that the other activists interviewed are only getting a chance to represent themselves so beautifully on HBO because of PETA, and PETA's willingness to look foolish or wild. The other groups, who refuse to engage in stunts, are not attracting

HBO documentaries. And while the focus of the documentary is on the activists, nobody could watch the whole of this documentary and suggest that it was not overall helpful to the animals -- particularly with the Butterball turkey scenes airing during Thanksgiving week. PETA also gets much flak from within the animal protection movement for its euthanization of dogs and cats. I personally do not support the practice, believing that animal protection groups should not kill animals, even animals destined to die. I will not argue the case here, but do so in my upcoming book. (Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals -- Harper Collins 2008.) But I was glad the topic was addressed in the documentary as I think it shows that the extent of negative emotion towards PETA surrounding this issue is at least somewhat misplaced. Whether or not one supports the act, the scene makes it clear that the intent behind PETA's actions is compassionate. Again,

please thank HBO for this fascinating and groundbreaking documentary. Go to http://tinyurl.com/d6og4 . And please watch it with your friends who know little about the cause. They will enjoy it, and learn much.Yours and the animals',Karen Dawn(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)To discontinue DawnWatch alerts go to http://www.DawnWatch.com/nothanks.php-------You are d to DawnWatch using the following address:

dogs_goodDate: Tue Nov 20 13:40:04 2007

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