Posted on 11/01/2001 3:59:47 AM PST by jerod
TORONTO - Some parents are upset over a campaign by animal rights activists to persuade children from drinking milk.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a Canada-wide anti-dairy program by handing out leaflets near schools.
PETA is handing out trading cards with cartoon characters called Windy Wanda and Chubby Charlie They tell the children that diary products are bad for their health and cows are abused.
PETA members also hand out trading cards with cartoon characters called Windy Wanda, Pimply Patty and Chubby Charlie. The message on the back says dairy products cause gas, pimples and obesity.
Rebecca Piper's children were given the material on their way to a Toronto school.
"They shouldn't be using a school to spread their propaganda. I think it's confusing for the kids. We tell the kids one thing at home, we didn't ask them to come and force our kids to listen to this."
PETA says they're just trying to counter the publicity from the milk industry, using the same tactics.
"The Canadian dairy lobby is doing exactly the same thing with their glossy advertisements and the 'milk gives' campaign and a lot of it is targeted at children," says Sean Gifford of PETA.
According to the PETA Web site, male calves born on dairy farms are separated from their mothers at birth and put into veal crates where they are unable to turn around, legs swollen from standing in one position. They are kept for 14 weeks in "near darkness" and then shipped off to slaughter.
PETA wants children to drink fruit juices or soy milk.
Another parent, Dr. Joanne Hammond, says PETA should not be approaching minors.
But Hammond says this incident could encourage kids to talk about nutrition. Hammond says, as a family doctor and parent, she still considers milk a good food choice for children.
Manitoba's education minister Drew Caldwell says he may ask for a court injunction to keep the "Milk Sucks" campaign from coming near schools.
Dietitian Pat McCarthy-Briggs of the Manitoba Milk Producers says the campaign is "frightening."
"The age they're going to go after, these kids are just on the cusp of bone growth," said McCarthy-Briggs. "Calcium in milk is the gold standard against which other calcium (sources) are measured."
Besides, McCarthy-Briggs says farmers have an incentive to treat their cows well. "A happy dairy cow produces more milk."
I grew up under the impression that (1) we don't slaughter milk cows, and (2) we don't milk beef cattle.
Maybe I've led a sheltered life. In any case, this sounds like the recent hoax involving cats raised in jars.
PETA is an organization whose veracity and even their goals are somewhat nebulous to say the least, to say nothing of their tactics.
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