PETA Rats out Sen. Durbin

[Lobster Martini]

Memo to Senator Durbin:

Senator Durbin, you have killed the wrong rat, and PETA was right to rat you out. There are plenty of rats in Washington, and the ones with fur are not your biggest problem. Moreover, beating a living thing to death with a golf club is not something to brag about, and it is not funny.

Links to the original ABC News story and PETA’s post are below.

From ABC News:

Durbin, chipper in a red sweater, shared the tale of the night he confronted a large rat, killing the beast with a golf club.

"I'm not a good golfer," Durbin quips. "I had to three putt."

Link: http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/Politics/story?id=2942649&page=1

###

PETA’s post on The Hill Blog:

Take a Swing at Sen. Durbin for Killing Rat With Golf Club
March 21st, 2007

Like many compassionate people, we at PETA were shocked and disappointed to learn that according to a recent ABC News story, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) bragged about beating a rat to death with a golf club. PETA has written to Sen. Durbin and urged him to use only humane rat-control methods in the future so that he can set a good example for his constituents — especially impressionable young people.

PETA also points out that cruelly killing one rat won’t prevent more rats from taking up residence in the Washington, D.C., townhouse that Sen. Durbin shares with three other members of Congress—more rats will simply move in to fill the void. We urge Durbin to inform his landlord, Rep. George Miller, that he can easily and permanently end the rat infestation by sealing any openings larger than a dime in the foundation vents, roof, and sub-floor with caulk or a sturdy screening material. Sen. Durbin can help make the townhouse less attractive to rodents by cleaning up the “filth and squalor” that he says can be found throughout the dwelling. Any remaining rats can be caught in a humane trap and released outdoors.

Posted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals | PETA's Website(s)

Link: http://blog.thehill.com/

[Beelzebud]

1. Did they say that before or after euthanizing a truckload of puppies to "save" them from a pet store

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. Where's the link to that story?

[kiahzero]

18. Here you go.

Took a few minutes of Googling, but here it is:
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/534959.html

County officials and veterinarians in the three counties, however, disagree with PETA's story. They say PETA promised to try and find homes for the animals they took and to euthanize only as a last resort.

Hertford County veterinarian Patrick Proctor told reporters at the time of the arrests that three of the cats in the Dumpster were a healthy mother and kittens that he turned over to PETA on the promise that they would be adopted. His allegations resulted in three charges of obtaining property by false pretenses. Proctor did not return calls from The News & Observer.

Officials in the three counties also say they believed the animals PETA took had at least a chance at finding homes.

"The verbal agreement was, if they felt like the animals could possibly be adopted, they would," said Sue Gay, the head of Northampton County animal control. "We thought at least some of them were being adopted."

[Beelzebud]

19. And thats just where they got in trouble for it...

[SemiCharmedQuark]

21. Yeah, that's not about "killing puppies to save them from a petstore"

Not even close.

Also, the county says in the same article, they don't have the resources to care for all of the animals. I disagree with what these people did, the dumping and the deceit. But SOME animals are going to need to be euthanized. They cannot all be saved, unfortunately.

Have you worked at many no-kill shelters?

[Beelzebud]

23. Yeah they were just too lazy to find homes for them. Totally different.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

26. There are too many animals and too few homes.

These people apparently didn't even try, and that is wrong. They deserve to be punished for their actions. But if people think that every animal is going to find a home, they're kidding themselves.

[drbtg1]

27. Watch Penn & Teller's PETA episode of "Bullshit!"

Originally on Showtime, now available on DVD. They talk about that, financial support for terrorists, and Sweetland's hypocrisy. Unfortunately they include nutjobs Nugent and Prager, but the rest is an eyeopener.

[terrya]

2. Bad me, but I'm having some problems being sympathetic to rats.

Sorry, PETA. I can't get too worked up over this.

[blondeatlast]

7. So true. They'll outlive man, I suspect.

Eff 'em now.

[RebelOne]

10. Me neither. I am not fond of rats.

I have had them in my house and I had no qualms about putting rat poison around.

