Only a jackass would say, that suffering of any kind and of anny creature is "banal and trivial". People like that is the kind of people that encourages violence and non respect for life.
The banning is completely unjustified. Although I´m sure this will only help to spread the word and in the end will be free speech which will triumph...

NO MORE VIOLENCE OF ANY KIND!!!

Posted by: Tati | March 27, 2009 05:20 PM

Apparently the German court that ruled on this initially took up the case in response to a complaint from the president and vice-presidents of the Central Council of Jews in Germany – all of them sons and daughters of people who died in the Holocaust. This is meaningful and you ought to have pointed this out in your published response to the ruling seeing as you are careful there to point out where Jewish persons were active for the campaign.

Posted by: James McCarthy | March 27, 2009 05:33 PM

The Nazi Holocaust is a very sensitive issue in Germany. In fact, it's illegal to even question the official story there. What offended the Germans was the idea of reducing people to the same level as farm animals. Many still regard humans as being above animals and don't take too kindly to comparing people to other creatures.

That said, the message of this campaign has been lost on many people. I'm not surprised that people were offended by it as this is one of the most controversial subjects in the world.

Posted by: shannon | March 27, 2009 05:42 PM

I'm with PETA on this one.

Shame on the German "high" Court for trivializing the pain of animals.

Posted by: Brad | March 27, 2009 05:47 PM

The Holocaust never would have happened if people valued the feelings and lives of animals. Crimes and wars will continue as long as people continue to "miss the point."

Posted by: Sarah | March 27, 2009 06:05 PM

While many people might find this shocking, that's the whole idea: To make an impact, to get people to understand something and do what's right. I really hope PETA wins this in the end! The Holocaust was awful, painful, tragic, and for millions, fatal. The same goes for the slaughter of animals. Hopefully people will see the cruel similarities between the two and stand up for animals!

Posted by: Justine | March 27, 2009 06:14 PM

No, the court can't stand the truth.

I made the same association when I saw poultry trucks, I called them "chicken Auschwitzes".

Interesting to remember that the trains carrying the victims to the death camps were popularly known in English, at least, as "cattle cars."

f

Posted by: fkwan | March 27, 2009 06:43 PM

I think....its AWESOME.... u so did not go to far the evil animal murders did!!

Posted by: mike Arroyo | March 27, 2009 06:49 PM

No. No campaign PETA does for these innocent animals at our mercy goes too far.

Thank you for your work.

Sincerely,
D. Miller

Posted by: D. Miller | March 27, 2009 09:29 PM

I think the campaign is hard hitting and effective. It is true that today's 'Holocaust' is that of which animals endure.

Keep up the work, PETA. Germany has some strange laws, from spying on religions like Scientology and banning displays like this. Keep on going!

Posted by: Curtis | March 27, 2009 09:36 PM

No, it is not going too far. I think of factory farming as concentration camps...It has become "routine and systematic" to kill animals for food, just as the killing of people was in the Holocaust.

Posted by: jc | March 28, 2009 01:46 AM

sorry peta that was too much
i see your point animals have the same ability to suffer as humans but youre still humans
and i think it is a far worse case to kill 'animals' of your own kind which is for us any human being or to kill an animal. maybe if youre god (if hes somewhere out there) you can argue like that.
im vegetarian but i still value human life more than animal life. sorry.

Posted by: chris | March 28, 2009 01:54 AM

Holocaust means the destruction/massacre or loss of life on a massive scale. Massacre means the slaughter of a large number of animals. More than one million animals are slaughtered for food every hour! Need we say more?

Posted by: Eva Wawrowski | March 28, 2009 01:58 AM

Personally I wish you would just stick to your other billboards and wouldn't compare the biggest genocide of humans ever to the plight of chickens and farm animals.

Stick to that shark Payback Is Hell billboard and the McDonadls chicken one you just released. If those get banned then I say fudge it go after them. But the holocaust? Its sort of they're 9/11.

Posted by: Pepsi One is Fun | March 28, 2009 08:40 AM

@Curtis
Yeah I know I'm probably going to get flack for this but as much as I love animals and in no way condone animal violence I'm pretty sure there are some people who think humans are a tiny bit higher up on the plane of existence than animals.

