PeTA

Where a public nuisance gets spanked

''Starting at some point in the last century the public nuisance acquired a halo by claiming that his obnoxious behavior was induced by high purpose and noble values. ... People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) engage in this sort of thing. Yet they have recently been targeting entities that enjoy the sympathy of ordinary Americans, for instance, family entertainment groups such as the circus and laboratories where scientists endeavor to discover medications for greater health and less human suffering. ''On March 15 in the Ohio Supreme Court an animal rights group's effort to force Ohio State University to release animal testing records failed thumpingly. A couple of weeks earlier a federal court in New Jersey convicted animal rights thugs for inciting violence in their effort to shut a medical research facility. Science triumphed over these reactionaries. Also in March a Northern Virginia jury exonerated the owner of Ringling Brothers' Circus from charges that he and company executives wiretapped PETA headquarters and stole PETA documents. - [The American Circus]