PETA Complaining Again!!

A few weeks ago a an article happened across my desk which mentioned that PETA was upset about a medical training school using anesthetized cats as training aids for students learning to pass an endotracheal tube. I sort of shrugged that story off until I see ANOTHER PETA complaint against a hospital in Missouri who is also using live cats to help train their staff.

First, let's examine what is being done. Ensuring a patent airway in any patient (human or pet) is a vital skill for nurses, technicians, doctors and veterinarians to have. Without an open airway, obviously, life giving oxygen can't make it into the body and organs begin to shut down. Endotracheal tubes also provide protection against accidental aspiration of vomited material, blood from the oral cavity, etc. So...lets agree that this is an important skill to learn.

Now, the complaint...PETA says that you don't need live animals, manniquins work just as well. I can tell from this staement that no one at PETA has spent time trying to pass an endotracheal tube. I spent 15 years working as a veterinary assistant and have literally passed thousands of tubes as part of my duties of helping anesthetize and keep animals safe. Often, there are challenges to this part of the procedure and although I have never intubated a human being, I can imagine, doctors, nurses, and paramedics deal with similar issues. Manniquins do not simulate the "real life" complications that occur.

As I was attempting wrap up this post, I just found another story where PETA is "outraged" at the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle for their antics as they are selling their fish. In case you don't know of Pike's Place, this AMAZING store shows the way a group of people should work together. You focus on your job, have fun, be there for your fellow employees and customers, and make the decision that today is going to be a good day. This group of driven individuals has set a great work ethic and they have fun while they are working. There are books and videos that show their excitement at work and how ANY business can take Pike's Place ideas and translate them into profitable business. People spend their lunch hours watching these fish guys have fun at work and make money at the same time.

I guess PETA thinks we should all be sullen, morose, boring individuals at work with no hands on training. I could actually find some respect for PETA if they would stop focusing on these little tiny issues (donkey basketball, intubating cats, etc) and spend some time (and money) on educating people about the importance of spay/neuter, maybe even fund a low cost spay neuter clinic. How about doling out some money to local shelters who are desperate for funds during this recession?? How about helping pet owners understand the value and expertise of their veterinarians?

Better yet...how about we get some PETA volunteers to undergoing anesthesia so that new nurses and doctors can intubate them?


UPDATE(6/15/09): The AVMA says that the scheduled demonstration of tossing fish will go on as planned at their Seattle meeting.

Will Eating Your Veggies Make You Sexier? PETA Thinks So!!

Wow! In my rush of assimilating all of the economic woes and weather related news of the day, I almost missed this little tidbit of information...

PETA approached NBC about doing a Super Bowl ad!!

Odds are that they weren't really all that serious, as you can see from the video of their commercial. But I liked how the articles' author asked a very pointed question...is it okay to exploit women in order to save animals??

(Seriously...I did visit the webpage strictly for the article!)

This is not the first time that PETA has resorted to the use of scantily-clad or even nude women in order to generate publicity for it's "work". Nude models refusing to wear fur and nude women in cages are just a few of the stunts they have used in the past. The animal rights group Win Animal Rights (WAR) also stages protests of fur, but as you can see, they focus less on the clothing optional route and more on the hurl insults routine.

Don't get me wrong...I won't turn away from looking at a scantily clad woman, but I don't think the sight is going to make me dispose of the T-bones I bought for dinner tonight...

Sea Kittens?? Abandoned Rats??

Did you hear about this?? PETA, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that fewer people would enjoy the sport of fishing if we simply renamed fish as "sea kittens"

Seriously!! You can read the LA Times story here.

Their strange theory is that people will be disgusted by the thought of "hooking a kitten through the mouth and dragging it behind their car". Puh-leaze!!

What about the billions of people who rely on fish for sustenance? What will they eat if eating "kittens" is not appropriate or allowed? I guess they could try and cook some seaweed...or would that constitute destruction of the "sea kittens" house and home???

I think PETA has quite literally gone off the deep end...again!

In other strange news this week, a Rhode Island man has been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay $1000. His crime...he abandoned his rats. All 280 of them!

Evidently this former rat lover left his pets on the side of the road in aquariums and cages. When the rats were discovered, more than 70 had died and, as you can imagine, the rest were deciding that cannabilism offered a lot of benefits at the moment. The SPCA euthanized the survivors.

Why did he leave them? He had a new baby at home and didn't want the baby and rats in the same apartment!