Last spring officials with the animal rights organization known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) decided to make a joke about releasing ticks into the northeastern United States. PETA claimed that the ticks being released were the type that cause meat allergies in the people they infect. Officials at PETA likely had a good laugh over this ruse, but nobody else did. The problem with PETA’s joke is that it was, well…not funny. PETA is not known for their comedic hijinks. So naturally, the many people who had seen the joke on PETA’s blog took it seriously. Officials at PETA claimed that the joke was an April Fools Day prank.
People located all over the US failed to see the humor in a joke about releasing disease spreading ticks into human populated areas. As you can imagine, people living in the northeastern US were particularly shocked by the bad taste joke told by the leaders of the animal rights group. People who are already suffering from tick-borne diseases were particularly offended by the goof. PETA’s blog asked people how they would feel if the lone star tick was released into the US. As if the answer is not already obvious. The organization claimed that the joke was justified because less people would eat animal meat if they thought that they could possibly develop an allergy to meat. The lone star tick spreads a disease that causes people to experience extreme discomfort after consuming meat products. This discomfort is due to a meat allergy that people develop after succumbing to a tick-borne disease.
Of course, PETA is strongly against the consumption of animal products since the mission of their organization is to protect animals from human abuse and cruelty. Members of PETA consider the existence of slaughterhouses and the consumption of animal meat in general to be cruel and inhumane. It goes without saying that no apologies for the joke have ever been, or ever will be, issued by PETA’s spokesperson.
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