Posted by: Pepsi One is Fun | March 28, 2009 08:50 AM

Had the campaign not reached the German court - the press would not have reported on it so much.

If all that people walk away is that livestock farming is not "quite" as bad as the Holocaust - a connection has been made. Just like people in the US argue that the "gay issue" cannot be compared to "civil rights"... whatever - just put the two together in one sentence ;-) The rest is just a question of time.

Marriage, holocaust, slavery, rape... as long as we are quarreling over the words and not the meaning - we have made huge progress.

Project successful. Well done!

Posted by: Hugo Pottisch | March 28, 2009 09:00 AM

It is the thought processes here that are EXACTLY the same--the Holocaust happened because thinking, educated people were able to intellectually separate themselves from what they knew was morally wrong and then they could deny knowledge of what was happening to their Jewish neighbors.

This intellectual splintering is what happens today when anyone goes into a supermarket and buys a piece of meat on a tray or orders a "burger" in a fast food place. This how children are trained to accept the killing of millions of animals without challenging thier abuse. Children know it is wrong to kill for this reason, but they are conditioned by society to accept it and just not think about it.

Posted by: Kelley | March 28, 2009 09:55 AM

No, PETA didn't go too far. The word is used correctly in the context- Genocide, murder, speciesism... would also have been suitable. Pain and suffering are not limited only to us humans. We are all animals/living beings capable of experiencing pain and with a desire to live in peace. Holocaust, genocide and wars are only happening because some of us consider ourselves more valuable than others- Yes, this sort of thing might shock an average person, but maybe that's what it takes for them to open their eyes and minds...

As a survivor of war and genocide in Bosnia, I personally don't find it a bit offensive when words such as genocide/murder/slaughter and similar are used to describe the atrocities billions of animals endure today. It doesn't minimize my own experience or the war. In fact, it makes me empathize with these poor creatures whose only fault is that they are not of the same species as their oppressors. More than anything else, that connection contributed to my going vegan. Hats off to PETA for daring to point out the same connection and unfairness that many ppl rather just ignore.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Posted by: tangerine | March 28, 2009 10:15 AM

More than anything else, I believe the German high court's motivation for this decision comes from Germany's many attempts to close the book on their dark past and have their people forget about the holocaust. This display just brings it out again. I even heard that students in Germany are not taught about WW2 or the holocaust.

Posted by: Eric | March 28, 2009 11:01 AM

No one who is honest can today deny the suffering of animals ''farmed'',(enslaved)for food.
So for the High Court to say that the PETA campaign makes suffering look trivial, they are actually saying the Holocaust is trivial.
I think their ruling is more offensive to holocaust victims then this honest campaign.
Maybe they have a very warped perception of trivial and banal.
Make sense?.
No wonder there are so many murderers and rapists walking the streets if the judges who judge them,deem such intolerable cruelty and disregard for basic rights,''banal'' and ''basic''.
Disturbing that we have these kind of men judging right and wrong.
I hope PETA Germany gets the campaign back up and running, in honour of the billions of innocent animals that lose their life for food every year around the world, and in honour of the holocaust victims,who through their suffering should have inspired people to have a heart and some compassion.
We should have all learned that slavery was wrong by now.

Posted by: claire lloyd | March 28, 2009 11:34 AM

@Hugo
I don't think anyone was saying that PETA shouldn't get the message out that factory farms are evil.

Its just that some people might not care because using the holocaust comparison might turn them away from giving a damn.

Like you say as long as people are complaining about words then its a success. So my question is why use words that might piss people off?

Posted by: Pepsi One is Fun | March 28, 2009 01:29 PM

No, it did not go too far. Personally, I think the Holocaust On Your Plate campaign was the best thing PETA has ever done.
Only a speciest and those like them would not be able to find a connection between animal suffering and human suffering.
The only difference I see between the two is that humans have moved their hate towards other species - they just switched from people to animals. That's all.

Posted by: Aneliese | March 28, 2009 03:16 PM

As long as we have slaughterhouses and hunting fields we will continue to have homicides and battlefields.

