Soltalk April 2020 | Page 26

Jottings News from the UK and around the World . . . the wild, the wacky, the wonderful, the weird and the downright infuriating Crisis con The most outrageous claim made since the COVID-19 crisis began has come, not from Donald Trump as may have been expected, but from our old friends PETA, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They claimed last month that eating meat may enable the coronavirus to infect humans. The main plank of their evidence to support this nonsense goes like this: “'Carnivorous is an anagram of coronavirus. Coincidence? We think NOT!” PETA’s claim continues, “Scientists have a hunch that contact with live animals or their dead flesh may be the source of the deadly virus.” While PETA continued to urge the public to become vegans “to cut off animal-borne pathogens at the source,” it was unsurprising to find the group being mocked on social media. “ friendships, just like humans, as well as damaging the planet.” Some 243 of the 12,000 students at the LSE then voted to ban beef from the campus, while PETA’s representative at the LSE who raised the motion is continuing her campaign to have all animal products banned from the dining halls. The LSE said that the student vote is not binding. And this is why you aren’t taken seriously,” wrote someone on Twitter, while another accusing them of being the “flat-earthers of veganism.” Best of these put-downs were the withering comments from someone who offered, “In Portuguese, ‘peta’ means ‘lie’. Coincidence?” “Snowflake central” Unfortunately, PETA also featured in a story from late February which prompted panic by students at the London School of Economics and other learning institutes. They took note of PETA’s claim that “cows form close Last month, the former British Home Secretary Amber Rudd was invited to address students at Oxford University in a bid to encourage more women to enter politics. She agreed to speak free of charge to help female students to celebrate International Women’s Day, 24