I shouldn't eat bacon but PETA can kill adoptable pets? and they still think they have a moral

[La Lioness Priyanka]

standing to judge my bacon eating?

I really dont get why people endorse PETA.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals killed most of the animals at its Norfolk, Virginia, shelter in 2014, according to preliminary figures filed with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.....

How much money did PETA take in last year from unsuspecting donors who helped pay for this mass carnage? $51,933,001: $50,449,023 in contributions, $627,336 in merchandise sales, and $856,642 in interest and dividends. They finished the year with $4,551,786 more in the bank than they started, after expenses. They did not see fit to use some of that to comprehensively promote animals for adoption or to provide veterinary care for the animals who needed it.

By contrast, the Lynchburg Humane Society, also in Virginia, took in about the same number of animals as PETA but saved 94% and without PETA’s millions. Seagoville Animal Services in Texas took in 1/3 of the numbers (about 700 animals) but only 1/20th of 1% of the amount of money that PETA did, saving 99% of them on a paltry $29,700 budget. In fact, hundreds of cities and towns across America are saving over 90% of the animals and doing so on a fraction of PETA’s wealth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/05/pets-shelter-euthanization-rate_n_6612490.html

[MohRokTah]

1. PETA lost me long ago.

I look at them no differently than any other extremist group now.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. if people have extra money to donate, why are they not giving to the humane society

or sea sheperds or other animal rights groups?

i really dont get the attachment to this group

[MohRokTah]

6. We donate to our local no-kill shelter.

When we have special food for a pet that eventually dies, we also donate the leftover food and meds to them.

[hamsterjill]

29. Ding! Ding!! Ding!!! Right Answer!

And my thanks to you for doing that.

Why people give to the bigger societies is really beyond me. If a society can afford to run a tear jerker commercial to increase it's donations, then you can bet, it is well funded.

Like you, I support only LOCAL rescues which I know well and actually see the donations being put to use for the good of the animals. Animal rescue is a hands on task.

[BlueCaliDem]

10. PETA understands the violent mindset of the American people better than those other

groups. The ASPCA, for example, need funding for all the rescued animals they take in, and the Animal Humane Society and Marine Animal Rescue are doing excellent work but don't employ "shock and awe" tactics that bedazzle moneyed donars. PETA knows how to market and they know their customers well, unlike the other three, very important animal rescue groups I've listed.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

14. i think you have hit the nail on the head.

[BlueCaliDem]

16. Thanks, Lioness. It's sad but true, but nothing gets the American juice flowing as violence can.

I can't stomach those PETA videos - videos taken at own personal risk by volunteers who don't get paid. Although they started on the good path, sadly, a lot of money had them veer off it.

[Phentex]

7. I'm with you. The message is lost in the

creepy tactics.

[snooper2]

30. It is a racket to make money for a small number of assholes, who probably actually eat meat

LOL

[TreasonousBastard]

3. How does PETA get 50 million a year in donations...

and what did they spend 45 million of it on?

[Major Nikon]

31. By spending about $35 million on advertising

[Beaverhausen]

4. 2.7 million dogs are euthanized every year

There are not enough homes for them all.


Spay and neuter your pets people!!!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. they didn't seem to put in good faith effort to adopt out these pets

i get that some animals need to be euthanized (not friendly to humans, very sick, whatever legit other reason).

[Beaverhausen]

24. PETA is more of an advocacy group than it is a rescue organization

For instance, PETA fights for better conditions for farm animals, such as that pig who is turned into the bacon you eat, or the chickens who lay the eggs that go with it.

While I don't support what they did here, assuming these pets would otherwise be happily living with a family is naive.

[Android3.14]

33. So if you are an "advocacy group"

That makes it okay to mistreat the thing for which you are advocating?
PETA is an awful creature and it needs to go to ground.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

40. yes, and as advocacy group it has no business to run shelters if they are not using resources

to adopt out these pets.

i support humane conditions for livestock, but i dont support organizations hoarding cash when they should be spending on stuff they purport to care about

[Fred Sanders]

28. PETA is not primarily a rescue group, they are a political group. I support their politics.

[jmondine]

39. If we spay and neuter pets people, won't less pets get adopted?

And yes, I am a punctuation nerd.

[VWolf]

48. Wouldn't that be "pets' people"? n/t

[BlueCaliDem]

5. Never been a big PETA supporter. If the reporting is true, this needs to be widely reported

that PETA is nothing more than just another corporation-for-profit using shock-and-awe tactics in order to rake in the $$s.