Posted by: Brien Comerford | March 28, 2009 03:36 PM

How can empathy and compassion be measured, you either feel it for the terrible suffering of victims or you don't.

Posted by: Maureen | March 28, 2009 07:21 PM

Of course not. I love this campaign. I think it really raises awareness because the picture you use together are really alike. This is actually a very smart campaign. I hope the high court will change their minds soon.It might end up saving quite a few lives x

Posted by: Sophiya | March 28, 2009 08:42 PM

This display is excellent and I support PETA's placement of it in Germany. Hopefully the controversy surrounding the display will encourage more discussion, critical debate, and exposure of what animals endure from human cruelty for years to come in Germany and throughout the world.

Posted by: Daniel | March 28, 2009 10:01 PM

The term holocaust has been taken hostage by many of the Jewish faith, to the point that other genocides that have occured in the last few decades were not allowed to be referred to as a holocaust. Fortunately, more progressive and open-minded Jews see this differently and were the initiators of the HOYP. The older German generation is still extremely conflicted, resulting in infringements upon the right to free speech that would be totally illegal under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I am confident that future generations of Germans will agree that the massive cruel killing of animals can be called a holocaust without taking away anything from the dreadfulness of the holocaust under the Nazi regime.

Posted by: Jacob Dijkstra, M.D. | March 28, 2009 11:25 PM

I think peta continues to do it's cause a disservice with the "nazi campaign".

The major difference between the deaths of animals and the deaths of Jews, gypsies and whoever else Hitler had no tolerance for, was that animals are killed for a purpose- food and clothing. The Jews were killed for nothing, simply racism and spite. People rounded up on the size of their nose, their name or their associates, exterminated and knowing they were. no doubt some watching their own children die with them.
A campaign that doesn't get the gist of the difference, irrespective of whether one believes it is wrong to eat animals, is destined to fail.

Posted by: rojo | March 29, 2009 06:39 AM

Odd that it seems okay for people to compare humans to animals when they say things like "but other animals eat animals so why can't we?" or "Holocaust victims were treated like animals." But apparently it isn't okay to say "animals are treated like Holocaust victims."

Hmm....

Posted by: Allen | March 29, 2009 09:54 AM

animals do not have to suffer over something terrible happend animals did not do anything against any pepole no more sufering of any animal or human

Posted by: laura hernandez | March 29, 2009 10:18 AM

I hope All animal crualty peopl burns in hell

Posted by: bob | March 29, 2009 02:01 PM

I have a slightly different point of view on both subjects. I agree with Germany on the ban, reducing people to farm animal equivalents is definitely wrong. However, I grew up around cattle-ranching (what would be called free-range I believe). I've shown several prize animals at state fairs. What today's factory meat, pork and poultry farms do can hardly be called "farming." More like mass-cruelty to maximize production and profits. In ethical, oraganic and *SUSTAINABLE* farming and food production practices, the animals, their by-products, etc. are vital. No environmental pollution and no cruelty while providing a balanced meal for people. Totally vegan, while it may be desirable, is not fully attainable sustainably. Complete balanced vegan proteins cannot be grown and transported to all markets effectively (food-miles, fuel consumed, etc.) Prior to the Industrial revolution, beef and pork were consumed, but were relatively rare delicacies. There is absolutely no need for the type of cruelty factory farms currently employ, and there are FAR MORE EFFICIENT sources of proteins essential to a healthy human being. Not necessarily beef, pork or poultry, nor completely vegan either.

Posted by: David | March 29, 2009 06:53 PM

I just so happen to view this HBO documentary called Death on a Factory Farm. I had seen a few years back that PETA had posted some info and video footage about this same documentary. Just wanted to say how sad it was to see how the pigs are raised for slaughter and how the little piglets are treated. Then in the end they went to court with 10 charges and left with 1 charge against the owners son about how he abused the pigs along with 250.00 fine and 1 year probation. These animals suffer so bad. I believe it is very similar to a Holocaust. Eva said it perfect. Great statement. WI

Posted by: Kris Shulfer | March 29, 2009 08:10 PM

OMGOSH what is wrong with people? Animals have as much feelings as any human being, so what makes them less important? I swear, stupid stuff like this is sickening.

