# Okay, Now PETA's Trying To Be Funny . . . Right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595 "2003-04-23T14:58:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/1 "2003-04-23T14:58:57Z")
HAMBURG, N.Y. (AP) – A national animal rights group has offered Hamburg officials $15,000 to change the town’s name to Veggieburg. “The town’s name conjures up visions of unhealthy patties of ground-up dead cows,” said Joe Haptas, spokesman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, in a letter faxed Monday to Hamburg Supervisor Patrick Hoak. PETA offered to supply area schools with $15,000 worth of non-meat patties for the name change. —Okay, they’re good-naturedly ribbing themselves, right? They’re not actually serious—_right?_ ---
**Author:** ![modro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@modro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/modro)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/2 "2003-04-23T15:02:26Z")
I certainly hope so… That is just… Ridiculous. I can’t really think of what else to say. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/3 "2003-04-23T15:02:27Z")
Look out… Veggiefurt’s next. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/4 "2003-04-23T15:03:29Z")
With PETA, it’s hard to tell. In my opinion, they don’t seem to have much of a sense of humor AT ALL, and they’re willing to do just about anything to get their point across. Remember, this is the same organization that harrassed _children_ with slaughterhouse pictures at an Oscar Meyer festival. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/5 "2003-04-23T15:05:45Z")
PETA also wanted Fishkill to change its name to Fishsave. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/6 "2003-04-23T15:07:28Z")
What about Veggie-lo, New York (both for the actual animal itself and the wings named after this town)? Also, it’d be cool if they tried to get Boston to officially change it’s name to Beantown. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/7 "2003-04-23T15:07:54Z")
Nah, they’re probably serious. A couple of years ago they tried to get the town of Fishkill to change its name to “Fishsave.” They left places like Catskill and Normanskill alone for some reason. Why do they always pick on New York? As an aside, there’s a sign on a bridge on Rte. 9 that says “Normanskill Creek.” Cracks me up every time I see it. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/8 "2003-04-23T15:08:04Z")
Are they sure that’s legit? I mean I coud make some bogus letterhead and fax it to people too… ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/9 "2003-04-23T15:08:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beagledave \* > \*\*PETA also wanted Fishkill to change its name to Fishsave. > > Seriously. \*\* Ah yes…[here’s](http://www.cnn.com/US/9609/06/fishy.name/) the link. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/10 "2003-04-23T15:10:43Z")
Does PETA even realize that they’ve become a laughingstock that no one takes seriously? It seems that most people would agree with their core goal - to reduce or eliminate animal suffering - but their continued idiotic antics are driving people away. Even people that might support them if they weren’t so asinine. I mean, does changing Hamburg’s name to Veggieburg actually accomplish anything? Wouldn’t that $15k be better spent elsewhere? Like, say, adopting or supporting homeless animals. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/11 "2003-04-23T15:12:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exgineer \* > \*\*They left places like Catskill and Normanskill alone for some reason. Why do they always pick on New York? \*\* That because the former is not about killing cats, it’s about murderous felines. And the latter is actually “Norman skill”. He was crafty that Norman. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/12 "2003-04-23T15:14:57Z")
That’s not “roadkill”, it’s “unattained roadsave”. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/13 "2003-04-23T15:25:24Z")
Just on the off chance people don’t know this, New York was originally a Dutch colony, so the state is FILLED with cities, towns, lakes, streams, mountains, etc., with Dutch names. “Kill” is the Dutch word for a creek or a stream. So, the name “Fishkill” has NOTHING to do with murdering guppies! A “fishkill,” in Dutch, is simply a stream that’s filled with fish. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/14 "2003-04-23T15:33:27Z")
Filled with fish? More like imprisoning poor fishies that would rather roam free! The humanity! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/15 "2003-04-23T15:36:48Z")
You know, $15k seems like a lowball offer to me. How much did Truth or Consequences, N.M., get for changing its name? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/16 "2003-04-23T16:01:02Z")
It’s not even $15,000 in cash. It’s fifteen K in “non-meat patties” (there’s a jingle there…“two non-meat patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese…”) Are they serious? Their spokesman said yesterday that “they’re serious as a heart attack,” so we have to assume that they are. I mean, they can’t even come up with a _good_ dumb joke… The Hamburg commissioners should have agreed to do it on the grounds that PETA change its own name to People Eating Tasty Animals. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/17 "2003-04-23T16:01:13Z")
I hear there are some extreme animal-rights people who consider keeping pets to be virtually enslaving the animals in question. Nothing PETA does surprises me anymore. Sometimes amuses, sometimes horrifies, but never surprises. I LOVE animals, but they’d never believe me if I told them so. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![mmm.forbidden\_doughnut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@mmm.forbidden\_doughnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmm.forbidden_doughnut)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/18 "2003-04-23T16:05:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\* > > —Okay, they’re good-naturedly ribbing themselves, right? They’re not actually serious—_right?_ \*\* [Homer Simpson] mmm… ribs… [/Homer Simpson] ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/19 "2003-04-23T16:07:33Z")
Some PETA idiots in the State of Washington started “rescuing” guide dogs from blind people to release them from their enslavement, and the state actually had to pass a law making it a felony to steal someone’s guide dog. Sheesh. Why, if PETA is so concerned about the well-being of animals in this world, don’t they worry about young HUMAN mammals? I mean, they’re animals, too, right? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595/20 "2003-04-23T16:23:02Z")
Oh, _please_ tell me that was just a _Saturday Night Live_ sketch! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-petas-trying-to-be-funny-right/170595.md?page=2)