The fact is that PETA is really out of control, am I correct?

[MrScorpio]

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE55H4Z220090618

Flies are dangerous disease vectors and indoors, I classify them as vermin.

There's a good reason for killing them when one sees them in one's home.

[Inchworm]

1. Someone teased me today

about the fly thing.

Usually noone messes with me about stuff because they just know me... but my daughter said PETA is crazy...

I says.. humans are nuts and to get stuff noticed extremes are recognized. Naturally, I was just messing with her to bait. She bit.

:rofl:

[SeattleGirl]

2. I would agree.

I have vegan friends, and one of them even rescues feral cats, but she's not out there like PETA is.

IMHO, they border on the ridiculous.

[pokerfan]

3. Everyone knows that the White House

is a no-fly zone.

[frogmarch]

9. That was GOOD. :-)

[suninvited]

40. ha ha !

how do you people come up with these things??

[jobycom]

4. They lost me over the Jesse Arbogast ads.

They have no respect for people, so they do no good at convincing people to respect animals.

And I'm vegetarian, so I'm their natural audience.

[SeattleGirl]

5. What were those about?

[pokerfan]

11. PETA Drops Insensitive Pro-Shark Ad Campaign.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/PETA+Drops+Insensitive+Pro-Shark+Ad+Campaign-a079087185

[SeattleGirl]

12. Holy crap!

They ARE anti-human, aren't they? Yikes!

[jobycom]

14. That's it exactly. They are anti-human. nt

[Tangerine LaBamba]

43. That's just disgusting ........

Are they stupid or nuts, or both?

Really, zealots are just impossible.................

[jobycom]

13. Jesse Arbogast was a young boy from Mississippi who was attacked by a shark.

About eight years ago. He was in Pensacola with his family, and the shark attacked him and bit off his right arm. His uncle caught the shark, wrestled onto the beach, and a park ranger shot it. The uncle then reached into the shark's throat and pulled the child's arm out, and they rushed him to the hospital and reattached the arm, but he had lost so much blood that he was in a coma for weeks, and no one was sure he would survive. He only partially survived--they recently did a story on him--he's disabled, his arm didn't grow, and he can barely communicate with people, but there is some high level of understanding in him now.

So less than week after it happened, while the kid was in the hospital fighting for his life, with no real expectation that he would survive, PETA rented a billboard near the beach where it happened, and put up a sign saying "Would you give your right arm to know why sharks attack humans?"

It was borderline already, but they really lost me then.

[Mr. Ected]

6. Ah...They're Harmless

They wouldn't hurt a fly.

[EvilAL]

7. PETA kills a shitload of animals every year.

So anything they say is fucking crap.

[yewberry]

16. PETA euthanizes animals every year.

Abandoned, unadoptable, unwanted animals deserve humane euthanization, too. It's a disgrace that we don't care about the problem, but attacking those who have to deal with the bottom line isn't really reasonable.

PETA is not a shelter and not an adoption service--they provide euthanization services for communities that might not have resources for humane euthanization.

Pretending that we don't have more animals than we can handle is fucking crap.

[EvilAL]

17. Oh, so it's ok then.

Come on now. PETA can call it whatever it wants. It's ok for PETA to kill unwanted animals because nobody else can kill them themselves?

[yewberry]

26. Pardon?

Are you actually suggesting that providing humane euthanization services for poor communities (rather than shooting animals or releasing them into the world) is not a good thing?

Would you prefer to see even more animals suffering and homeless? You think it's better to have unadoptable animals just left to their own devices?

Yes, it's okay for PETA to humanly euthanize animals. If not them, who? It's not good, but it's better than the alternative.

[EvilAL]

29. I'm not saying that.

I really don't care how many dogs and cats PETA kills. If you are going to be a cat and dog killing group, do that, advertise that, don't get mad at someone eating a hamburger then go kill some puppies because there are too many puppies.

[yewberry]

34. Okay, you don't care about the humane euthanization services PETA provides.

They do that, they advertise that. Lots of people don't get that, but they do.

So, why should PETA not agitate against the commodification of animals? Why should they not argue against killing animals unnecessarily?

[EvilAL]

36. Why does peta get do decide what animals are killed

for whatever reason? They think they get to decide, and people are starting to believe them.

[flvegan]

19. Really? How many each year exactly?

And then I want you to tell me why that might be such that it makes anything they say "fucking crap."

I hate ignorance.

