Peta
 

We have all been horrified reading about the extrememly large number of pets euthenized by PETA last year. There are ads about this "PETA kills animals" on many of the blogs I go to. I started wondering who was paying for all of these ads- it can't be cheap- and also how PETA could possibly attempt to explain the brutal numbers.

I know many here are anti-PETA and I'm not a huge PETA supporter myself. I think they have done a lot of good but unfortunately, like most activist or even special interest groups, got too radical and militant for the average person to relate too. Once you go that far, it is very hard to be effective any longer. I will say the PETA is an amazing resource for information. My daughter uses it a lot. She doesn't want to use PETA as a resource so after she finds what she needs, she finds other more mainstream sources on the information to use as her official "source". So while she wont cite them or give them credit usually, they are still one of the best places to go to find anything you need to know about animal rights.

So having said all that, here is what I found out. I'm still not 100% sure how I feel but it makes a certain amount of sense and I'm going to take some time to digest it. My mind is definitely not as made up as I thought it was.

PETA's response to the ad campaingns- http://www.peta.org/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1341
PETA makes no secret of having to euthanize most of the animals we take in. Although we do not run an adoption facility (we refer most adoptable animals to well-known shelters with a high rate of public traffic), we have managed to place animals in excellent, lifelong homes. For many of the animals we do accept-such as those who are injured, elderly, aggressive, or otherwise unadoptable-we are a "shelter of last resort," offering a humane death to those who would otherwise suffer a slow and painful end.

Unlike "no-kill" shelters, PETA does not refuse animals simply because euthanasia is the only humane option for them. Many of the animals we take in are brought to us because they have been rejected by other facilities. PETA receives calls every week from people who request that we euthanize their animals because they cannot afford to have them euthanized by a vet or because the animals would suffer excessive stress and pain if transported. PETA will not turn its back on these animals simply because they might make our "numbers" look bad.

The best way to save the lives of homeless animals is through spaying and neutering. PETA's mobile spay-and-neuter clinic focuses much of its work in disadvantaged neighborhoods, where we offer free and low-cost surgeries. To date, our clinic has sterilized tens of thousands of animals. With $45, a person could either care for a dog in a "no-kill" shelter for about three days or sterilize one animal, preventing the births of at least eight animals from that animal and her offspring in just one year as well as preventing the births of as many as 67,000 dogs in six years and 420,000 cats in seven years.

The scope of the companion animal overpopulation crisis is truly staggering: Every year, 3 to 4 million of the 6 to 8 million unwanted animals abandoned at animal shelters in the U.S. must be put to death because there are no suitable homes for them. People who are outraged by this deadly epidemic-and we all should be-can easily help by spaying or neutering their animal companions.

The company reponsible for the ad campaign is the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF).

This is the link PETA supplies on who the CCF is- http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?tit...nsumer_Freedom
The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) (formerly called the "Guest Choice Network") is a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries. It runs media campaigns which oppose the efforts of scientists, doctors, health advocates, environmentalists and groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, calling them "the Nanny Culture -- the growing fraternity of food cops, health care enforcers, anti-meat activists, and meddling bureaucrats who 'know what's best for you.' "
Over 40 of the group's 2005 expenditure was paid to Rick Berman's PR company, Berman & Co. for "management services. [1] As part of its operations CCF runs a series of attack websites, including "consumerfreedom.com, activistcash.com, cspiscam.com, animal-scam.com, fishscam.com, obesitymyths.com, physiciansscam.com [and] petalkillsanimals.com".

Here is a link to the official website-http://www.consumerfreedom.com/about.cfm
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition of restaurants, food companies, and consumers working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.
The growing cabal of "food cops," health care enforcers, militant activists, meddling bureaucrats, and violent radicals who think they know "what's best for you" are pushing against our basic freedoms. We're here to push back.

I think the whole thing is pretty suspect. I'm not really thrilled with being told how to think regardless of who's doing the telling. I think if more people knew who was supplying the information they would want to know more before making up their minds.

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

Peta's headquarters is located here. There are NO peta run shelters. I called to double check. Peta believes it is inhumane for animals to be in homed in shelters especially no kill shelters and it is more humane to euthanize these animals.. They do not support purchasing animals from pet shops or any BREEDER. They believe every animal should be sterilized to stem animal over population. That being said...that van touting low cost spaying/neutaring services is restricted to low income individuals or the elderly. So while Peta's PR stance says we offer this wonderful service for people, in essence, most people do not qualify.

