Cruelty to Animals

A week or so ago on a Saturday morning Bruce and I were finishing our lax and bagels when we heard a commotion outside. When we went to the door to check it out, we noticed a police car parked in front of the house. What in the world is going on? I walked out to the end of the driveway to see. Two houses up the street a small group of people carrying signs were shouting slogans of some kind into a loudspeaker. "Free the monkeys!" they blared. And then, "Margaret Hogan's hands are covered in blood." (Name changed to protect my neighbor). I checked with the police officer. They are PETA people, he told me. We've been asked to keep an eye out. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), for those who don't know, is an organization that "exposes animals suffering in laboratories, in the food industry, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry." So why were they protesting in front of a specific house on my street? Because we are located within two blocks of the Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where scientific research is regularly conducted with and without animals. My neighbor is a scientist who works in one of those labs. Prior to this demonstration she received death threats (presumably from this same group) and the pavement in front of her house was spray painted with similar slogans. I believe that people have a right to protest and demonstrate for their beliefs. My question is: Is it morally justifiable for them to single out an individual in a private home to prove their point? Clearly, they think so and they also think it is an effective technique for getting their message out. I think it has the opposite effect of making people unsympathetic to their stated purpose. As for my neighbor? She moved.