PETA...friend to animals?

[quantumzero]

Dose anybody know the driving force behind this bunch of do-goods? They claim to be animal rights advocates, but in the recent past, they sneaked onto my friends farm where he raises exotic and rare birds, and cut away the netting from the pens and, once set free, most of them, hundreds, were slaughtered by cars on the nearby roadway.
Its in their mission statement that animals were not meant to be "kept". But the truth is that most of the animals they take in are put to death.
Whoever they are, they seem to catch the interest of wealthy and/or famous people to donate to their tax exempt endeaver, and misrepresent them to the public.
I guess my question is who the hell are these people, and what is their real agenda? Anybody?

[Ptah]

I guess my question is who the hell are these people, and what is their real agenda? Anybody?

For the lack of anything better to drown out their own uncomfortable inner void, they take up missions to screw with other people in the name of some baseless ideal. See also: religion.

[eggs]

They are pretty bad. They take in way more money than they send out and have been linked to terrorist groups like the ELF.

http://www.animalscam.com/peta_7things.cfm

There is a lot more information about it if you look. The ASPCA is probably a better organization if you want to do something to help animals.

[V Profane]

http://www.petakillsanimals.com/

Penn & Teller on PETA: Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTQCQ1eI7Is) - Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kWPkNvWOxI) - Part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK1wE3-aKqo)

[Martoon]

Being a proponent of actual ethical treatment of animals, I really dislike PETA in how they seriously undermine the credibility of sane, balanced people who are opposed to cruelty to animals. "What, you don't like me chaining my dog in the backyard, and then letting it starve to death? Are you one of those PETA freaks?"

I think my favorite stunt of theirs was handing these out to children:


http://www.leftist.org/haightspeech/archives/images/peta.jpg

[Methofelis]

PETA is horrific.

Not only do they desire the death of domesticated animals (we made them, therefore we bastardized them) but also many breeds of dog as well, including, but not limited to: Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans, American Pit Bull Terriers, Mastiff breeds and guardian dogs. Why? They are a "man-made danger," supposedly.

They not only release purely domesticated animals into the wild to die, but they also, as stated above, support ELF and ALF -- two groups known for arson, theft, destruction of property, et cetera.

They also claim to operate "no-kill" shelters only. This is untrue. Any breed of dog they dislike, or any animal they do not wish to take the time to rehabilitate is destroyed -- and not always humanely.

They have been known to cause animals great distress in their "rescue" missions, ostracize many animal lovers for the simple fact of eating meat, and promoting violence in the name of the animals.

I am a rabid animal rights supporter. I have taken in and rehabilitated numerous animals (not one turned down because of breed -- that's idiocy) and I cannot stand them at all.

They claim to be the only good guys -- but they are just another money-hungry group looking to rile up the masses. It isn't about the animals. It is against humans.

EDIT: The Humane Society can be just as bad, but quieter about it.

[zhang_bob]

As a Vegetarian and someone philosophically on the same page as People for Ethical Treatment of Animal or PETA, my biggest problem with PETA is it seeks to publicise it's goal in a manner that I believe to be derogatory to vegetarians and vegans, who PETA claims to represent.

Now, dressing up in a chicken costume and protesting outside KFC is pretty much harmless. I think we can all agree that a demo of this nature really isn't a problem. It's not going to change minds, and it really makes the vegetarian movement look pathetic. But Peta went further by upping the stakes by handing out Blood Buckets (peta2.com/TAKECHARGE/t-bloodybucket.asp) outside KFC establishments, and Unhappy Meals (http://www.goveg.com/mccruelty_unhappy.asp) outside Mcdonalds establishments, then I think is a problem, particularly since the campaigns are aimed at children, and whilst I see nothing wrong with keeping children informed, I think that this crosses a line.

PETA's attention whoring reached a new low back in 2003 with the introduction of the holocaust on your plate campaign (http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/28/peta.holocaust/) . It was quickly retired, particularly since it managed to offend pretty much everybody.

The next on the agenda is that of PETA's lettuce ladies (http://www.lettuceladies.com/). Feminists have criticised them, because the premise is rather simple,"Here's some pussy. Now go vegetarian!" It's not just demeaning to women, but it's also cheapening the vegetarian movement. Not to be caught out by sex discrimination, PETA also has the brocolli boys (http://www.lettuceladies.com/broccoli_boys.asp), the male equivalent. Not as much flesh on show, but the idea the same.

No one is going to stare at some woman with her breast hanging out and be inspired to be a vegetarian. This is why PETA's campaign is multi-pronged, and why they have the now-legendary video,meet your meat. (http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=mym2002) This is probably the best way to promote vegetarianism, as it's truthful, and tackles the major issue of why people go vegetarian. However, it's not the kind of thing to show in public, like PETA often do. Graphic images are best kept confined, used only on people who have took the time to find out about vegetarianism. It's like those bloody abortion protesters. They should bloody well keep the pictures of aborted fetuses out of my f**king face.