They make me sick.

[HappyMe]

9. I have never been a PETA supporter.

This just drives home their bizarre tactics and agenda.

[Yorktown]

11. We saved 3 stray cats, and had them neutered.

No animal welfare NGO will ever be perfect.

It's down to all of us to help our 4 legged friends.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. this is far from 'not perfect'. i have three adopted pets too (2 cats and a dog)

[DetlefK]

12. "Those poor animals are better off dead than alive, so lets kill them." Not kidding.

That's their motivation.

I loosely remember a story from a few years ago. Cows lived in horrible conditions on a dairy farm. PETA proposed to kill the cows.

[adigal]

15. I started and ran my own dog rescue for 7 years, out of my own pocket

I hate PETA and when I see how much they get in donations, I want to rip my hair out, because I found it hard to get $100.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

18. i tend to adopt pets from small rescues frequently lead by one or two people

kitty was from a small group called tigger foundation, kaju is from badass brooklyn, and luchi is from bigcitylittlekitty

[adigal]

19. That's what I am/was!!! I adopted out a lot of dogs to wonderful people over the years

So while it was expensive and heartbreaking, it was worth it.

[packman]

17. Sounds like PETA

is the Red Cross of the animal world - taking in millions, doling out thousands - but with a more callous heart.

[Ms. Toad]

20. I am NOT endorsing PETA - but that money analysis gas got to be a gross misrepresentation

I'm pretty darn sure that PETA - Norfolk, Virginia did not take in nearly $52 million dollars. More likely PETA nationwide.

So to compare the Lynchburg Humane Society budget, or the Seagoville Animal Services budget to PETA's budget is not just apples to oranges, but comparing a single apple to an entire orange grove: one limited purpose organization's shelter (apple) in one state (apple tree) to a much broader organization's (orange) national budget (entire grove).

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. i think the point was that they had 4 million in the bank that they could have used

but i agree with your overall point that it might be comparing national numbers to statewide numbers

[Warren Stupidity]

22. peta accepts all animals.

Its euthanasia rates are high because it is taking the rejects from the other shelters. Also comparing peta's entire budget to the budget for an organization that only runs shelters is, well, bullshit.

[Android3.14]

35. Have any proof for that claim?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

38. the excess in their budget that could have made a greater effort to adopt out these pets

is not a bullshit number. secondly, is it really accepting all pets if you are killing over 90% of pets? most city shelters will do the same, so why run a shelter if you are not going to make a good faith effort to adopt out these pets?

[MoonchildCA]

23. As a long-time vegetarian, with a vegan daughter...

...I have never liked PETA.

I hate their tactics. I hate their view on pets. The founder equates them with slaves-- the most ridiculous, twisted thing I've ever heard. They believe domestic animals on every level should cease to exist.

I think most people who support PETA are just animal lovers who don't get who they really are. My husband liked and supported them when I met him. After showing him their kill statistics and some other tidbits about them, he now sees they're pretty whacko.

Even all the celebrities they get to pose for their ad campaigns, I believe, are just jumping on the animal-loving bandwagon without really understanding PETA's agenda. The organization casts a dark shadow over all those who are passionate about animal rights.

They need to be exposed.

[NuclearDem]

27. PETA is sickeningly extreme in their methods.

I like their resources for vegans and vegetarians, being a vegan myself, but my donations go to the Humane Society.

[RebelOne]

59. I used tp support PETA,

but because of some of their wacko issues, I no longer support them.

[a la izquierda]

44. I'm a vegan and I hate them too.

I donate to a local no kill shelter, a shelter in Mexico, and the aspca.

[NCTraveler]

25. I dislike the hypocrisy and smugness that comes from the top of the organization.

It also comes from many of those in the organization not at the top. I have laughed at PETA in the past and have attempted to back off. While I don't give them money I will tell you why I feel they are very important. The passion of their members leading their willingness to take chances in order to bring the horrors of factory farming into the sunlight. For that I am willing to speak positively about PETA. The current manner in which meat is brought to our tables is not understood by too many and is far too often brutal and cruel. There are clearly organization out there that are worlds better at running shelters. Please note I am agreeing with your point about them being hypocritical.

[dgibby]

26. I detest PETA.

Would love to see all of them in jail for cruelty to animals.

