PETA objects to presidential flyswatting

[Vekseid]

http://www.star-telegram.com/238/story/1440096.html

WASHINGTON — The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House.

PETA is sending President Barack Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside.

"We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals," PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said Wednesday. "We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals."
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WTF O_o

[Sabby]

...They've come a long way from attacking Cooking Mama

[Lithos]

Well, that took care of the comedy does of the day. And Mr Obama has nice reflexes, those flies are tricky to catch without swatter :P

[Oniya]

It's not that hard, since a fly jumps up and backwards when they take off.  Just aim about an inch behind them and you're very likely to hit your mark.  If they've been bothering me all summer, I'll catch the little critters alive.... 

And leave them sealed in a glass soda bottle until they succumb to lack of food/water/oxygen.  Sometimes I'll even shake it vigorously to make them buzz around and deplete their tiny resources.   >:)

[Doomsday]

To be fair, the White House is a no fly zone...

[SleepyWei]

I'm guessing if the PETA ever knew who I was, they'd be suing me for my lack of care towards the flies. I've been swatting them for fun these days... kinda enjoying it when a bug turns into mush when I'm done with it.

[Valerian]

To be fair, the White House is a no fly zone...

*collapses into helpless laughter*

[consortium11]

To be fair, the White House is a no fly zone...

You win the internet.

... and PETA sure do show compassion towards animals... unless they're called on to like, put them down, you know...

[Diabolus Lupus]

*looks around suspiciously* Does this mean they're gonna come after me for years of mosquito abuse? *has fun killing them all summer long* Speaking of wish, I hope my skills aren't getting rusty, I haven't seen many of the buggers yet.  >:)

[Trieste]

Still, "swatting a fly on TV indicates he's not perfect," Friedrich said, "and we're happy to say that we wish he hadn't."

I can just picture PETA going "We caught him, we caught him! *glee* MISTAKE!"

[HairyHeretic]

Maybe they could have some nude model lay on his hand and have him swat her to raise awareness of .. erm .. something  :D

[Gunslinger]

Really a fly, PETA is such a shock media whore. What a needy organization.

[Skye]

I know what I'm sending PETA for Xmas -Goes to get a jar and fill it with flies-

[Oniya]

Better yet - a jar of hornets.  Sent third class, so it's nice and shaken.

[Skye]

Lovely-if it wasn't considered terrorism, I'd suggest everyone from E sending them your favorite pestilence-in-a-jar.

[Mnemaxa]

....well, it's a step down from 'sea kittens' which is pretty darn impressive. 

[Juicy]

PETA.

Oh, u.

[HairyHeretic]

Sea kittens are delicious, battered and with chips :)

[Mnemaxa]

Sea kittens are delicious, battered and with chips :)

Yes, but then, most cultures that eat a lot of fish in their diet also eat cats and dogs....so it really doesn't quite work.

[HairyHeretic]

I'm sorry, but that sounds like bull to me :)  The only place I'm aware of that eats dogs is Korea .. there likely are more, I simply don't know them ... but any country with a coastline is going to have fish in its diet. Fish and chips is a staple food in this part of the world. Cat and chips .. not so much, outside of bad restaurant jokes.

[Lithos]

Is the cat / dog meat really that bad though? animal is animal and there are plenty of those.

[Oniya]

Both have been used by some cultures as food sources, primarily in areas where herd animals are difficult to pasture.  The primary arguments against it are a) the 'Fluffy factor' - humans become attached to what they see as pets, whether that is a cat, dog or other animal (including livestock - see Charlotte's Web, and don't even let your kids name the pig 'Bacon'); b) a carnivore like a dog or cat is farther up the food-chain and therefore requires more plant-stuff at the bottom of the chain to get the same amount of energy; and c) carnivore meat tends to have a somewhat gamier flavor, again, due to their diet.

By the way, even if you're starving, stay away from the livers of carnivores.  The Vitamin A levels are actually toxic in some.

[Zakharra]

 It's mainly cultural. In the West, eating cats and dogs is considered digusting. In America, eating horses is thought to be disgusting. Again, it's only a cultural issue. Meat is meat.

[Oniya]

It's mainly cultural. In the West, eating cats and dogs is considered digusting. In America, eating horses is thought to be disgusting. Again, it's only a cultural issue. Meat is meat.

Knew I'd miss something - horses would fit under the 'Fluffy factor' as companion animals.  Man, particularly in Western countries, uses the horse as transportation, which makes it potentially more valuable in finding food than as food itself.

[ShrowdedPoet]

. . .dog on a stick, cat on a stick, rat on a stick. . .horse on a stick. . .mmmmmm