The campaign for animal rights is growing stronger than ever, thanks to groups like Peta and SPCA. Peta, the more radical of the two, will stop at nothing to free animals from the horrors of research labs and slaughterhouses. There is no doubt that their work has helped save thousands of animals from inhumane deaths. Where do they cross the line? At which point do their "ethical ways" prove brutal and illogical?
Peta receives 25 million dollars as a combination of donations from celebrities and "do-gooders". One would think that Peta would use the money to house and feed all of the domestic animals that enter their care. However, that is not the case. In the year 2000, Peta euthanized 75.6% of adoptable animals. The numbers have been steadily increasing, until the numbers reached a whopping 90.7% in 2005. The same year, two Peta employees were arrested in North Carolina after two detectives witnessed them dumping animal carcasses behind a shopping center. While being processed, the detectives found that these two “ethical” workers had euthanized 34 animals in the back of the van, without having even registered the animals at the Peta headquarters. Earlier that day, witnesses remember the workers promising the shelter workers that they would try to find homes for these animals, puppies and kittens included. Among the 34 animals discovered, Ahoskie police found euthanasia drugs and digital photographs of dead animals. It’s true; there is an overpopulation crisis in animals throughout the United States. Too often, the kindest solution is to euthanize animals. There is simply not enough space in shelters. The disturbing thing is that the workers didn’t even give the animals a fighting chance. There was absolutely no reason for not having taken them to the headquarters. How is being given a shot and then deposited in a dumpster dignified? I thought the whole foundation of Peta was to give animals the dignity they deserve. The defendants were cleared of 21 felony accounts of animal abuse but convicted with illegal disposing of dead bodies. They served 10-days in jail and will be on one year probation. In my opinion, they should have been charged with greater indictments. One of them continues to work at Peta.
Peta’s campaigning consists of gruesome photographs of skinned foxes and horrifies foxes. On their website, they posted one worker’s undercover visit to an Iowa pig farms. How he managed not to vomit right then and there I will never understand. The level of cruelty placed upon these innocent pigs (whose only crimes were being born pigs) was enough to make me swear off meat for the rest of my life. It is important that people see the torture that goes on behind factory doors. Nevertheless, many of the advertisements are directed to children. For instance, I came upon a gruesome article which depicts a 1950’s toaster-wife cartoon piercing the flesh of a rabbit with a colossal butcher’s knife. The title was Your Mommy Kills Animals! and proceeds to ask children how many animals their mothers have murdered for their fur coats. Don’t get me wrong; I am completely opposed to skinning of animals for the sake of vanity. I just don’t think that Peta should make children fear their mothers.
Many people are defending Peta. There is great controversy within the animals rights supporters. On one hand, you have the people who say that the Peta people have only animal interests at heart. On the other hand, you have the bloggers that say Peta is full of a bunch of hypocrites who like the idea of animals more than the actual animals. Whatever the case, it is up to the individual to decide who their donations go to. You don’t have to join an organization to take a stand against animal cruelty. If you don't have time to protest in fron of a cosmetics company, at least research and make sure that your money goes to an organization that helps the animals entrusted to them. SPCA euthanized less than 4% of their animals. It’s organizations like these that make real differences.
For more information, visit petakillsanimals.org