[EvilAL]

23. I'm not sure exactly.

I just feel that if you kill animals and have the nerve to tell other people that they treat animals incorrectly then anything you say about treating animals after is fucking crap.
I don't see the difference between clubbing a baby seal and sticking a needle in a healthy puppy because it doesn't have a home. PETA rakes in millions every year. Do they spend more of it killing animals or helping them?

You can hate any word you want.

[flvegan]

25. So then you don't really know what shit you're spouting then, do you?

It's not the word I hate, it's the state.

Oh, you DO know that most animal control agencies that police animal cruelty also euthanize unwanted animals, right? So, by your thinking, those that police animal cruelty are just fucking crap because they have to perform a necessary evil due to the shitty things that people do?

You have my attention, and I'm intrigued.

[EvilAL]

27. Not an expert.

Many places have to kill stray animals on a daily basis. I expect that, but PETA does it under the guise of loving animals while killing them and comparing holocaust victims to chicken.

[flvegan]

28. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Here's what you said:

"PETA kills a shitload of animals every year.

So anything they say is fucking crap."

So you're "not an expert" but you shoot your mouth off like that. Nothing to back up what you said (despite I'm sure your Google Fu in full effect right now).

PETA does euthanize animals, just like any humane society or animal control does. They are a "shelter" of last resort that has volunteered to humanely euthanize pets so that they don't suffer the area gas chambers or drunkards with .22 rifles left with the task.

I run an animal rescue and I've had to euthanize animals under the guise of love and ending suffering. I get it, you fucking don't.

Anything else to say?

[EvilAL]

30. That's what I said.

They kill animals, so anything they say is fucking crap. I could have added 'about animals' but really all they say is fucking crap.
You asked for an exact amount. I don't know the exact amount, but it's more than 0.
Then I asked you if they use more of their millions to help animals or kill them and you didn't answer.

[flvegan]

32. So then...nothing.

Really, you have nothing but opinion. Okay, like the asshole, everyone has one. Kind of fell short of the outrage with your attempt at a factual response to the thread, but yeah, I saw the shit in the middle of the forest for the trees.

Since you have no clue how many they euthanize, you've never had to actually push that needle yourself, you really don't know what it's like or the cost. So here's the answer: PETA spends, by my educated guess, roughly 0.00000001% of their "millions" euthanizing animals.

Don't expect you to care since anything I say is also crap...to you.

Laugh. Thanks for that.

[EvilAL]

33. I could go look

for the numbers. I'm on dial-up so it's a pain in the ass, but if you feel like proving me wrong I remember it's around 85% of the animals they take in on average. If you really feel bad about killing your dog all drunk with a .22 just call PETA!! That would be a better ad than the "holocaust on your plate" shit they spewed.

[flvegan]

35. Like I said...nothing.

See ya.

[EvilAL]

37. What have you come up with so far?

Yes, PETA kills animals.
Yes they do it because these animals need to be killed.
Yes they do it better than a drunk with a .22.

[flvegan]

38. Nah, nevermind.

I'm above it.

[EvilAL]

39. Next time

you have to kill a puppy think of me.

[flvegan]

42. I can promise you

that I'll play it like your parents did. I'll forget you as quickly as I can.

[EvilAL]

44. yer momma's so fat.

hahahahhahahh

[Iggo]

8. They don't bother me.

Easy to ignore.

[LisaL]

10. What's next?

Mosquito protection?
:rofl:

[EvilAL]

15. hahahah, maybe Obama

will take away their tax-exempt status instead.

[pokerfan]

31. Uh.... yeah

There's a "Nothing But Nets" campaign to protect mosquitos in third world countries where they are responsible for millions of deaths every year.

[Odin2005]

18. PETA are a bunch of attention-seeking upper-middle class twits trying to look virtuous.

[flvegan]

20. No.

PETA is adhering to it's Mission Statement. They leverage any possible media opportunity to bring consideration of our "lesser beings" to the spotlight. Since this is at least thread number 4 on this topic on DU, mission accomplished.

[Believing Is Art]

46. PETA's use of media "leverage"

turns more people off to the its causes than it attracts. And who can blame anyone when they put out stuff like this: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/08/06/peta-mclean.html?ref=rss

As for euthanasia, I couldn't agree more that sometimes the most humane thing to do is to put abused animals out of their misery. Unfortunately, PETA is not always upfront about their practices. Worse, they have killed perfectly adoptable animals: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/23/EDG11DC9BK1.DTL
And yes, I realize the bias of that article. I know numbers don't tell the whole story - perhaps 85% of the animals were not fit to adopt. The point is that they lied to the vet and killed perfectly fine animals.

