I was puzzled when I first saw the listing for today’s demonstration outside the Egyptian Consulate at 180 North Michigan Avenue. Egypt and animal cruelty? What was that all about? When I think of products from Egypt, I think about pillow cases and sheets, not camel meat. You know, the My Pillow guy, and his Giza-Dream cotton sheets.

When I arrived at the consulate shortly before Noon today, I discovered that People for the Ethical Treatment Animals—better known by the acronym PETA—was the sponsoring organization. For some reason, I think of PETA as a militant organization. Maybe long ago I read an account that made a negative impression on me.

On its website, PETA does address accusation of violence, specifically stating that it, “maintains a creed of nonviolence and does not advocate actions in which anyone, human or nonhuman, is injured. We are a legal activist organization that works to educate the public about the horrors of cruelty to animals through peaceful, nonviolent means.”

A dozen or so demonstrators in front of the Egyptian Consulate certainly dispelled any notion that I had of violence or militancy. All were friendly and approachable. When the two police officers on hand asked them to move closer to the building so as not to block pedestrian traffic, the group immediately complied—no lip. No one threw animal blood, or so much as raised a fist or used a curse word.

None of this explains their beef with the Egyptians, but their concerns became more apparent when they held up placards fashioned with images of camel heads. Several demonstrators were dressed in tan work suits. I was told that the suits represented camel coloring, so each of the humans became a symbolic stand-in for a camel once the camel heads were held aloft, covering human faces.

When I asked about camel abuse, Maria, who organized the demonstration, told me about the life-cycle of an Egyptian camel. The animals are first used to provide tourists with a seemingly authentic Middle Eastern experience: the camel ride. For the tourist, this is a fun and Instagrammable moment, but for the camel, it is a torturous one. The camels are forced to work in extreme heat. Their handlers force them to kneel repeatedly; beat them with sticks; and bind them. On at least one occasion, a camel was tied to the back of a truck, and then dragged through the street. Many of the tourists are oblivious to the harm that their lark is inflicting, but on its website, PETA does include quotes from some tourists who were appalled when they saw how the camels were treated.

When a camel finally breaks down, it is unceremoniously sent to a slaughter house rather than being “put out to pasture.” All of this has been documented in a March 30, 2023 article on PETA Asia’s website. The article summarizes the findings from a PETA investigation.

I’ve attended a number of demonstrations at consulates around the city. PETA got lucky. The Egyptian Consulate is located on Michigan Avenue. surrounded by several restaurants catering to the lunchtime crowd. Of course, this meant a lot of office workers and tourists passed the camels as they lined the sidewalk. Many took the pamphlets that PETA was handing out, but many refused the offer. I began to play a little game: as a passersby approached, I I asked myself, “Will he or she take the handout.” My effort became an exercise in reading body language and demographics shrouded in clothing.

Despite addressing serious issues, every demonstration has its moment of levity. Today’s transpired when a guy on a scooter slowly passed by while yelling, “I’ve been in Chicago 30 years. I’ve never seen a camel. You are in the wrong place.”

The demonstrations were more on point with their utterances. I don’t recall hearing, “This is what democracy looks like.” But the camels and their handlers did chant. “No excuse for animal abuse,” and “Entertainment is no excuse for abusing animals.”

There was one snafu, but I can’t fault PETA. The organizers cleverly strapped a flatscreen TV monitor to one of the demonstrators. It displayed a video showing camel abuse in Egypt. Unfortunately, the bright midday light made it virtually impossible to see the video—the screen appeared as black. There, however, was one saving grace. The audio track contained the sounds of distressed camels crying out. Next time, the organizers might want to simply play the sounds of distressed camels through a bullhorn. Just hearing the haunting sounds left a strong impression.

Overall, the demonstration was small, but an effective means to communicate PETA’s message.

Photographer’s Note. PETA apparently brought its own photographer, who like me, was using fill flash. While fill flash adds contours to otherwise shadowy faces and highlights colors. it does pose its own set of issues, including large reflections of white blotches on glossy surfaces. When I first saw the camel heads, I considered putting my flash back in my camera bag. I didn’t want large, white blotches sullying my images of the camel heads. Turns out that those heads either had matte or other non-reflective surfaces. I wondered whether the PETA photographer had some say in the design of the heads. If so, good job.

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