[Susang]

72. Agreed

You can bet that if I found a city rat in my home in the middle of the night, I'd be reaching for a golf club, baseball bat, pretty much anything to keep that diseased rodent away from me.

Or I could be completely natural and let nature take its course. I have three young street cats I adopted last summer. I doubt they've forgotten the hunting lessons their mom gave them. ;-)

[brentspeak]

3. PETA is a nutcase organization, run by a total nutcase

[blondeatlast]

4. I brought the ice cold sodas; can someone pass the

:popcorn:

[Connie_Corleone]

5. F*** the rat.

[BayCityProgressive]

8. who cares

[MonkeyFunk]

15. LOL

Your title, along with your handle and avatar, is perfect.

[Virginia Dare]

6. PETA needs to form a team of "Rat Busters"...

I particularly got a chuckle over this item:

PETA also points out that cruelly killing one rat won’t prevent more rats from taking up residence in the Washington, D.C., townhouse that Sen. Durbin shares with three other members of Congress—more rats will simply move in to fill the void. We urge Durbin to inform his landlord, Rep. George Miller, that he can easily and permanently end the rat infestation by sealing any openings larger than a dime in the foundation vents, roof, and sub-floor with caulk or a sturdy screening material. Sen. Durbin can help make the townhouse less attractive to rodents by cleaning up the “filth and squalor” that he says can be found throughout the dwelling. Any remaining rats can be caught in a humane trap and released outdoors.


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Mike Daniels]

59. The best part: Any remaining rats can be caught and released outdoors

where (of course) they will continue to breed and spread disease in the surrounding environment.

---------

Proof positive that PETA places ANY animal life above all other life.

[rebel with a cause]

79. Released outside in the city

they will find a way to get back inside. As PETA ever heard of rats biting small children and leaving them scared for life. I guess in that case the parents should shoo the rat away from the child and herd it out the door before taking the child to the hospital. :sarcasm:

Last year my children decided that they did not want to kill the mice that somehow found their way into our house, so they bought the humane traps that you use to trap and release. Mice caught in these traps are traumatized and go nuts. They make a mess in the traps and you have to take them someplace far away to release them. I took one out to a woods at a near-by college and released it. I then felt guilty because I thought about the poor mouse being in a strange place and what if a owl caught it and tore it apart while it was still alive just to eat it. You get the point. Nothing is guilt free as far as I am concerned. Oh, and guess who got to clean out the traps. ;-) No more mice, but this is a new year so who knows when another invasion will occur.

And by the way, a message to PETA: You attack Durbin and you have an enemy in me.

[cali]

11. LOL!

Peta's outrage over this is hysterical.

[ProfessorGAC]

55. My Reaction Is Identical

Talk about not knowing which fight to pick.
The Professor

[smoogatz]

12. Good for Durbin.

I wonder what club he used?

[Norquist Nemesis]

13. Geez! I guess he should have called the PETA Hotline first!

I have little respect for PETA.

[NoPasaran]

14. 'Ere, is that rat tart?

[bunkerbuster1]

29. It 'as got some rat in it...

How much?

Three. A lot, really...

[fudge stripe cookays]

50. "One tart without so much rat in it....later"

'Ow that was REALLY 'orrible."

[Horse with no Name]

16. I don't know about you

Since rats carry rabies, if I had one that was menacing to me, I would kill it too.

[terrya]

17. No shit.

Hell yes, I'd do the same thing.

PETA's reaction to this is absurd.

[rexcat]

25. Really!

According to the USA Center for Disease Control (The CDC):

Question: “What is the risk of rabies from squirrels, mice, rats, and other rodents?"

Answer: "Small rodents (such as squirrels, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, and chipmunks) and lagomorphs (such as rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to cause rabies among humans in the United States.”

www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Ques&Ans/q&a.htm

There is nothing like an opinion that ignores the facts. That said, PETA is way off mark most of the time. They have no credibility with me and by no means am I siding with the rat on this one. Rats have been known to spread a plague or two.