Posted by: Gina | March 29, 2009 10:18 PM

I think many people see the comparison as disrespect to the human race. The victims of the holocaust were killed mercilessly and senselessly, whereas a lot of people think of the killing of animals as a means to get food.

I understand your point, PETA, but I think there must be another way to get people to consider the plight of the animals.

Posted by: Sk | March 30, 2009 12:31 AM

While watching "Death on a Factory Farm" I saw the investigator had worked on an earlier documentory "Dealing Dogs" which showed the plight of dogs destined for animal research. I went on HBO's website and purchased the DVD. To put it simply, I was as horrified as when I watched "Earthlings". To see how humans treat animals and our supposed best friend, I am inclined to believe we, as a race, are conducting a holocaust on animals. No, I don't think PETA is going to far with its Holocaust on your plate exhibit. I just wish PETA would find ways to better communicate it's core message to the masses.

A note to other posters; Yes, your dog can be vegitarian. Our dog has been vegetarian for over two years and has never been heathier. Look at PetGuard's website.

Posted by: SparkyGump | March 30, 2009 10:36 AM

When people hear the holocaust compared to animal slaughter it only offends them because they dont consider the acts that we do upon animals to be equally as horrific to the acts committed during the holocaust. However if they really thought about it, it is a perfect analogy. Just as German soldiers had accepted the mindset that the Jewish people were less than human and undeserving of life, so do many of us today feel that way about the animals. Its sad that people wont accept the suffering and magnitude of the slaughter of animals for food as equal to that of the holocaust. It just goes to show that some people will never see animals as sentient beings deserving of basic rights to life.

Posted by: Erin | March 30, 2009 10:53 AM

I am German born and know that the majority of the German population did NOT know about the holocaust happenings while they occurred. The German population would have revolted against it. The holocaust machine worked in secrecy.
Presently, the part of the German population which KNOWS about the treatment of animals in factory farms, wishes to reduce the suffering of animals. The Germans are far ahead of other countries in recognizing that farm animals should not have to suffer. In other words:
The German population is utterly supportive of the animal movement. HOWEVER, Peta is confronting not the population, but a branch of the GOVERNMENT. The government still, in today's time, has its hands full in dealing with the consequences of the holocaust. I understand the German High Court not wanting to be subjected to one MORE public agency's claims about the holocaust.
In contrast I do not understand the court's choice of words "banal, trivial". The court could have explained that the matter of factory farming is serious, but that it does not wish to be AGAIN confronted with images of the holocaust.

The point: keep in mind that The German High Court is not identical with the German population. And take notice that the holocaust touches one of the court's most tender and sensitive areas.
Therefore, Peta should have toned down the holocaust campaign in Germany. By the way I'm an enthusiastic Peta
member!

Posted by: Marianne Montague | March 30, 2009 12:48 PM

This campaign has not gone too far. This is a brilliant piece of highly thought-provoking education, and PETA has to continue to fight to allow its use in Germany.

PETA is not trivializing the lives of the human victims of the Holocaust. They are fully acknowledging the horrors of the Holocaust, and are simply drawing comparisons to what non-human animals experience on factory farms.

Humans ARE animals, and ALL animals deserve compassion and the right to a cruelty-free existence.

Posted by: Michele | March 30, 2009 01:01 PM

Humans and Americans have been 'Blessed' by 'God' long enough. It's time for the other living beings on the planet to be blessed with kindness. We eat them and we can't even grant them respect enough before we kill them?!

Posted by: Kliff | March 30, 2009 06:37 PM

The Holocaust was no doubt a terrible event AND SO IS what humans do to animals. One injustice does not minimize another. The greateast of all injustices was the Holocaust and IS the factory farming, the slaughterhouses, the animal research labs. but i must say that since humans abuse all animals, and humans are such filthy overpopulated virus like lifeform on this planet that human life is cheap then it is human deaths that TRULY ARE banal and trivial. of course selfish humans will never see that they are NOT the center of the universe. Truth be told, humans are such a terrible species whose deaths are equivalent to throwing away garbage. Objectivity could do wonders.

