As many of you know, Detroit has taken draconian--and according to the United Nations, illegal--steps to solve the problem of so many of its citizens being behind on their water bills. With almost half the city behind on its water bills, the city threatened to turn off the connections for as many as 3,000 people per week before UN officials told city officials that this would amount to a human rights violation. Well, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has stepped in with a "solution." I put it in quotes because it is less a solution than blackmail. PETA has offered to pay the water bills for 10 Detroit families--if they go vegan for a month.
The department put the shutoffs on a temporary hiatus, but people’s water bills are mounting. So with the help of a generous PETA member, we have come up with one small way to assist Detroit residents and save animals, too.
Thanks to this donor, PETA will be able to pay off the water bills for 10 families who commit to going vegan for one month. We’ll also help them get started by giving each family a basket of healthy vegan foods and recipes.
This is so offensive on so many levels I don't know where to start. Using a crisis to blackmail people in this manner is beyond the pale. Moreover, access to clean water is a right--and in a crisis, that access should come with no strings attached. PETA should have taken a cue from the Council of Canadians, who rolled into Detroit yesterday with
700 gallons of water from Windsor--and distributed it for free. I first heard about this on NPR's Morning Edition, and one of the people in the caravan pointed out that if water is turned off, technically you can't have kids in your home. Seems that minor detail slipped PETA's mind. But then again, such things aren't important to knuckledragging fanatics like PETA.
ThinkProgress' Annie-Rose Strasser points out something else that slipped PETA's mind--large parts of Detroit are food deserts, so they can't easily go to the store and get fresh fruits and vegetables.
PETA has put out its share of outrageously offensive and degrading ads. But this latest campaign has to be the worst one yet. Go to hell, PETA. Go to hell. You deserve to go there for taking advantage of people's suffering in this way. I repeat--go to hell, PETA. Go to hell.