What You Don’t Know About PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been described as the most successful radical organization in America. PETA seeks “total animal liberation,” according to its president, Ingrid Newkirk. That means no meat or dairy, no aquariums,
no circuses, no hunting or fishing, no fur or leather, and no medical research using animals(“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals” par.1).PETA makes nearly $30 million each year, raised from pet owners who think their donations actually help animals. PETA has been known to be a group of extremists who are all about protecting
animals, often breaking into fashion shows to throw blood on fur-wearing models, liberating lab animals, or showing gory videos outside of fast food restaurants, but PETA has never been accused of hurting animals; that is until recently(Collinspar.6).

In June 2005 two PETA employees were arrested on felony charges after they were caught dumping bags filled with dead dogs and cats in a dumpster behind a supermarket. When police caught the two PETA employees they found 18 dead dogs in plastic bags in the dumpster and 13 more dead dogs still inside the van. A box filled with syringes and lethal drugs was also discovered inside the van registered to PETA. An autopsy was performed on one of the dogs, and they found that it was healthy before it was killed (Cassingham par.1). PETA, who collects millions of dollars in donations by pretending to care for animals has killed 17,400 pets since 1998. PETA has been picking up the animals from North Carolina animal shelters, promising to find them good homes,
and instead has been killing them at PETA headquarters and storing them in giant walk-in
freezer, or euthanizing them in vans and tossing them into dumpsters (PETA kills animals
par. 3-4). It seems to me that they would rather use their money on cheap publicity stunts,
rather than finding the animals suitable homes.

PETA has been known to be a bit radical. Ingrid Newkirk once said in The New Yorker, “We are complete press sluts.” In an effort to win more media exposure, PETA began to buy stock in restaurant and food companies that serve and sell meat. PETA’s goal as a shareholder is to “economically cripple” these companies, force them to increase the retail price of meat, and get consumers to begin eating less of it. Newkirk believes their radical tactics work for the organization. PETA has compared animal farmers to
serial killers, have said that a shark attack on a little boy was “revenge” against humans who had it coming anyway, and have branded parents who feed their kids meat and milk “child abusers”. Im sorry, I disagree. I also think throwing blood on a fur-wearing model, stalking and harassing fast-food restaurant executives, and telling children that their mommys kill animals is not the best way to get someone to listen to you. “Arson, property
destruction, burglary and theft are ‘acceptable crimes’ when used for the animal cause.”-
Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA. It seems to me that they would rather use their money on cheap publicity stunts, rather than finding the animals suitable homes (PETA sucks pg.1).

Don’t get me wrong, I love animals and don’t believe in animal abuse but I just think it is ridiculous that these people put animals lives above humans. For example, Bill Maher once said, “To those people who say, `My father is alive because of animal
experimentation,’ I say `Yeah, well, good for you. This dog died so your father could live.’ Sorry, but I am just not behind that kind of trade off.” Well Bill, If I had to kill a dog to save my own life or the life of someone that I love, you better believe I would do it. Let us hope that someday we do not have to use animals for medical research, but I would rather see a million rats die than 1 human. I have seen the devastation that cancer causes,
I have seen the horror of a family member that died too soon. If animal experimentation can stop this then I am for it. It makes me sick to know that when Tom Regan was asked which he would save, a dog or a baby, if a boat capsized in the ocean, he said, “If it were a retarded baby and a bright dog, I’d save the dog”, or that Alex Pacheco, director of
PETA stated, “We feel that animals have the same rights as retarded children.” (PETA sucks pg.1).

PETA regularly targets kids as early as elementary school with violent and graphic anti-meat and anti-milk propaganda. They do this without parental consent.PETA boasts of having “the largest youth membership of any animal rights organization,” with
over 800,000 Peta members. PETA lures young children using graphic comic books, toys, schoolyard demonstrations, and send them e-mail alerts. PETA’s website for kids puts a skull and crossbones next to the logo of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and tells the horror story of a fast food restaurants. They also hand out trading cards to kids that tell them
drinking milk will make them fat, pimply, flatulent, and phlegm-ridden(People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals pg.1). How dare PETA tell our children “Your Mommy Kills Animals” and hand them a comic with an obvious mother figure on the cover stabbing a bunny, or tell them that if they drink milk they will get fat! PETA preaches to
people with facts against the milk industry such as, products made from cow’s milk are far from ‘natural’ for humans and anything but humane for cows. Milk is obviously not killing anybody on a daily basis and cows are not dying from milking machines. PETA
also believes that milk cows are given little living space. I don’t think that a cow that was undergoing tremendous suffering could still be able to produce milk. What PETA says is obviously a myth.

After more than 100 dead dogs were dumped in a trash dumpster over four weeks Adria J. Hinkle and Andrew B. Cook were arrested and charged with 21 counts each of animal cruelty, a felony that can carry prison time, along with littering and obtaining
property by false pretenses. This is odd because they are members of this radical animal-rights group that opposes meat-eating, and are now on trial for the strangest of charges, killing animals. The group with 1.6 million supporters is now accused of tossing garbage bags full of euthanized cats and dogs into a Dumpster behind a Piggly Wiggly
Supermarket. Jurors now have to decide whether Hinkle and Cook were providing humane deaths to animals or taking animals on the promise of finding them homes and secretly killing them. PETA’s official count of animals they kill is 86.3 percent (The Truth about PETA par. 2). But if they’re going around picking up animals, killing them while they drive and destroying the evidence by dumping the bodies in the trash, how are those deaths being reported? My guess is that the actual percentage is much higher. The more I learn about PETA, the less I think of them, how dare they lecture anyone about the “ethical” treatment of animals.

Works Cited
Cassingham, Randy. “The Truth about PETA.” This Is true.17 July 2005.
Collins, Kristin. “PETA foes salivate at cruelty trial.” Lifestyle Magazine 24 Jan. 2007: 1.
“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.” Activistcash 31 Mar. 2008.
“PETA’s Dirty Secret.” PETA Kills Animals 31 Mar. 2008.
“What is PETA?” PETA SUCKS 31 Mar. 2008.