Posted by: Serenity | March 30, 2009 08:58 PM

Animal rights people should ALWAYS push harder. This is war- creatures are dying by the billions. Only a speciesist would argue that a human tragedy is of greater significance than an animal one. It is more identifiable to us, gives us reason to fear, but it is no worse. I applaud PETA for the effort, but I cannot respect the notions of small minded German officials.

Posted by: Jamie Rivet | March 31, 2009 02:45 AM

I'm not going to put in my two cents (except while I understand why the court said no to the ad, that doesn't make it right: I don't see how the names of the dead should be used to justify the mass slaughter of any innocent life). Just some facts on the holocaust:

The term holocaust originally derived from the Greek word holókauston, meaning a "completely (holos) burnt (kaustos)" sacrificial offering to a god. Its Latin form (holocaustum) was first used with specific reference to a massacre of Jews by the chroniclers Roger of Howden and Richard of Devizes in the 1190s. For hundreds of years, the word holocaust was used in English to denote massive sacrifices and great slaughters or massacres. During World War II, the word was used to describe Nazi atrocities regardless of whether the victims were Jews or non-Jews. It was only in the 1960s that the term was appropriated by scholars and popular writers to refer exclusively to the genocide of Jews.

The biblical word Shoah (שואה) (also spelled Sho'ah and Shoa), meaning "calamity," became the standard Hebrew term for the Holocaust as early as the 1940s.[8] Shoah is preferred by many Jews for a number of reasons, including the theologically offensive nature of the word holocaust, as a Greek pagan custom.

Also:

Other groups were also persecuted and killed, including ethnic Poles, the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, the disabled, homosexual men and political and religious opponents. The total number of victims of Nazi genocidal policies, including Poles, Romani, Soviet POW, and the handicapped is generally agreed to be between 9 and 11 million.

Posted by: lurking girl | March 31, 2009 11:57 AM

To be cruel is bad! Toward animals and people alike. I'm disappointed about the German High Court's decision.

P.S. I really agree with"Serenity".

Posted by: Petra Gilmore | March 31, 2009 01:40 PM

i completely on Peta's side! and futhermore there are many so-called holocausts in this world - also the holocaust committed by turkish military against Armenia - which turkey doesn't like to hear at all! and there is the holocaust committed by israeli troups against palestinians - and there is the holocaust committed by the american army against red indians - and there is the holocaust committed by french army against algeria, french colonies in africa and south and central america and and and - and of course the holocaust against innocent animals! a holocaust is a holocaust if some people like it or not!!!!!

H O L O C A U S T !!!!!!!!

Posted by: Rainbow Warrior | March 31, 2009 01:41 PM

Is it just me, or does anyone else have this sense of a worldwide dumbing down?

Germany!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Host of the 20th Century Holocaust, and they still have no clue how or why it happened.

The Animal Holocaust and the People Holocaust have everything to do with one another.

Sadly, people don't want to hear the truth, they don't want to see it, they don't want to talk about it, and they darn sure don't want to face it.

The Bible says "to each man is given the measure of faith. That did include Adolf Hitler, you know. Nobody wants to talk about Hitler, other then the obvious, he was a madman. Well, even madmen have their reasons and there is a fine line between genious and insanity.

Hitler was a painter who showed an affinity for nature, through his artwork. His paintings seem to express his fascination with the majestic grandiousity of the planet we live on, as compared to the smallness of our human existence. Never, ever, ever mess with a young painter who shows that kind of perception of the world in which he lives.

People probably were not very nice to Hitler. He was an oddball, socially maladjusted. (Probably had something to do with beatings inflicted upon him by his father; head,brain injuries) He was a vegetarian and loved animals.(Probably his only solace) He was horrified at slaughterhouse (Probably driven mad by them)

Hitler was clearly a very gifted individual who got the shaft. He must have been feeling very powerless when he decided to call upon the powers of darkness and join a satanic cult. There is no explanation for the People Holocaust or the Animal Holocaust other then the demonic forces and curses at play.

