When it comes to the inhumane treatment of animals, Hannah Schein, the manager of undercover operations at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is not short of stories.
Schein appeared as a special guest speaker at the Fox Leadership lunch yesterday afternoon.
According to Associate Director of the Fox Leadership program Chuck Brutsche, Schein’s talk was part of a larger series to “gather leaders from all fields of work and industries so as to promote leadership in all its different forms.”
Over the years, Schein’s ability to uncover the animal industry’s secrets has earned her a nickname at PETA: the finder.
Yet this native of New Jersey was not predisposed to fight for animal rights. A graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Schein spoke yesterday about always enjoying the company of animals and how she started to deeply care about animal issues when she met her vegan husband.
After working as a research assistant for PETA, Schein found her calling as an undercover agent. She and her husband began to pose as potential buyers in order to visit farms or laboratories, taking undercover footage to post it online afterwards.
Their first operation took place in 2004, when they visited a fur factory that cruelly killed chinchillas.
The real goal of this investigation — and all others that have followed, Schein said during her presentation — was to raise awareness so that people know where the animal products that they use on a day-to-day basis actually come from.
Schein’s presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session. When asked about the reason behind her personal engagement, Schein said she believes the “Golden Rule — do unto others as you would want them to do to you,” applies to animals as well as humans.
In particular, she emphasized the fact that animal products are easily replaceable today and that they can sometimes be worse for humans’ health than their vegan counterparts.
Schein also had to answer to some criticism on the part of the students in the audience.
The main criticisms concerned the extremeness of PETA, as well as the alleged sexism of the organization’s marketing campaign.
On the extreme nature of some of the group’s actions, Schein responded that it was a deliberate strategy on the part of PETA in order to push the boundaries of what is accepted and acceptable in animal treatment.
In response to PETA’s alleged sexism — which is illustrated by the well-known campaign featuring naked women telling viewers that they’d “rather go naked than wear fur” — Schein explained that such provocative campaigns have been necessary for PETA to gain public attention and support.
“Serious, insightful, scientific reports do not make it in the news,” she said, “but naked celebrities do.”
“Because of their limited budget, it is the only way for PETA to make a lasting impression and to get extensive coverage on national TV,” she added.
The audience, which was in large part composed of vegans or vegan-friendly students, enjoyed the speech.
College senior Victor Galli, the President of the Penn Vegan Society, thought that “it gave a very real perspective into the life of an animal advocate and PETA employee.”
He added that “it is important to really listen to what PETA actually says and stands for because unfortunately it is very often misrepresented in the media.”
This article has been updated to reflect that Victor Galli is the President of Penn Vegan Society, not a member, and that the organization is named Penn Vegan Society, not Penn Vegan Club.
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