PETA Rebukes White House for ‘Flippantly’ Dismissing Question on Senate’s Vote to Legalize Bestiality in Military | CNSnews.com

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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(Here is text of PETA’s letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta)
December 5, 2011
The Honorable Leon Panetta
Secretary of Defense
United States Department of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Dear Mr. Secretary:
An emergency exists, and we ask for your immediate intervention. PETA is being inundated with complaints regarding the inadvertent removal of an anti-bestiality provision from the Uniform Code of Military Justice, stripping away what minimal protection the UCMJ afforded “non-public” (i.e., non-service) animals. This change means that bestiality charges can now be filed only at the discretion of superior officers—under a catch-all provision of the UCMJ prohibiting behavior unbecoming a service member.
As you no doubt know, mental-health professionals and law-enforcement agencies consider cruelty to animals a red flag in the psychiatric repertoire of antisocial and sociopathic behavior. The American Psychiatric Association identifies all forms of animal abuse as diagnostic criteria for conduct disorders, and the FBI uses reports of animal abuse in analyzing the threat potential of suspected and known criminals. Further, a 2002 study by Jory, Flemming, and Burton shows that 96 percent of offenders who had engaged in bestiality also admitted to sexual assaults on humans. Animal abuse is very much an issue of community safety, and the degree to which we take these crimes seriously can be measured by the strength of our laws.
On behalf of our millions of U.S. members, as well as those overseas where our military also serves, we ask that you please act immediately to establish a policy of zero tolerance for cruelty to animals by adding a section to the UCMJ prohibiting cruelty—including bestiality—to non-public animals.
Our office stands ready to assist you in any way possible. May we hear from you soon?
Very truly yours,
Ingrid Newkirk, President
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*** You may wish to write to: Leon Panetta, our Secretary of Defense, about this Senate Bill 1867, voicing your disapproval of this revision of Military Laws. I agree with the “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals” aka PETA. This Senate bill revision is very serious, moral declination for Americans and animals, hurt by depraved fools.
Call or Write the White House and Leon Panetta, the Secretary of Defense.
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