Why the Jews? The curse brought down upon them by the sins of thy fore fathers.

Heathens and pagans ate meat and sacrificed animals to idols. The Jews were not supposed to do that. They were supposed to lead people away from that. So what did they do? Manipulate the text, change a few verses around, and call it kosher.

Big Mistake!

Now we have factory farms and an entire culture of people both Jews and Christian, running half the globe, making a mockery of Christ, saying "Oh God gave us animals to eat"

NO no no no no no no no, that is INCORRECT!

Can the stomach say to the heart, because I am not the heart I am not a part of the body and therefore it be so?

I think the German High Court is wrong and they should wake up and smell the BLOOD.

Posted by: Saucy | April 1, 2009 10:43 AM

Hitler *wasn't* a vegetarian (its a myth -- he quite enjoyed sausage and pidgeon. His doctor TOLD him to go veg for his health, but he "just couldn't").

As for what Hitler did, as you see in my previous post, the Holocaust of Jews was first referred to in the ELEVEN-NINTIES. **Seven hundred and fifty years** BEFORE Hitler. The only difference between what Hitler did, and what had been not just permitted but ENCOURAGED for 2000 years (inquisition, anyone? Laws against the jews? Mass slaughter? Auto-de-fey?) was he did it on a scale never seen before. That was his evil. He took something that the Pope sanctioned, that other nations turned a blind eye to, and made it something else they had never seen before in history.

And actually, for "why the Jews" -- its nothing to do with religion, actually. Its entirely political. When the early Christians were starting up, and trying to get Rome to legitimise their religion (rather then, y'know, killing them), they couldn't. Because the Roman's killed Jesus. The political issues with this were rife. First, Jesus was a trouble-maker for the Romans. Second, the Romans killed him, which meant THEY were to blame for his death. So, using some literary manipulation, they "showed" how it was actully the Jews who killed Jesus, which left Rome off the hook. And by pandering to their previous beliefs, they were allowed to live as a cult, and eventually become the main religion.

Also, as for your "sacrifice animals to idols" have you EVER read the Old Testiment? Burn a bull every friday? Endless animal slaughter and sacrifise? God accepting and loving Abel's sacrifice of animals?

Pagans and "heathens" see their "idols" in the exact same way that christians see the cross. They are NOT worshipping the statue; the statue represents the greater idea, the being and god the spirt above, or within, or wherever it happens to reside. JUST like the cross.

And this whole "Hitler was Satanic" is utter crap. He was, according to reports and records, a Catholic. Perhaps a lapsed one, perhaps not-practising, but a LOT of important men were impressed with his godly ways, and his stress on being a good ol' fashioned christian boy.

Please get your facts straight. Please.

Posted by: lurking girl | April 1, 2009 12:28 PM

I am a German and ashamed that any court could say such a thing. The suffering of animals is not any different from the suffering of humans. Shame on you German court. Get over it. I know what it is all about. I grew up with it. Shame on you!!!!!!

Posted by: angelika | April 2, 2009 11:22 PM

This isn't the first time the holocaust and animal slaughter have been compaired. I remember hearing survivers say they were treated like animals. My father is a holocaust surviver (Auschwitz) and when I say slaughtering animals is another holocaust he shakes his head in agreement. Meat is meat whether is comes from a pig, cow, mouse or human. Suffering and killing is wrong.

Posted by: Ann Davis | April 2, 2009 11:34 PM

Bad things when good people do nothing.

Thank you PETA for doing somehthing!

Posted by: john649 | April 2, 2009 11:40 PM

I am Jewish and have older family members who lost relatives and friends in the Holocaust. I have always seen strong similarities between this and the treatment of animals in factory farming today. (Jews were described as being loaded into trains "like cattle.") PETA's use of that connection is uncomfortably accurate, and it is that discomfort level that A) upsets some people and B) makes others think further about the similarities. Remember that Jews (and gypsies and handicapped and other so-called undesireables) were killed in Nazi Germany because the people doing the killing were brainwashed into believing that these people were less worthy of life than other people. Factory farms kill animals by promoting the idea that they're less worthy of life than humans and it is acceptable to kill them to eat/wear/whatever. Who decided that the divine spark of life is less for a cow or a pig than for a human? I'm sure to that animal, its life is as precious to it as mine is to me. As long as any group of people sees another group of people as less than human, or views another species as less deserving of consideration, then we are not anything remotely resembling the higher form of life that we think we are.

