Conservative Talking Points views groups like PETA, and especially ALF, full of people that believe in animals more than God. These same people support abortion and yet fight to keep human killers from death row - unless they killed a dog.
Animal Research Equals Medical Progress
· Thanks in large part to animal-based research there is a new molecular and genetic understanding of tumor biology, leading to treatments that set out to more directly kill cancer cells which are molecularly different from normal cells. (Source: American Cancer – www.Cancer.org)
· Animal models are used for exploring repair and recovery of the spinal cord. (Source: Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation – www.christopherreeve.org)
· Studies with animals determined that folic acid, a B vitamin, helps prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord when taken before conception and early in pregnancy. (Source: Americans for Medical Progress)
· Animal research was essential for the development of Herceptin and Tamoxifen, two medicines that have saved the lives of thousands of women and men with breast cancer. (Source: American Cancer – www.Cancer.org)
· Research involving animal models continues to improve treatments for chronic complications of diabetes including blindness, kidney disease, heart disease and stroke. (Source: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International - www.jdrf.org)
ALF - Animal Liberation Front (Source: Anti-Defamation League)
· Originated in England in the 1960s as the "Hunt Saboteurs Association".
· Suspected of committing 313 incidents of break-ins, vandalism, arson and thefts in the name of animal rights between 1979 and 1993 in the USA.
· 1987 arson at a University of California-Davis veterinary laboratory causing $3.5 million in damages.
· 1992 firebombing at an animal research laboratory at Michigan State University.
· Numerous eco-terrorist groups in addition to ALF were active in the U.S. by 2002 and their direct actions had reached about 1,000, with more than 600 criminal acts since 1996.
PETA Quotes (Individually Sourced)
· Even if animal tests produced a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it. - PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk (Vogue - Sep 1989)
· "I wish we all would get up and go into the labs and take the animals out or burn them down." - PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk - National Animal Rights Convention - (June 27, 1997)
· "There's no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They're all animals." - PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk Washingtonian Magazine (August 1, 1986)
· "I will be the last person to condemn ALF [the Animal Liberation Front]" - Ingrid Newkirk; New York Daily News (December 7, 1997)
· "In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether." - PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk; Newsday (February 21, 1988)
PETA Striving To Eliminate (Disseminated from PETA Website):
· Food: Bacon, Beef, Butter, Cheese, Chicken, Eggs, Hamburgers, Honey, Kosher slaughter, Milk, Milk chocolate, Omelets, Pork, Turkey, Veal
· Clothing: Angora sweaters, Cashmere blazers, Fur coats, Leather belts, Leather jackets, Leather shoes, Leather wallets, Silk scarves, Silk stockings, Silk ties, Wool scarves & mittens, Wool sweaters, Worsted wool suits
· Sports & Entertainment: Aquariums, Bullfighting, Circuses, Equestrian competition, Fishing, Greyhound racing, Horse racing, Horse-drawn carriages, Hunting, Magic shows using animals, Movies with animal actors, Pet ownership, Ranching, Rodeos, Whaling, Zoos
· Science and Nature: Agricultural pesticides, Biology-class dissection, Fish farms, Medical research using animal test subjects, Surgical training using live animals