Another key campaign, is PETA's fur is for animals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1PB09AhOlY)campaign. Equate the behaviour of fur-wearers to animals, I kid you not. It's just going to make the average person think that PETA are an extreme bunch of people with weird ideas. And some of the remarks that Ingrid Newkirk has come out with pretty much back them up.


PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk has turned PETA's Norfolk, Virginia headquarters into her own death camp and mortuary. According to PETA's figures, in the year 2005 it killed 90% ( And these are just the deaths PETA admits to.) of her defenseless captives. Only 6% were adopted, a ratio far worse than most animal shelters in the U.S. PETA has killed more animals than 80% of the animal control shelters in the State of Virginia. While the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have on average found adoptive homes for 68 percent of its animals homes. In 2003 the Norfolk SPCA found adoptive homes for 73 percent of its animals. The Virginia Beach SPCA adopted out 66 percent. The same year PETA could only manage 14 percent.

According to Ingrid Newkirk, PETA's overall goal is "total animal liberation". If this if true why is it even taking in animals, let alone killing them?


Finally, I'm sure you'll have all heard allegations that PETA is a terrorist group. This is technically untrue, as PETA is a campaign group. Their money gets blown on dressing women in lettuce leaves, and making advertisements where fur-wearing women drink out of toilets, and the like, rather than on purchasing AK-47's. However, PETA's finances have shown to fund the legal defense of ALF members convicted of arson, and there is some crossover (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp960522/05220155.htm) between the two organisations.

You have to ask what you hope to get out of a group such as PETA. Some people want animal protection. There's an organisation for that already. (http://www.rspca.org.uk/) And some support vegetarian advocacy. I'd rather see The Vegetarian Society, or The Vegan Society doing the work.

PETA is thus an organisation whose purpose is served better by other groups. Therefore, it is redundant, and if you consider that its antics are bringing the vegetarian movement into disrepute, one has to consider that PETA are more than just redundant, from the vegetarian standpoint, but are actually a malicious organisation, which are detrimental to vegetarians.


-------------------------
According to the leader of the Animal Liberation Press Office in the UK, if any vegetarian or vegan wants to act as the Animal Rights Militia, the A.L.F will take responsibility. Cool, Robin Webb said I could start a firebombing campaign against PETA, and run Ingrid Newkirk over with a double decker bus.

Does anyone know the best way to get a Routemaster (http://www.answers.com/topic/routemaster?cat=biz-fin) into the USA?;)



An Interview with A.L.F. Press Officer Robin Webb. (http://www.nocompromise.org/issues/22robin.html )




The A.L.F. has had, and retains, an unchanging triad of policies. One, to rescue individual animals from suffering or potential suffering then place them in good...

Two, to damage or destroy property and equipment associated with animal abuse....

The third policy is to take every reasonable precaution not to harm or endanger life, either human or non-human....

And if someone wishes to act as the Animal Rights Militia or the Justice Department? Simply put, the third policy of the A.L.F. no longer applies.

Anyone, so long as they follow at least a vegetarian but preferably vegan lifestyle, can go out and undertake an action that falls within those policies and claim it as the Animal Liberation Front....

[Thevenin]

They deny themselves the pleasure of a perfectly grilled steak. If God did not want us to eat meat, why did he make it so delicious? Nothing like a lovely piece of dead meat cooked au point. Having delicious braised short ribs in wine sauce tonight. Rich, winy, complex, aaaahh! Something even an INTP can get emotional about.

[quantumzero]

Thanks everybody, I'm happy to see so many spirited responses. Its been enlightening.
I hope more of you post links like the Pen and Teller etc. They were informative and amusing.

[Martoon]

I am a rabid animal rights supporter.
You only support the rights of rabid animals?

[Methofelis]

You only support the rights of rabid animals?

The rabid ones are cute, with their hydrophobia and the shakes.
The other non-rabid animals are for the eatin'.

[JenniferInNY]

I strongly dislike PETA.. It's one thing to practice your beliefs and try to convert others, but, quite another when you try to make your beliefs law through the use of media manipulation and outright lies..
I can respect the beliefs of those that support animal rights, but, fact of the matter is that it is a belief system, nothing more. That doesn't mean it's the only right path or even that it's any more enlightened then a number of other beliefs people could choose to adhere too..
The HSUS is also an animal rights agency whereas the ASPCA is an animal welfare organization..
HSUS and PETA are behind reptile bans and pet bird bans. Peta is also behind pit bull bans and legislating farming practices that make it impossible from a financial perspective to grow animals for meat..
I could go on and on....

[Dark Razor]

I also dislike PETA and from what I have heard of them they are actually doing damage to the cause for better treatment of animals, and they also seem dangerous to people.

I actually just watched the movie "Earthlings", which I found to be intensely disturbing, even though I have seen similar scenes before.

