by Phil Phillips - Friday, January 25, 2019
Remember the stunt that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) pulled in 2017? “Which one?” you ask, considering the group pulls them on a regular basis. I’m referring to when PETA was busted for circulating a fake, computer-generated cat-abuse video to incite public outrage over using animals in circuses, zoos and films. Based on headlines coming out of Sydney, Australia, PETA’s latest stunt may be even more outrageous as Fox News reports “PETA Grills Prop Dog in Disturbing Demonstration Promoting Veganism at Sydney Shopping Mall.” My Facebook page lit up over a photo of a PETA supporter serving up a barbecued, burnt-to-a-crisp prop dog at Sydney’s local Pitt Street Mall. The sign below it read, “If you wouldn't eat a dog, why eat a lamb?”
As with the fake cat-abuse video, the goal was to incite outrage over eating meat. The “chef” in the now-famous scene even went to the trouble of accenting the main course with a side of vegetables. Why this particular stunt—and why now? Because Australians are preparing for their annual barbecues celebrating Australia Day on Saturday, Jan. 26.
Shocking even for PETA, the demonstration was labelled “disturbing” by Sydney residents. Even worse, the scene outside the shopping mall was viewed by area school children who were at the mall during their summer break. While the kids left the scene visibly distraught, PETA didn’t bat an eye over its off-color display, determined to make Australians reconsider their holiday cookout plans.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time PETA has turned public outrage into self-promotion, considering previous PETA ads have compared livestock raised for the meat industry to human rape victims. This is yet one more example of the lengths PETA and fellow anti-hunting, anti-meat, anti-pet-owning extremists groups go to impose their will on mainstream America.
In the fall, PETA tried to get an archery deer hunt stopped in the Cornell University area, a hunt that had been organized to curtail a staggering Lyme disease infection rate in the local population. People don’t matter to PETA. Then the organization asked newly approved U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh if he was really “pro-life” and was willing to turn the court’s café 100 percent vegan. PETA isn’t satisfied supporting the .5 percent of the U.S. population that’s vegan or the additional 3.2 percent that follows a plant-based diet, a total of 8.3 million people—no, it wants to impose its will on the remaining 96.3 percent of the U.S. population that eats meat.
As for that prop dog, the word “prop” says it all. The fake dog was visibly manipulated by an actor in the course of quite a performance. As PETA pushes its anti-hunting, vegan agenda, it acts out the scene for which it excels: distorting facts and spreading fake news to draw attention to its platform. As NRAHLF.org has noted in the past, unfortunately the next shoe ultimately will fall—it always does.
Editor’s Note: Visit the NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum website, NRAHLF.org, for the latest news on the state, national and international threats to hunting and wildlife conservation. You can sign up for the NRA HLF bi-monthly newsletter by emailing ehealy@nrahq.org. Stay abreast of how science-based wildlife conservation does not exist without hunters' dollars and what the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) is doing to protect our cherished hunting traditions.
About the Author: NRA Life member, award-winning outdoor TV host and recreational real estate associate broker Phil Phillips of Hayden Outdoors has hunted five continents, taking more than 200 big-game animals and nearly 60 species worldwide. Prior to hosting hunting programs, he started Colorado's first Ranching for Wildlife Program for antelope, which he ran for 15 years. Working alongside professional land managers to restore and protect habitat, Phil went on to guide clients to 500-plus big-game animals that have qualified for the record book. In 1992 Safari Club International honored him as the North American Bowhunting Outfitter of the Year. Email Phil at phil@haydenoutdoors.com.