[Horse with no Name]

30. Really?

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1319276&blobtype=pdf

The rabies doesn't settle in the parotid glands of the rat which is fortunate.
However, they DO get infected with the virus as the study shows.

[rexcat]

35. Rat bites are not a major source of rabies...

in humans. It is extremely rare and I did not say that rats don't or can't get rabies. I say that as a clinical microbiologist that I am and having taken virology at the graduate level I think I do know what I am talking about.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

58. "Rat bites are not a major source of rabies in humans."

Maybe because most people would rather kill a rabid rat with a golf club before getting bitten by one?

[rexcat]

95. The rat was rabid?

I don't think the article said the rat was rabid. You should really stick with the facts. And as I said I don't have much sympathy for the rat. By the way if the rat were rabid and someone killed it with a golf club that individual would be more at risk of contracting rabies because rabies is spread very easily from the blood of an infected animal. You should really do some more reading on the epidemiology of rabies before posting any more nonsense.

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. One less rat roaming the earth is a GOOD thing. Peta can be ridiculous sometimes.

GO DICK DURBIN!!!!

[China_cat]

22. I don't know why but this story seems a repeat

of almost the same thing that happened several years ago (with the same PETA 'outrage') but I can't find a citation now.

[Ghost in the Machine]

24. PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals??

:shrug:

[scrinmaster]

56. I doubt rats are tasty, but you can give 'em a try.

Let the rest of us know how they taste.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

70. Ask G. Gordon Liddy

[madrchsod]

28. "Any remaining rats can be caught in a humane trap and released outdoors."

these guys really are fucking dumb

[Lobster Martini]

32. Then I guess I'm really dumb

I've done it about twice a year for as long as I've owned this house. Haven't caught rats yet, but I've caught mice and squirrels using safe traps, driven them to a park, and released them unharmed. I haven't beaten anything to death with a golf club. There is no need to kill anything.

Incidentally, our cat loves to watch squirrels behind the glass fireplace doors. We call it "Cat TV."

[mondo joe]

33. Where do you think released rats go?

[blondeatlast]

36. Upon release, they are given oral instructions to Ingrid Newkirk's home

where her servants are instructed to bed them in fine linen--de-loused, of course...

[kiahzero]

38. That's inhumane, killing all those lice (n/t)

[ComerPerro]

51. more likely they simply don't give a shit where they go

Release the rat outside your home, that way it doesn't have to die. Your neighbors will thank you. But you know what? Fuck them. If they kill it, they are monsters.

[doodadem]

31. Sorry, no sympathy

On our farm here, there's always trouble with pack rats moving in. They went into the storage area in our garage and destroyed a mattress, other furniture, memorabilia, etc. They make a horrible mess, and carry disease. They are actually somewhat like Republican politicians--sneaking in, taking advantage of any situation, and leaving a mess!

I praise our dogs and barn cats every time they nail one............

[blondeatlast]

34. For shame on your dogs and barn cats--so inhumane as to kill rats...

Please note that my SL is dripping upon dripping with :sarcasm:

IF PETA expects to win us over with the rat argument, they've truly gone completely 'round the bend--

again...

[ronnykmarshall]

42. My cats don't bother with mice or rats

They just call the pest control.

[blondeatlast]

45. ...

:rofl:

[ronnykmarshall]

63. They prefer the rotary dial phones.

[blondeatlast]

71. I bet! nt

[flvegan]

37. PETA is just doing its job.

Joking about killing an animal, regardless, is in poor taste. I always enjoy our (is it weekly, now?) PETA hatefests.

The rest of the article was pretty enlightening. Picturing those powerful folks living like college roomies is funny.

[depakid]

39. They're doing what they do

While I often disagree with their tactics and messages, they do keep animal cruelty issues in the spotlight- and from time to time, their actions do result in meaningful reforms.

[asthmaticeog]

40. Big fucking deal.

What's next, "Obama swats fly?"

