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We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts.

Animal Defenders of Westchester
P.O. Box 205
Yonkers, NY 10704

Letters

Protest animal cruelty on TV

The Journal News, published Dec. 28, 2002:

Animal Defenders of Westchester is disturbed to see a trend in television, particularly on NBC, in which animals and animal parts are used as if they were just so much garbage, merely to get ratings.

Shows like FEAR FACTOR dare contestants to be covered with rats or bugs, which fosters the dangerous stereotype of those beings as 'disgusting,' 'scary' and worthy of being killed.  But NBC didn't scour the sewer for rats; those are intelligent, specially-bred clean rats who likely are used for gruesome experiments afterward; the insects, far from being 'disgusting,' play a vital role in our ecosystem.  Recently, contestants ate reindeer testicles; even non-vegetarians should complain about this contemptible act.

Most disturbingly, NBC has added regular coverage of bull-riding events.  The announcer states the bulls are 'trained to buck' - but the bull bucks due to a strap cinched near his genitals, which can plainly be seen by the viewer.  NBC knows most viewers wouldn't tolerate blatant calf-roping cruelty; but painfully causing an otherwise-peaceful animal to buck is no better.

FBI Special Agent Alan Brantley states, "Something we believe is prominently displayed in the histories of people who are habitually violent is animal abuse."  Please contact CEO Jeff Zucker at [email protected]  and tell him to stop perpetrating animal abuse in the name of entertainment.  In the words of Gandhi, "The greatness of a nation, and its moral progress, can be judged by the way its animals are treated."  For further information, please visit www.peta.org .

Kiley Blackman

Yonkers

The writer is spokesperson, ADOW

 

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