I can't say I've always been a supporter of PETA. I support the proper spaying and nuetering of animals and taking care of your pets, but PETA has gone one too far this time.
To: Ingrid Newkirk
Subject: Insensitivity
I will do my best to sound articulate rather than like an outraged person who can't collect their thoughts.
You think that living with the status of infertile is a choice? It's not. I appreciate your desire for ethical treatment of animals. I have two dogs, one rescued, both fixed. It's good thing. But pairing this up with "fixed" people is very rude.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as such I believe in and have a desire for a family. Being a mother is what my body was created to do and is my mission for this life. The human experience involves parenting and knowing that love and selflessness that comes from raising children. By the shear coincidence of genetics, I landed the wonderful lot of being infertile as a result of auto-immune diseases.
Why would you "joke" and take lightly the loss of a dream and a life pursuit that is held sacred and cherished by so many? The choice to not have children is personal, not societal. I can respect your opinions but I ask that you respect the situation of the millions of people who live with the pain of infertility everyday.
Sincerely,
Ashley Allen
Infertility patient for 8 years.
I just wanted them to know that their treatment regarding Infertility Awareness was about as twisted as it comes.
This is the response I received from them:
Dear Ms. Allen,
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.
A national organization, SPAY/USA, helps guardians of animal companions who need assistance with the cost of spaying and neutering. You can contact SPAY/USA at the following website and toll-free number.
They still didn't get it. They still think it was all about them. I was just trying to point that this is not the week to be "joking" about the infertility of humans. Insensitive idiots.
Back to packing. this moving stuff is hard.
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