Welcome to the newest category on The Vegan Police website, the Letter to the Editor. As most of our readers know, we put a call out for submissions and writers a while ago, and since then some submissions have trickled in. The major motivation behind the website/blog was to get more voices and perspectives involved and hopefully as we make it through some growing pains we will get there. In comes the Letter to the Editor. Most vegans and animal rights activists are used to the Letter to the Editor. I have written so many I can’t remember what my first one was, Rejected Bus Ads / Shark Fin Soup / Exotic Pets / Beavers, etc. Letter to the Editors are a great way to get the rage on the page and hopefully ignite a discussion. The problem that most run into though is that Letters don’t always get published (if you didn’t know we aren’t exactly the most popular community), but from now on that doesn’t matter. Want to get something off of your chest? Want to expose an exploiter or abuser? Want to look critically at your own community? Need a forum? We are here for you. Our very first Letter comes from Sean Isaac, a rad vegan dude from Oshawa who is also printing up some pretty great message shirts ( I love the Don’t Be Shellfish shirt!) Get out your spectacles and use that comment function if this one ruffles your feathers!

Peta2 Not Punx?

Like a lot of people I know, I was introduced to the idea of veganism through punk rock and hardcore. If it wasn’t for Propagandhi, Strike Anywhere, Anti-Flag and A.F.I., I probably wouldn’t care about animal rights and animal liberation like I do now. Also, probably like a lot of people, PETA was a gateway for me. As the most renowned animal rights organization in the world, they obviously have the potential to have the biggest influence. They definitely try, and it’s evident that with constant campaigns flown under different banners, PETA definitely wants to hit every possible market. PETA2, one of their many factions, often partners up with punk bands at shows in an effort to spread their message to the concert goers. Unfortunately, my experience with PETA2 at punk rock shows has left me wanting more and I really think they could be using their platform much more effectively.

I am by no means a strong supporter of PETA as I think some of their tactics (exploiting women in many of their campaigns and giving out awards to companies who use more “humane” ways of killing animals, as though slaughtering an animal under slightly better conditions is actually making progress) are questionable at best. However, I do think that PETA2 does a decent job of reaching out to young people by doing interviews and other collaborations with bands. Music is a pretty powerful medium, and getting bands to expose their fans to ideas they may not have considered before, such as veganism and animal rights, can definitely be effective.

If you go to punk shows, you’ve probably seen PETA2 tables set up at a few of them. Generally they have a young, hip looking person holding a clipboard with a petition of some kind. As the kids make their way into the venue the volunteers will ask them to sign the petition. Now my question is, how often does the petitioner ever actually make an effort to legitimately discuss any real issues? In my experience, never. Rarely do I even hear what the petition is actually about. Usually I hear a pretty weak statement and no effort is made to engage the crowd in any form of discussion. No attempt to actually inform people about the real issues going on. No attempt to really get people involved. No mention of specific corporations or individuals who are committing the acts of animal abuse or exploitation. It’s rare that I even see the literature that sits on the table being passed out. How can we expect to make any sort of difference by just getting a few hundred signatures on some generic petition without actually putting any meaning behind it? The majority of people who are signing it aren’t doing so because they care. They’re just signing it so the petitioner will leave them alone.

If PETA wants to actually make some real impact at shows, they should put some meaning behind the message that they’re trying to send. Instead of asking every single person to sign a petition that they may or may not care about, there should be more focus on individual interactions. They should have someone handing out the literature and talking about it with the crowd. Ask them if they would like to know more, and if they agree, strike up a real discussion. This will definitely affect the number of people signing the petition, but it will also give the activists a better chance of making an impact on a personal level. A meaningful conversation with an intelligent individual can provoke real thought. Obviously not everyone will be willing to talk, but maybe 2 or 3 people would be. Maybe one out of those three people would take some literature and go home thinking about that conversation. Maybe they would read that literature and look further into the horrible conditions animals are put through every day. Maybe they would decide to go vegan and start getting involved in activism. Sure, it might only be one person, but one person’s life actually being changed will make much more of a difference than 300 signatures from people who will leave the show without giving that petition they signed so much as a second thought.

Ed Note: I recently meet some Peta2 holmies at the ICAS Conference at Suny Cortland. They were easily the most talkative and approachable group at the Conference. Outside of personal experience though, the point still stands for all AR outreach, MORE FACE TO FACE!