Tell CBS to Stop Killing Animals in Cheap Attempts to Boost Ratings!

CBS is at it again. Under the "leadership" of its president, Les Moonves, the network has become known for its gratuitous cruelty to animals—all done for ratings. First, rats and pigs were violently killed on Survivor to shock viewers, and now Moonves and his cronies have stooped to a new low by having kids kill animals on CBS' new show Kid Nation. You may wonder how Moonves missed the lesson that encouraging young people to kill animals (in this case, chickens, rats, and pigs) is not only bad for animals but also bad for kids—and the rest of society. “Murderers ... very often start out by killing and torturing animals as kids,” according to Robert K. Ressler, who developed profiles of serial killers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Although we are loathe to call attention to CBS' new "controversial reality show," we thought that all the people who contacted us with their concerns might want to write to the person who's been at the helm of CBS ever since the beginning of the network's thirst for animal blood. For those unfamiliar with the show, Kid Nation features a group of kids who are "left" in an Old West-style town for 40 days. In the latest episode, some of the kids are shown arguing about whether or not to kill three chickens for dinner. Several of the children had grown close to the chickens during their time on the show and didn't want them to be killed. Eventually, a small group of children convinces the others to go along with killing the animals because no other protein sources are available to them. The kids proceed to chop off the birds' heads on air. Some of the children were clearly traumatized.

Moonves and CBS should have ensured that these kids had access to vegetarian protein sources (such as beans, nuts, whole grains, veggie burgers, etc.) so that they could have gone with their compassionate instincts and not killed these animals. Under the premise of showing "reality," Moonves and CBS have now caused animals to die and kids to be scarred, just so the network could make more money.

Please write to Moonves immediately and demand that CBS institute a ban on killing animals for its shows:

Leslie Moonves, Chair and CEO   
CBS Television Network
7800 Beverly Blvd., Rm. 23
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2112
323-575-2669
http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.shtml