Earthlings movie

If you haven’t already watched Earthlings, a documentary narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, run … don’t walk to rent it. I’ve just watched it and will write a commentary once I can digest it all. In the meantime, you can take this man’s word for it.

“This is the single most powerful and informative movie about society’s treatment of animals . A must see for anyone who cares enough to know”

- Woody Harrelson

I was very excited a few days ago when I noticed a documentary on HBO about Ingrid Newkirk. She is someone that grabbed my attention a few years back. Yet the more I came to know of her, the more puzzled I became. I hoped this documentary might help shed some light on her work as an animal activist and the co-founder of PETA.

That it did … and even more so than I could have thought. It’s not like anything described in the documentary was new. They portrayed Ingrid as a passionate animal rights activist, a media whore, and an extremist. Many people think Ingrid is absolutely nuts. I do think she creates this “buzz” for herself. At one point in the documentary she says that she wants her flesh carved up after she dies to be barbecued (like that of an animal), her skin made into a wallet or handbag, and one eye to be delivered to a high powered government official to remind him that PETA will always be watching.

Now that may sound crazy but I truly feel that whatever Ingrid wants to do with her body when she’s dead is her issue. What I have a problem with are her tactics to uncover animal cruelty in factory farms. She has a whole team of people that land jobs as factory farm workers. Their job – as an animal rights activist – is to act like a factory farm worker would and to document cruelty while there. This means that these undercover PETA workers kill thousands of animals! In the documentary HBO interviewed two men who killed literally thousands of turkeys in a Butterball factory to get just two hours of video footage which was a bit disturbing but rather blurry and ineffective.

I feel that people working towards the compassionate treatment of animals are generally doing a good thing. Yet after watching this biography, I could not help thinking that the means absolutely do not justify the means. How can an animal rights activist literally kill thousands of animals just to get some video footage? I think in the end, the footage didn’t have a large effect in passing legislation anyway. Other organizations seem to find a way to get footage without slaughtering animals.

I was also really puzzled by Ingrid’s continued discussion that some animals need to die. At one point they show her “rescuing” a pit bull off a chain only to put it to sleep. I have participated in dog rescue for many years and I think they could have saved the dog. It had tick fever and needed a blood transfusion … all of which can be treated by compassionate vets. Yet, Ingrid chose to put the dog to sleep. Why? Was it too much of an inconvenience to help this dog? Was it too expensive? Would it be too hard to find a home for a pit bull? None of these questions were answered and Ingrid felt justified in her decision. I, on the other hand, was greatly puzzled by it.

To me the definition of an animal rights activist is someone who works day in and day out for the welfare of all animals. Whether they be dogs or cows or chickens, a true animal rights activist would not bring harm to any animal in order to achieve some strange personal goal that has little effect for the animals or on people. I am so troubled by this documentary, I’m just not sure how any person that truly wants compassion for animals could support PETA.

I say this with a cautious heart because I am grateful to PETA in may ways. I attended a conference several years ago and it was my first exposure to veganism and animal suffering on a large scale. I am thankful for PETA bringing the animal’s plight to my attention. However I am apalled at their tactics at gathering the information to pursuade people to choose this lifestyle. How can one say to themselves, “I’m goign to go kill 2,000 turkeys today, so that people will stop eating them.” That is just absurd!