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Originally Posted by GBBob
I think many here agree with PETA's message, just not their methods. Do you/can you try and reign in the zealouts who destroy any postive PR you could gain?
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I wish it could be...unfortunately the lesson of history is that things never change unless folks raise hell! There are zealots in PETA and, unfortunately, some who lose track of the "big picture" and seek their "15 minutes of fame" at any cost. I wish the message was the focus and not the anger and frustration...but imagine years of seeing unbelievable abuse everywhere while the general public seems completely indifferent. There is an old protest song we sang in the 60's...the lyrics go:
"it isn't nice to block the doorway,
it isn't nice to go to jail,
there are nicer ways to do things,
but the nice ways always fail..."
It's a lesson well learned...often, lines are crossed and it seems more harm is done than good. My faith teaches me, "and ye harm none, do as ye will". I see no benefit in attacking people or generalizing the acts of a few to an entire sport (ie: racing)...but I understand the mindset of those who lash out anytime tragedy strikes. Racing should have had it's greatest day in several decades yesterday as a true star was born and presented to racing's biggest audience...instead, the focus is on the tragic death of Eight Belles. If racing is to survive, those in charge must understand the importance of public perception and find a way to reduce the number of tragic events just as those in charge of PETA would be well advised to temper the emotionality of our message so that the public focuses not on tactics but on the message itself. The huge irony here is that PETA and racing share the problem of negative public perception.