2300 Thoughts

4-H: Cruel to animals and kids

I am obviously very biased on this topic, because I grew up in an agriculture income based home, but I think this article is just too over the top! I had to comment on it. I think the best part of this article is the disclaimer at the bottom of the article. It is actually hilarious. It makes the article sound like an infomercial. I wonder if the article was actually just paid space written to look like an article.

The “points” made in this article are really quite laughable actually. The things it talks about as cruel and unusual punishment either are exaggerated situations, not common practice, or are mere facts of life that no one can change. Sorry that you got attached to a product that lost its value in its current stage, so it was sent somewhere it would have a value and that hurt your feelings. Death is a part of life.

The best part of this article though is the fact that they mentioned the little girl’s PETA water bottle and how it was not accepted well at the local fair. Why is that news? Everyone knows it would not be accepted well there. If an organization was taking away your livelihood you would not be a fan of their merchandise either. I don’t know why that was such a big deal. In fact I don’t think it was as big of a deal as the article makes it out to be. I think this is another one of PETA’s methods to get people interested in their cause.

“Like most little girls, my stepdaughter loves animals. She joined a local 4-H club when she was 9, solely because "cows are cool."” Cows are cool? Who even says that? I have heard one person actually say/believe that statement, and she is a rancher. This opening paragraph already makes you think that everyone is like this little girl, when in reality I think she is probably pretty alone in her love for cows.

Unfortunately I think it is a great approach for PETA to be taking. I think they are deceiving readers and creating an unrealistic reality for readers. They are trying to use this feature story as negative public relations for the 4-H, and staging it though a person who assumedly knows something about 4-H and has a family connection. Yea they sound really unbiased we should find out what there opinion is. And hilariously his stepdaughter is still in 4-H so apparently it is not as bad as he makes it out to be.

I wonder how much this article will actually affect the 4-H organization. It will be interesting to see if there is any follow up on this article by the 4-H. I doubt they will even notice this ridiculous article was written.