All of the above information is located on peta's website....
http://www.peta.org/about/faq-comp.asp

Btw, if you continue reading that peta forum link you posted...you'll see the same along with a post from the Peta admin stating there are no peta shelters.

Peta's real answer in regards to the numbers of animals they euthanize is to state their percentage is the same as shelters in the US. 92%. :(

That's actually in my above post.
"PETA makes no secret of having to euthanize most of the animals we take in. Although we do not run an adoption facility (we refer most adoptable animals to well-known shelters with a high rate of public traffic)"

BTW, I don't frequent the PETA forums and actually didn't even know they existed until I went to see what their reaction to this campaign was.

Wow I'm shocked- 43 veiws and only 2 responses.:eek:

I wasn't fussing at ya. :p

Maybe your opinion of the Center for Consumer Freedom would change...when you stop to realize if PETA had it's way...there wouldn't be any more yorkies being breed nor any other breed for that matter.

Btw, here's Peta's report as filed with the Virginia Agriculture Dept that more or less started the whole thing.

http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_ar/cgi...=157&year=2006

I posted about PETA already today, so I figured I was pushing my soapbox limit. Here is what I said, not that I expect anyone much cares (LOL): http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...5&postcount=18

I think what folks might want to remember is that PETA takes in (when they must) devastatingly and catastrophically ill animals - hence, their rate of euthanasia. So, just bear that in mind.

I find it very, very interesting that PETA-smear campaigns are funded by the above "lobbyists" (which is essentially what they are). Looks like they support the big 3: agriculture, automobile and...probably tobacco! Power power power, my friends, big time!

Btw - 9,600,000 animals are euthanized every year in the U.S. - shelters generally euthanize 64% of their population (and they don't go "find" their animals at death farms like PETA does - so that helps explain PETA's high rate as well). VERY SAD.

I think people have a love/hate issue with PETA. I love their campaigns for awareness and the investigative work that they do and I think they have brought a lot of information to the public. I don't always agree with how they do it but people listen (good or bad).

Any organization that does as much as they do will find scrutiny from someone, somewhere.

LOL, well I totally feel fussed at.:p I have heard that PETAs "dream world" would not include animals as pets. I would, like all of us, fight that to the very end. No ones going to tell me I can't have dogs. I think even they realize they aren't going to appeal to the masses with that brilliant idea. The new Kimmora campaign is advocating not chaining your dogs and treating them as family so they can show a more moderate side.

I am by no means the voice of PETA it just seemd so strange to me and I was wondering what the whole story was from both sides. If I had to pick who I was affiliated with it wouldn't be the CCF who has a pretty big financial motive for hurting PETA's image.

I saw your post and I agree with you. I also didn't respond because I figured I had pushed it far enough with this thread.:p Look at us run scared from the PETA haters.:D

Said absolutely perfectly!:thumbup:

If a dog is so sick that it needs to be euthanized,. did these people try a vet?

I used to like PETA until I found out what they really stand for. Their goal is for nobody to have animals, so why would anyone want to give them any support? They don't even think we should buy from breeders.

I do like their videos but that doesn't make the organization good. And that one about Hairy-Kate and Trashley Trollsen, I am waiting for them to get sued for it (because they used the Full House background).

No matter what my feelings, I am always appreciative when others present more food for thought...Thanks for the post Nikki.

Well I'm sure every shelter, rescue and yes, PETA wishes they had the funding to get vet care for every animal in need. PETA uses it's funding toward spaying/neutering and yes, euthanizing when that is the last option. We have had rescue worker right here at YT tell us they have to turn away unadoptable animals (too sick, too aggressive, etc.). What do you think happens to these animals? If their only goal is to eliminate our right to have pets, how do you explain the new Kimmora campaign? I promise you if you will look just a little deeper than what special interest groups tell you, you will find that PETA does a lot more than just say animals shouldn't be owned by humans. No matter how you feel about them, if you just look a little tiny bit, you will see they have done a lot for animals.

I think it's all PR, and no matter how much they try to justify it, it's BS to kill all of those animals that they have killed.