This piece is written by PETA and is opposite the editorial board. Reporting and sentiments do not reflect The Good 5 Cent Cigar staff. The following op-ed is in response to Kat Sheridan’s “They Need to Get a F–king Grip and Get the F–ck Off Our Campus,” published by The Cigar on Thursday, April 3.
If aliens came to Earth, and you had only seven minutes to convince them not to experiment on you, eat you, or otherwise exploit you, what would you say? 145 University of Rhode Island students recently had the chance to ponder this question, courtesy of peta2’s When They Came For Us virtual reality experience. The response from students was overwhelmingly positive, including from Ashly M., who said, “This [experience] is a great way to promote veganism.”
In this AI-powered encounter, aliens who see humans as inferior “abduct” you. Of course, you can remove the headset and end the experience at any time, but most students choose to complete the simulation—in which case, your only hope is to plead for your freedom. You might start by pointing out that your physiology differs significantly from that of the aliens, making experiments on you useless to them. You could argue that your capacity to feel pain and fear would make harming you cruel. Maybe you’d highlight your intelligence, reasoning, and ability to communicate. Perhaps the most convincing reason of all would be that your life matters simply because it matters to you.
These arguments, though compelling, are not unique to humans.
Other animals are intelligent, form complex social bonds, and experience emotions. For example, chickens communicate using over 30 distinct vocalizations, and cows recognize faces and build friendships. These animals, like us, are not objects or commodities—they are individuals, each with intrinsic worth and the right to live free from cruelty. As student Tola said, “This is such a cool experience. It puts you in the place of animals and that’s how animals are treated, and I’m definitely going to talk to my friends about this.”
When They Came For Us is only virtual reality, but the cruelty that countless living, feeling animals endure is actual reality. Humans burn, blind, and poison them in the name of “science;” we kill and eat them; we electrocute them to steal their skin and fur; we beat them into submission to make them entertain us. “[U]ntil you really think about each one of those souls it doesn’t really hit you,” student Fred said. “[F]or me, this experience has been a total eye-opener.”
Consider the experiments we conduct on other animals. Most are irrelevant to human health, don’t contribute meaningfully to medical advances, or are undertaken purely out of curiosity. The National Institutes of Health has noted that the failure rate of drugs tested on animals is nearly 96%.
While other species’ reactions to drugs and diseases differ from those of humans, all animals feel pain and fear. When a monkey screams during an experiment or a cow tries to escape slaughter, these reactions are not unlike what we’d do if aliens used us as test subjects or as food.
The encounter gave student Hafizan Y. clarity. He said, “This experience was great … when I go to the store I don’t see the slaughter, so I think that’s why it’s so easy for people. They don’t make that connection. I’m going to start making a change.”
We can all be better—and every day is full of opportunities to do so. We can use only products not tested on animals. We can leave animals off our plates and leave their skin, fur, and feathers out of our closets. We can avoid petting zoos, circuses, and other venues that exploit animals for entertainment. And we can seize every opportunity to speak out against cruelty. One easy way is by texting the keyword CHANGE to 30933 to join peta2’s “Reply X” program and receive weekly text messages with action alerts and tips on how to help animals.
So, what would you say if they came for you? Student Conner summed it up perfectly: “Honestly it’s super simple. Like my dad says, now that I know better I got to do better.”
Melissa Rae Sanger is a licensed veterinary technician and a staff writer for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.
Terms for automated texts/calls from peta2: https://peta.vg/txt. text “STOP” to end. “HELP” for more info. msg/data rates may apply. U.S. only.