[Sunlei]

32. where is Petas 'adoption shelter' that compaires to the Humane Societies 'adoption shelter'?

I don't think Peta has ever had 'regular animal adoption shelters' ? (like our National SPCA and our National Humane society)

[tclambert]

34. I think PETA has their logic backward.

Sure, people and animals should be put on an equal moral plane, but that doesn't mean we should avoid meat, just that we should add peopleburgers to the menu. You know, vegetarian diets and beef, chicken, or pork always lack something we need nutritionally. Peopleburgers contain all the vitamins and nutrients people need, because they're made from other people. Imagine how luxurious life on this planet could be if it only had to support one billion people. And those six billion excess, well, there's some good eatin' on them things.

http://meat-recipes.wonderhowto.com/how-to/howto-eat-human-0122609/



(Really? I need to put the thingy in here so you know? Sheesh. :sarcasm

[deurbano]

47. That's a very worthy and Modest Proposal...

(And Soylent Green is people.)

[jeff47]

49. Actually.....

Peopleburgers wouldn't have everything we need. They'd be made from muscle, as "animal-burgers" are, so they wouldn't have the nutrients you need for non-muscle tissues.

And after this way-too-pedantic break, we return you to your regular thread.

[Matariki]

36. PETA Reportedly Steals and Kills a Family Dog

PETA Really Needs to Respond to the Charges That Its Workers Stole and Killed a Family's Dog, Then Sent a Fruit Basket:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arin-greenwood/peta-chihuahua_b_6189020.html

[Matariki]

37. I wonder if some of DU's long time defenders of peta have finally given up in disgust

Hopefully they're putting their efforts toward more worthy animal rescue efforts

[DinahMoeHum]

41. PETA banned me from their site and chat-room a decade or so ago. . .

because I had the temerity to suggest the following for their new slogan:

"EAT P***Y, NOT MEAT"

[ismnotwasm]

42. I despise PETA

Ugh

[LibertyLover]

43. I just read on Addicting Info

that PETA representatives were filmed trying to entice a pet dog off the porch. The dog refused to come so one of the reps walked in the yard, grabbed the dog, took it to be killed and then had the nerve to send the family a fruit basket and a note saying they had killed the dog. They took several other pets from the same neighborhood to kill them as well. I am beyond disgusted.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

45. can that possibly be true? it sounds kinda INSANE

[jeff47]

51. There's a link above

copy-n-pasted here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arin-greenwood/peta-chihuahua_b_6189020.html

[LibertyLover]

62. The story originated on Huffington Post

a poster further up referenced it. I agree that it is insane, but apparently PETA believed that pets are no better than slaves and are better off dead.

[brer cat]

46. PETA preys on elderly people,

and gets the money through guilt-trips. I have elderly friends who have unwittingly donated to them, and once they have a name and address, they are relentless in going after more and more money. Better to donate to a local shelter.

[Orrex]

50. PETA's only real goal is the promotion of PETA

If they can shame somebody along the way, so much the better. But they don't actually give a shit about animals except insofar as those animals can be exploited to further PETA.

[jeff47]

52. PETA is like Komen

More interested in fundraising and getting attention than the cause they claim to support.

[get the red out]

53. THIS is why I HATE PETA

They can go fuck themselves.

[Blue_Tires]

54. I've thought PETA should have abandoned their "take-all" policy long ago...

[ciaobaby]

55. I Love PETA

PETA is about so much more than being an animal shelter. If not for PETA we would be unaware of the torture that occurs in animal labs, we would still feel fine wearing fur, we would likely be unaware of the horrors of factory farming.
You can hate their advertisements but it certainly does make you aware of the evil that is condoned by our selfish society that is comfortable using animals for any whim without a care given to the quality of life of the animal, be it, cat, dog, horse, pig, chicken, monkey, dolphin or tiger.

So go ahead and eat your bacon, just don't give a thought to the gestation crate it suffered in, order your veal, and pretend you don't think an animal suffers in a veal crate, Buy eggs, milk,and cheese knowing all of it is the result of unending animal suffering.
Don't bother reading labels so you can select a product that does not test/torture animals.

So you all go on and continue hating PETA, but remember they have awoken so many people to animal abuse in labs, factory farms, and puppy mills.