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

41. Clinton massacres germs! Millions die!

[asthmaticeog]

43. Cheney butt-scabies genocide!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

44. Bush applies Tenactin in an act of FUNGICIDE!!!!!

[asthmaticeog]

46. Dude, fungi are plants, they SO don't count.

:eyes:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

48. Mushrooms are people too!

:mad:

[asthmaticeog]

49. Come on, cut it out, you're TOTALLY trivializing this thread.

:banghead:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

53. Why did no-one expose the crimes of THESE guys?

[asthmaticeog]

54. They were the victims! These are the sonzabitches you're after:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

62. No no - they were just the weapon. These housekeepers were to blame!

[asthmaticeog]

65. Hardly fair to blame her, she was under the thumb of two of these.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

69. This guy will fix all of this

[youthere]

47. Can't back PETA on this one.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cgrindley]

57. I don't mind rats

my kids have had a couple over the years as pets. They're very nice, easily trained etc....

but PETA is braindamaged. Outside the owner/pet relationship, it's humankind vs the rat army, and as far as I'm concerned, my house is a free fire zone.

PETA is mostly comprised of misanthropic retards. CF cuddly polar bear.

[ronnykmarshall]

64. Some one needs to liberate your "pets"

How dare you teach your children to take those rats their personal prisoners !!!


:sarcasm:

[ronnykmarshall]

66. Some one needs to liberate your "pets"

How dare you teach your children to take those rats their personal prisoners !!!


:sarcasm:

[noonwitch]

60. Fuck PETA, rats need to die

When I lived in Detroit, the residents would shoot them, either with real guns or BB guns. I had no problem with this. I'd like to shoot the possums I see with BBs, but I know it's illegal in my city, so they get to live.

[Lilith Velkor]

76. Fuck rats, ...

(You know the rest.) :evilgrin:

[dysfunctional press]

61. PETA is the biggest bunch of stupid fucking losers i can imagine.

what a bunch of worthless lamebrains. i really wonder how it can be that they don't see themselves for what they are and how the public views their wrong-headed ignorant antics.

you GO, dick durbin!!!

[DrunkenMaster]

75. are you kidding me?

The country is being run into the ground by a bunch of crypto-fascist Xtian dominionists and "PETA is the biggest bunch of stupid fucking losers" you "can imagine"?

Interesting.

[dysfunctional press]

91. ok- second biggest bunch...

how's that?

[Critters2]

80. Less troublesome to you than people who start imperialist wars for no good reason, huh?

That is some interesting set of priorities you've got there.

[dysfunctional press]

92. see post 91 above...

:eyes:

[Zavulon]

67. I hope Durbin takes out at least 17 more.

As long as be broke out the clubs, he might as well play the full 18 holes.

PETA, in the meantime, continues to astound me - how an organization with such valid intentions can be so far off the mark sometimes is beyond me.

[Dr Fate]

68. There are plenty of rats as it is. I've kill them in my home before as well.

I guess I disagree with PETA on this one.

[WorldResident]

73. PETA thugbabies should just go and suck it

n/t

[flvegan]

84. Jesus, but that was brilliant.

[DrunkenMaster]

74. PETA Isn't Really the Point

The debate shouldn't focus on ad hominem attacks against PETA, which really help avoid the issue. In many ways I wish PETA would morph into a different organization to which people have less of a knee-jerk reaction.

The problem is also not really whether or not rats "deserve" to live. Everyone is going to have their own responses to these animals, ranging from pet-indentification to vermin-pest disgust.

The real issue is our cultural acceptance of cruelty to animals, especially when the existence of those animals is considered a nuisance or possible commodity. I don't care if it is the brutal smashing of the skull of a rat (instead of using a cage-trap), the clubbing of baby seals for fur, or the slow death of polar bears due to global climate change.

Are there times when animals must be removed or even die (medical tests, etc) for our sakes? Of course there are, but those instances are much fewer and far between than we like to admit. Instead we justify our own brutality and abuse of the natural world on a horrendous and horrifying scale.

