More from ZETA

This will be a short post because I have time but not a whole lot of it.  I was notified by an active member of the German zoo rights group ZETA a week beforehand that they were planning on organizing a public screening of COMING SOON as well as a public talk from one (modern) EFA member, Karel, in Berlin.  For reasons I have discussed before, I vehemently warned my contact against this, but was updated on Friday, after the demonstration, and assured that the film was introduced by Karel as being wholly a work of fiction.  Furthermore, the twenty members of the public who attended the screening, who were not favourably disposed towards upon arriving, left stating in a poll that they were much more likely to be more empathetic towards zoophiles.

Two ZETA members also gave an interview (German) on Sunday.

All in all, however critical I may be of everything that goes on, I must salute ZETA for stepping up and changing minds across Germany and hopefully, soon, across the world.  I hope that their actions will inspire other groups in other nations to stand up and ignite crucial debates.

The Local
NYT

ZETA Responds to Anti-Zoosexuality Law

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/germany-plans-to-outlaw-sex-with-animals-a-869402.html

Many of you may be familiar with the law that is being tossed around German parliament at the moment, intending to re-criminalize sex with animals.  I personally know little about what is going on there, which I suppose helps anyone intent on discovering who I am as they now know that I am either not German or else I am very sneaky.

In any case, though, while this news is absolutely terrible for any zoos in Germany -- and really, eventually, all of Europe -- it does come with a hefty silver lining: zoo rights group ZETA is showing its face and opposing the movement.

A month or two prior to today, I had contact with a member of ZETA via email.  We had an excellent discussion about some sensitive topics, and particularly how best to achieve greater tolerance from the public.  Now, I am thrilled to hear that, at least to some extent, they are putting themselves into action when they are most needed.

Unfortunately, it seems sometimes their message is being taken the wrong way by people.  This article spends much of its time relating the group to people running sex farms and painting their dogs' claws with nail polish.  Another logical fallacy comes in when they quote a vet who notes that it is abusive for dogs to have sex outside of their heat cycles, purely because they are heat cycles (to which we, as enlightened individuals, respond, "So women can only have sex for a few days per month?")

So it seems there is a ways to go: what needs to be done is for a solid line to be drawn.  We can't be viewed as people who just think sex with animals is great and let's all be free and use the critters however we please.  We need to let the public know that we hate sex farms and abusers, if anything, even more than they do.  A common enemy is the best way to forge an alliance; the public just needs to be shown that this enemy exists, and it's not us.

I also think that more than one person -- as it is now -- need to get their face out there.  Write to news stations or to relevant politicians who are likely to be sympathetic.  Tell people your story.  It's mentioned again and again in these articles just how common zoosexuality is, but it's also implied again and again that all or almost all of these individuals are delusional and selfish animal abusers.  People don't go looking for the truth in this incredibly taboo area; they want to stay as far from it as possible and continue hating it, so we really do need to get up in their faces ourselves at this crucial time.

ZETA's website.

Dec 9, 2012: A fantastic interview by Mr Kiok.