Throughout the movie I was asking the question "why, why is their all this cruelty?", I mean I dont really see anything wrong with killing animals for food, since that is also what happens in nature, but in many of those scenes in the movie you could see people being openly sadistic and cruel and I wonder what is wrong with those people. If they werent slaughtering animals they'd probably be out slicing up other people. I wonder why humanity is the only species that openly enjoys being sadictic.


All the animal "sports" are also really disgusting and sadistic and shouldn't be allowed and hunting for "fun" is despisable as well.

Well, I knew the film would probably upset me, but I felt the need to know what is actually occuring, and I am glad I watched it, so I now have another point to add the list of why humanity is disgusting.

I have some more thoughts on the whole topic but I shall restrain myself, and I do still think that PETA is not being helpful.

[V Profane]

I wonder why humanity is the only species that openly enjoys being sadictic.

I'm pretty sure chimps have been observed displaying 'sadistic' behaviour, or at least killing for no apparent reason.

[Limey]

It's that crazy British bitch in Norfolk, VA. They should deport her and her terrorist organization.

Everytime one of the groups acts in their name, they should simply prosecute from the top until it cannot function.

[Noses]

My high school had a high number of students in PETA in my final year, but not so many that they were the majority. It came with the territory.

They were more irritating than Students Working Against Tobacco, because at least SWAT threw parties in the courtyard. PETA just bitched at me.

It really irritated me that they bitched because the cafeteria removed their soy burgers and replaced them with 100% beef ones because the majority of students were and still are meat-eaters, and they complained that the soy burgers weren't as good.

They were also pissed that every single day that the vegetarians and vegans were eating lunch in the cafeteria they had to go and tell the lunch ladies that they were eating and so they would make enough stuff to make them their lunch. Never mind the fact that everybody with anything of the sort (Food allergies, Lactose intolerant, certain food's interaction with medicine, etc.) had to do the same. The school did everything they could to make it easy for them, down to having a daily planned, pre-announced hot lunch menus for them, the food in the back, and routinely having meetings with the head lunch lady so that they could input what they liked and didn't.

But that wasn't good enough.

[Delilah]

I'm pretty sure chimps have been observed displaying 'sadistic' behaviour, or at least killing for no apparent reason.

True (http://www.livescience.com/animals/070514_femchimp_killers.html)

[Thor]

I'm pretty sure chimps have been observed displaying 'sadistic' behaviour, or at least killing for no apparent reason.

Dolphins have too. There was video a while back that was just awful to watch as two dolphins aggressively tossed around a smaller one that was desperately trying to get away.

[Limey]

ahh yes, the infamous Porpoise episode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZY6nYEq5i4)

[Ferrus]

I'm pretty sure chimps have been observed displaying 'sadistic' behaviour, or at least killing for no apparent reason.
Sadistic behaviour yes, but always as part of inter- or intratribal conflict.

[quantumzero]

I'm pretty sure chimps have been observed displaying 'sadistic' behaviour, or at least killing for no apparent reason.
I know a guy who's chicken coop was invaded by a weasel, fourty chickens were killed in one night, how much do you suppose one weasel can eat? Cats kill more than they can eat, Raptors, a federally protected species, kill for sport, etc.etc.etc.

It's that crazy British bitch in Norfolk, VA. They should deport her and her terrorist organization.


Everytime one of the groups acts in their name, they should simply prosecute from the top until it cannot function.
How is it that these animal nazis are still functional when the vast majority of their conduct is illegal? Dont they threaten our way of life with acts of violence? When they released my friends animals, not only was it cruel and inhumane that they were slaughtered by passing motorists, there was also damage to vehicles, and potentially human lives. Yet there they are, shaping laws in congress to the point where there will be no more Presidential pooch, or Presidential pardon for Tom the Turkey.


True (http://www.livescience.com/animals/070514_femchimp_killers.html)


Dolphins have too. There was video a while back that was just awful to watch as two dolphins aggressively tossed around a smaller one that was desperately trying to get away.

[quantumzero]

So, as I understand, peta is trying to give animals rights as if they're speaking for them and know what they want. They pose with them all warm and fuzy for the camera, then take them inside and gas 'em. I think if even one of our four dogs could speak, they would just as soon live out their days on a blanket in the sunny spot on the floor, or the shady spot out by the shed.
They want to take away our rights to "own" animals as personal property. But the vast majority of animal owners consider themselves to be stewards, and companions and keepers, and balk at the notion that any living thing can really own another living thing. For the sake of the care and maintainance and responsability that comes with animal stewardship, there MUST come animal OWNERSHIP.
This might be a little off topic, but has anybody seen some of the poor, gaunt protien deprived souls chaining themselves to buildings etc. in PETA's name? Isnt protien deprivation a brainwashing tactic?

[Shoot!]

I would like to note that chimps also cannibalize the victims of intertribal conflicts.