Educate yourselves before you go into the hate rant.

http://www.peta.org/about-peta/milestones/

http://www.peta.org/blog/what-save-rates-mean-for-animals-in-shelters/

[La Lioness Priyanka]

56. its kinda douchey of you to assume i dont care about my meat source. i do.

i dont eat much meat, and what i do, i try to ensure is ethically sourced.

still, i dont think PETA is one to judge is all.

[HERVEPA]

57. Welcome to DU. Excellent post pointing out the good that Peta is mostly responsible for.

[melman]

58. Agreed

[obnoxiousdrunk]

61. Thanks ciao ...

[Crunchy Frog]

69. Oh, bullshit. I was aware of all that stuff long before I ever heard of PETA.

It's stuff that any curious twelve year old with access to a library can learn about (as in me, 40 years ago).

[hifiguy]

60. Fuck PETA with an iron stick.

The local no-kill shelters here in the Twin Cities alone do more good in a month for animals than PETA has done in its entire overblown, pathetic, publicity-whore existence.

Support and adopt from your local shelters!!

[mucifer]

63. No one should eat factory farmed animals it horrible and cruel.

Stop making excuses.

The animals you eat from factory farms are tortured daily.

What PETA does doesn't erase that.

Yes, I used to eat meat and dairy once. I feel bad about it.

Read about your bacon and gestation crates.

No I'm not a member of PETA. But, I am a vegan. We aren't all in PETA.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

66. Lol. Way to change the topic

I don't eat factory farmed animals so I don't have to make excuses. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[mucifer]

67. You started the thread with Bacon. The vast majority of bacon is factory farmed.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

68. Yes, and the kind I eat regularly is not

[tabbycat31]

64. They'd rather convert you to a vegan

I wish they would flat out say their mission is to convert people to veganism and not using shelter pets as an excuse.

Look I don't agree with the mission of veganism, but be honest with people.

ETA I make my animal related donations to my local SPCA. They not only are no kill but also have services like a pet food pantry (which helps people in need feed their pets). Their thrift store benefits when I clean out my closet too.

[BrotherIvan]

65. I will spread this article

It makes me so mad I want to scream. These people are psychos.

[flvegan]

70. See, now that's a piss-poor excuse for a post!

You don't really understand what you just alleged, do you?

No, you don't. Don't get emotional about it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

71. Why don't you explain it slowly and with

single syllable words, so my inferior intellect can catch up with your superior ideas?

[ciaobaby]

72. Boy you meat eaters are a curious lot.

From eating "just a little meat" to not eating meat from the factory farm. Do you not realize that there is a huge industry that does nothing but kill animals on your behalf and your grocery dollars pay for this service. Even if you buy your bacon from a little farm across the street, that animal was killed for you.
Perhaps if PETA ground up the dog meat and packaged it like burgers, stamped it as grass fed and "ethically" raised, you would not be so angry.

Supporting your local animal shelter is always admirable, but know most do not accept the dangerous, diseased, sick, tortured and unsocialized animals that PETA humanly euthanizes in order to save them from a future of pain and rejection or worse yet, living their life in a cage. Your local shelter takes in adoptable animals. Even the American Humane Society admits to euthanizing unplaceable animals.
It is not possible to rescue every homeless animal in the USA. Look up the numbers.

What it comes down to is that you are all OK with killing animals as long as it benefits you. Killing on a grand scale for food and clothes is fine, killing to end the pain and suffering of an animal is apparently where you draw the line.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

73. i am perfectly morally comfortable with eating meat

as i am sure most carnivorous/omnivorous animals are. what i think is a travesty, is to torture the animals i eat prior to eating them.

I follow Michael Pollan's eating advice and i find that it works for me (eat food, not too much, mostly plants).

Also, the criticism isn't that PETA just euthanized these pets, it's that they did not make a good faith effort to adopt them out.

[ciaobaby]

74. Here is the other side of this controversy.

If you really care please read the link below in its entirety. The people behind the Hate PETA campaign are in fact lobbyists and supporters of the food industry (factory farms) and puppy mills.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_Berman_cares_about_animals:_clients_exposed

Also to your point that you believe that PETA "did not make a good faith effort to adopt them out" this is due to the fact PETA’s shelter, which is located in Norfolk, Virginia, accepts almost no adoptable animals—referring or transferring them instead to local open-admission shelters, where they’ll have the best chance of being seen by prospective adopters and then adopted. This allows PETA to keep its doors open to the most desperate cases—animals who require euthanasia, often immediately, to end their suffering.