Boobs for sure

PETA has either lost what little reason it had left, or it’s become the victim of an outstanding hoax. The news wires were humming this evening with the hard-to-believe story that the animal-rights zealots had asked Ben & Jerry’s to use human breast milk in place of the bovine sort in its ice creams. Funky Monkey indeed.

“If Ben and Jerry’s replaced the cow’s milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers—and cows—would reap the benefits,” explained a letter from Tracy Reiman, executive vice president for the group. “The breast is best!”

She stopped short of volunteering her services.

But Reiman did explain that dairy cows are kept pregnant to maintain their milk production, with considerable wear. It also noted that male calves are turned into veal because they don’t generate milk, a key biological fact that Reiman noted in her letter. Presumably some of the males are needed to make more baby cows, but there was no verification in the note.

The letter was sent to the ice cream chain’s co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. You can see it here, along with the press release that PETA distributed.