Anti-PETA Ad
As a gay man who has lost many friends to AIDS, and as an animal rights campaigner at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, I was outraged to see the perverse ad by Americans for Medical Progress Educational Foundation (Jan. 9), which took a quote of mine way out of context.
“Don’t get diseases in the first place, schmo,” is what I tell those contemplating unsafe sex. For a vivisection trade group to twist this into a callous blanket statement is shameful.
Many of PETA’s celebrity supporters also fight AIDS--in productive ways which include prevention, patient care and clinical studies, which have taught us everything of importance about the disease. Animal experiments have been a costly diversion, beneficial only to the profit-oriented research and pharmaceutical industries.
The fact that AIDS has occurred in humans is a tragedy. For greedy experimenters to spread it to other animals is a crime and a smoke screen.
DAN MATHEWS
Director of International Campaigns
PETA, Washington
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