THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
In your recent editorial about People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, you accuse the animal-rights group, which has a campaign to stop fishing, of not being ``very neighborly.''
Well, most Hampton Roads residents - at least those who have had letters printed in your paper - haven't exactly rolled out the welcome mat, have they?
When PETA first announced that it was moving to Norfolk, I remember one fellow suggested greeting the vegetarian group by holding a meat barbecue outside its new office. More recently, letter-writer Flora Burns said, ``shame on . . . Norfolk for allowing such a radical group to locate here.'' And Virginia Beach Del. Glenn Croshaw planned to introduce a bill to ``protect fishermen'' from the big, bad animal-rights activists. The only thing Croshaw's bill would do is deny PETA and other fishing foes their constitutionally protected right to free speech.
It's not like PETA is asking us to stop breathing. But the group is asking us to stop and think about the impact our actions have on other living beings that, whether we admit it or not, are as capable of experiencing pain and suffering as we are. I, for one, don't think that's such a terrible message and think any decent-minded person would be proud to have PETA as a neighbor.
MELYNDA DuVAL
Virginia Beach, April 18, 1996 by CNB