If fur is murder, then surely artistic license is … also very wrong

This archived article was written by: Laura Strate

Remember the comics we read as children? Do you recall how the superhero would catch the villain and always save the day? Did you read the one where your mommy kills animals? Probably not.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has published and distributed such a comic. Children across the country who were escorted by parents in fur, received a pamphlet entitled “Your Mommy Kills Animals!”
The cover portrays a sinister woman hovering above a defenseless rabbit, slashing it with knife. Between squirts of blood the cover tells the children to “ask your mommy how many animals she killed to make her fur coat.”
Inside the comic, children are told to keep their kitty or puppy locked up because their mommy will have “someone stomp on their head, and rip their skin off their body”. Next to the captions are pictures of raccoons stuffed in undersized cages, an injured fox, and a skinned animal carcass left in the dirt.
The manner in which the comic is written is graphic and unnecessary. The impressionable minds of young children are led to believe that because of their mommy, an animal was stomped to death; because of their mommy, the unrecognizable remains of an animal were thrown to the ground and disregarded.
Ironically, many people would agree with PETA that living creatures should not be destroyed solely for fashion, but the same people would likely be offended by the comic. Traumatizing innocent children to make converts to PETA’s position is, in its own way, as cruel as tormenting foxes, raccoons, and minks.