Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, made headlines last month by announcing that she “openly hopes” foot and mouth disease (FMD) comes to the United States. Now one of her lieutenants is singing the same awful tune. Bruce Friedrich, coordinator of PETA’s “vegan program,” sent a letter last week to organizers of the World Dairy Expo, scheduled for Madison, Wisconsin in October. The gist of Friedrich’s letter? Cancel the dairy show, or FMD will certainly be brought into the U.S. by European exhibitors. Friedrich said that PETA would “welcome [FMD] in this country for the positive effect on animals,” and also told the Arizona Republic that “if it happens, we’ll write a massive thank-you note because it’ll turn a massive amount of people into vegetarians.”
