June 27, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals has a long history of using provocative tactics to draw attention to its pro-animal cause.
Often, these tactics are successful. But a prominent charity watchdog says PETA’s latest missive — an attack on filmmaker Michael Moore — was in poor taste.
PETA recently sent a letter to Mr. Moore that coincides with Mr. Moore’s latest documentary, Sicko. The movie explores issues in the U.S. health-care system, which Mr. Moore argues is broken.
PETA, however, says Sicko doesn’t pay attention to what it considers to be one possible way to rein in health-care costs — vegetarianism.
The organization says that America would be healthier if people stripped meat from their diets.
And it points directly to Mr. Moore’s weight in making the argument.
“There’s an elephant in the room, and it’s you,” Ingrid E. Newkirk , founder of PETA, writes in the letter. “With all due respect , no one can help but notice that a weighty issue is affecting you personally. We’d like to help you fix that.”
The letter steps over the line because it attacks Mr. Moore personally, writes Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator. Mr. Stamp, on his blog, says tax-exempt organizations such as PETA have a responsibility not to use personal attacks to promote their agendas.
“The letter was not in response to anything Moore had done or said, but an attempt to capitalize on the media attention surrounding his new movie Sicko,’” writes Mr. Stamp. “This is immature, stupid, insensitive, and an insult to the people who have donated to this group, and to the rest of us who pay taxes and subsequently make their tax-exempt dealings possible.”
What do you think? Did the animal-rights group step over the line — or was it simply being clever? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