Posted by: Arlene Steinberg | April 2, 2009 11:43 PM

lurking girl,

Do you really believe that God was pleased when his favored son, probably, the son who gave him the most love, the most time, the most reverence, when he took the most beautiful little lamb and put a knife through the little lambs throat?

Do you really believe that a God, famous for Love, Mercy, Kindness, Generousity, The "Fruit" of the Spirit, The Gifts of the Spirit, would ever require such a deed?

If you do,

Your in the Majority.

Posted by: Saucy | April 3, 2009 12:05 AM

It should NOT have been forbidden.
We have FREEDOM OF SPEECH !!!
This is unbelievable.
The judge is obviously a carnivore and in his eyes an animal cannot be compared to a human.
In my eyes the REAL BEAST is the last one of the two.

Posted by: jan roose | April 3, 2009 06:18 AM

As a Jew & as an Animal & Human Rights activist, I support this campaign. Holocausts exit every day for animals & humans in the World. Obviously we have not learned from the Nazi Holocaust of WWII when Jews, Gypsys, Gays & Disabled peoples & others were murdered, as is often said: "like animals". Keep at it.

Posted by: Suzanne Dragan | April 3, 2009 10:28 AM

As a Jew & as an Animal & Human Rights activist, I support this campaign. Holocausts exit every day for animals & humans in the World. Obviously we have not learned from the Nazi Holocaust of WWII when Jews, Gypsys, Gays & Disabled peoples & others were murdered, as is often said: "like animals". Keep at it.

Posted by: Suzanne Dragan | April 3, 2009 10:28 AM

I don't think the PETA campaign went too far. I think that Germany is very careful when dealing with the Holocaust and anything that relates to it. Nevertheless, the decision is insensitive and wrong. The campaign would have made the fate of the victims of the Holocaust appear banal and trivial, only if we think that the suffering and pain of animals are banal and trivial. And they're not. Animals feel pain and fear just like we humans do. I don't see much difference between the Holocaust and the cruel exploitation of animals nowadays. I know that such statements cause an uproar, but they're true.... Those who disagree, simply don't like what they see when they look in the mirror. My grandparents' family was murdered by the Nazis, so I am quite aware of the horrors of the Holocaust. But, I am also aware of the horrors that take place behind the walls of slaughterhouses and factory farms. And it's just as bad.
For all those who oppose to the comparison of animal suffering to the Holocaust, read Charles Patterson's book Eternal Treblinka (a term first used by author Isaac Bashevis-Singer, a vegetarian and animal rights activist, who also won a Noble Prize). Patterson explains it better than I do.

Posted by: Iris | April 3, 2009 02:06 PM

"The greatness or a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Ghandi

Posted by: Brianna Riccio | April 3, 2009 03:50 PM

To answer the question, yes, the court went too far and no, PETA Germany did not go too far. This is a lame attempt by the courts to not show the suffering of animals in the same light as the suffering of human. The German court should be ashamed of itself and I'm sure that the appeal will win.

Posted by: Brett | April 3, 2009 06:00 PM

WELL DONE, PETA!
The comparison between Concentration Camps and the torture perpetrated on defenceless animals for human items is perfect - it is classic NAZI behaviour. When homo Sapiens use animals for food, leather goods, fur, ivory, cash sale of baby monkeys, parrots, puppy mills, animal testing,etc., it is exactly the level of exploitation that was utilized by the NAZI's, with the same military precision and horrific results.

I suspect in 100 years, if Planet Earth is still around, the beings left in place will look back on us and say we were a horrible pack of bullies - and they would be right.

I reiterate, WELL DONE, PETA. It is also a pleasure to read this forum and feel the empathy of other humans who are not part of the bully mentality. I hope our offspring are part of the new world order of Vegetarians, who will value all animals and environments - assuming there are any animals left for them to value!