Our relationship with the natural world -- both the organisms and the ecosystem itself -- has become unbearably pathological.

When you engage in needless violence against an animal -- even one that is considered vermin -- you have accepted and engaged in this diseased relationship that is quickly killing our planet. The very fact that Durbin chose to kill the creature in such a manner instead of disposing of it safely and humanely is symptom of a much larger problem we very much need to face.

[Quantess]

81. I agree with you.

PETA has done some silly things, and some stupid things, but they also do a lot of things for animals that most of us would approve of.

I wouldn't personally condemn someone for killing a rat, but bragging about beating it to death is pretty juvenile, sick, and over-the-top.

[rebel with a cause]

90. Durbin did not brag about it.

The other men who live there tease him about it.

[Critters2]

82. Thank you. I'm amazed at how often people behave as if we're at war

with animals. I just don't understand it.

[rebel with a cause]

83. You know I am a big one against cruelty to animals but

have you ever had a rat in your house. These animals are damaging to everything they decide to chew on, and they are dangerous to you if they become frightened. If you have animals, a good size rat can actually hurt a small dog or cat in a fight. Not to mention what they can do to a child.

When I was a baby, there was a rat got into our house. My sister, who was small, saw the animal and went to see what it was. My mother saw her just in time and grabbed her out of the way just as the rat sprung at her. She ran with my sister out of the house and then had to come back in for me. The neighbor had a dog that was a terrier, and she told my mother that she would put her dog in the house with the rat. The dog took on the rat, and when it as finished the rat was dead, the dog was badly chewed up, and the house was a mess with blood splatters. The dog had to be taken to the vet for treatments and my mother felt really guilty about it. But what was she to do. Wait until she could get some kind of humane trap made so she could caught the dangerous animal, hoping that her children would be safe in the same house with it. Sorry, but I have lived in the country and the city, and rats in my house are not an acceptable thing.

Got to go walk my two dogs that have their rabies shots.

[Beaverhausen]

89. If you read PETA's press release they give tips how to keep rats out of homes

It's right there in the OP. People seem to be ignoring the point they are making.

[smoogatz]

97. Ever been to Georgetown? Those townhouses were all built in the early-mid

1800's. There is no way in hell you're going to seal up every hole or crack a rat could squeeze through. Plus, you're in the middle of a major metropolitan area with a HUGE rat infestation. The solution is to kill more rats, not catch them and release them outdoors so they can go into somebody else's house.

[flvegan]

85. Well stated.

[LisaL]

88. Hmm. Rats are vermin. They are a menace.

In fact I just read about a baby whose face was disfigured by a rat as he slept in his apartment. But I guess his parents should just make humane traps, catch them rats, and release them in the wild-or in their case on the streets of their city. Yep, that makes sense.

[northernsoul]

77. Good for Durbin!

I'll kill any vermin I find my house as well. PETA lost all credibility with me more than a decade ago, but now they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

[HEyHEY]

78. I had to beat a mouse to death with a piece of kindelling once

Didn't feel good, but had to do it.

[MonkeyFunk]

99. you misspelled

"moose"

[LisaL]

86. Sen Durbin killed a rat? Good for him.

I hate rats. They are vermin.
Catching them into humane traps and releasing them into a wild-what else will Peta people come up with?

[shadowknows69]

87. You know what?

If a potentially rabid rat is coming at me and I have a golf club handy? It's the long drive baby. Sorry PETA but if its them or me.

[smoogatz]

98. Yep. Goodbye, rat.

With my swing, though, I'd slice it into the freaking Potomac.

[Generator]

93. Next up: PETA to prosecute James Cagney estate for hate speech

Dirty rats is offensive if you happen to be one.

[Craftergrl]

94. Well Carter whacked a rabbit

with a boat oar once.

I think Sen. Durbin showed a horrible inhumane attitude toward the rat. He should have killed rat the way the rat's natural predators would have done. Torn it to shreads. Then eaten it. :silly:

:popcorn: :popcorn:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

96. Good thing there was no PETA when Teddy Roosevelt was president