Posted by: Susan Duffy | April 3, 2009 07:40 PM

Peta is right on about this one a matter of fact factory farm killing the way animals are procesed now to be killed I say procesed because thats what Natzies called thier victims I t was known as industrilied killing and the same grusome idea was applied to killing of animal life starting mostly in the early 50 s right after WW2 Prior to this most animals lived on the farms with pig pens hen houses and cattle barns the way most of us piture a farm This abomination cruel factory farms should be put out business especilly when you know thier idea actually came from the most evil regrime ever known to man came from the Natzies I wouldn think thats all the more Gremany would regonize this for what it is the evil of these factory farms of death

Posted by: carol | April 4, 2009 06:18 PM

I am Jewish and the son of a Holocaust survivor (who has since passed away). I strongly support Peta's display and feel it's unfortunate that some people still don't understand that all living creatures are deserving of our respect. It brings to mind a famous Holocaust-related quote about indifference. I will paraphrase it and relate it to animals. First they came after the ants and I was not an ant so I did nothing. Then they went after the mice and I was not a mouse so I did nothing. Then they went after the elephants and I was not an elephant so I did nothing. Then they went after the human beings like me and there was no one left to stop it. I'm not sure I got the quote exactly right, but I think it makes the point nevertheless.

Posted by: Jason Platt | April 4, 2009 06:26 PM

I go to Germany a lot and I see a country thanksfully light- years away from its abominable past. Yet this decision from the High court is incredibly disappointing and a real step backwards. The truth is plain for all to see, why deny the obvious ? Germany of all countries should want to treat animals with care and respect.

Posted by: Patti Huisse | April 5, 2009 12:04 PM

What about the holocaust upon the German people in World War 2. What about the fire bombing of Dresden on February 13 1945 and many other German cities bombed and hundreds of thousands of German people killed. This was the holocaust of the second world war.

Posted by: Mark | April 6, 2009 12:01 PM

Thats right Mark, make Germany the victim of WWII.
The fact is, Germany started the war. The Wermacht and the SS Panzer divisions slaughtered untold millions of Russian, Polish, Belgium, French and Czechloslovokian civilians and many more other nationalities.
World War II was a war of attrition. Any war of that magnitude becomes that. You have to destroy the will of the people and the production capabilities of your enemies industrial centers. War is hell, but make no mistake who started WWII.
Its easy for people like you to trivialize the Holocaust and compare it to animal slaughtered for food. Its easy because you weren't there, you didn't lose your entire family and then spend 6 years in a concentration camp.
I didn't either, but I have studied this in college and I have since read about it. Read the memoirs of people who survived and tell me this is the same thing.
I know you can produce a few survivors that are sympathetic to your cause, but I be willing to bet the overwhelmingly vast majority wouldn't be so receptive comparing their hell to chickens and cows.

Posted by: Kurt K | April 6, 2009 01:47 PM

That's wrong Kurt,Germany was the victim of WW11.Germany starting the war is one of the biggest political lies of our times.The anti German anti Hitler propaganda is relentless.

Posted by: Mark | April 14, 2009 02:03 PM

Come on, you surely realised that this campaign was going to upset a lot of people.

Did it not occur to you that you (by this article at least) are not only comparing the suffering of the people in Treblinka, Belsen and all the other camps to that of animals being slaughted for food (which I am very much against, having been a vegetarian since I was 12- however whilst I do not dispute the fact that animals suffer greatly in slaughterhouses, I don't think they can be said to suffer equally to those people who were put into the german camps) but also that you were comparing them as a people to pigs, which to those of the Jewish faith would be highly insulting.

Lets have some context here, animal cruelty is horrible and in an ideal world shouldn't happen, animals dying is sad and upsetting, however whilst I would be hugely upset if my cat was run over and killed it would not even begin to compare to the same thing happening to my daughter. People are not comparable to animals.

Posted by: Kate | April 15, 2009 10:26 AM

Nice post Kate!

Mark,
I hope that you are trying to make a joke. If you really believe that, then you have problems.

Good day sir.

Posted by: Kurt K | April 16, 2009 04:22 PM