And should any curious animal lover remain unaffected by their shock campaigns and sloppy implementation of policies, they have to face the hypocrisy hurdle. PETA is against animal testing, even if it would find a cure for AIDS. Yet Mary Beth Sweetland, PETA VP, uses insulin injections to treat her diabetes. If not for animal testing, this treatment would not be available. But lest we forget, she doesn't see herself as a hypocrite because she needs her "life to fight for the rights of animals."


I have my own reasons for being a vegetarian. I would like to convince other people to eat less meat. But any time I try to talk about it, I get shot down as a PETA whack job. Whatever you think of their campaigns, policies, and inconsistencies, there is one thing hard to ignore: they piss off a vast majority of people. This stands in the way of advancing the very causes toward which they are working.

edit: typo

[flvegan]

47. Nitpick as you will.

Don't care who they piss off. Nothing to do with me, and I'm not about to blame them for anything since they've done far more than I will ever be able to.

And on edit, because I missed it in your missive:

Lied to what vet in what way? And where is that information flowing from? Also, which pocket is the alleged vet reporting from?

Seek to understand before being understood.

[Believing Is Art]

48. Well I see that as a good thing in the grand scheme of things

If I fail to turn off so many people to animal rights and the problems of the meat industry, then it's a job well done for me!

[Believing Is Art]

61. Didn't see your edit till now

They told the vet they would try to find the dogs and cats homes and instead they died in the PETA van. They were put down immediately after being taken from the shelter. PETA never tried to find them homes, and they were healthy, adoptable animals. They told him they'd do something and then they didn't, I'm not sure how that isn't lying. :shrug:

Which pocket? He works at an animal hospital in NC (the Ahoskie Animal Hospital), so I guess he's in their pocket.

"Seek to understand before being understood." Honestly? Really?

[nini]

57. So, the 'media opportunity' in the Jesse Arbogast is ok?

It's too bad they do those kinds of things because in theory I agree with them. HOWEVER, a lack of the same concern for human beings has always been a problem with me.

Case in point: my nephew was in the UCLA medical center waiting for heart surgery to save his life at 5 years old. My sister was a wreck. PETA was protesting outside and were screaming at her and shoving pictures in her face - they didn't seem to give a shit about people going to visit sick and dying family members in the hospital that had NOTHING to do with the target of their protests. It was the closest I ever came to physically going after someone.

THIS is the shit that devalues their message and they can kiss my ass for what they did to my sister in one of the lowest moments in her life. Multiple that with all the other shit like Jesse Arbogast - fuck them.

[merh]

21. I worry about one of our - I mean - after all --- Obama killed one fly

and PETA has gone wild - this poster admits to antocide.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8863067

:scared:

[SeattleGirl]

22. I have to say, though, that I love this ad they did:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

24. uhm, yeah

something like that

[some guy]

41. No, I don't think you are.

PeTA = People for the ethical treatment of animals.

Their mission seems to be to make people aware of the treatment and mistreatment of non-humna animals. If people become aware, they may consider the ethics of things they previously simply accepted without thought.

Raising awareness and questioning actions at every opportunity, especially when the opportunity shines a bright light on a particular action has the capacity to reach more people and thus increases the chance that a few of those people will think about treatment of non-human animals.

As I understand it, President Obama swatted a fly during an interview - he didn't pause and think about whether it was ethical to kill the fly - just that the fly was a nuisance to him at that particular point in time.

The point of PeTA sending him a fly catcher thing was to provide him with other options than reflexive killing. And to raise awareness of how thoughtlessly and disinterestedly humans can destroy non-human life.

Flys exist in an ecological niche, as does all life on this planet. How much of it can be destroyed without causing a tipping point where all life dies out?

I do agree they don't really belong in the home, but they have a place in the world, so making an effort to remove them from the home without killing them seems a more ethical choice than simply killing.

Compassion is never a wasted effort.

:hi:

[Common Sense Party]

45. Eating meat = mass murder of 6 million Jews, Gypsies, etc.

That's where the jagoffs lost me, and showed they have lost their freaking minds.

"Be nice to animals"? Fine. "Neuter your pet"? Great. "Don't wear fur"? Okay...

"If you eat meat you're a Nazi"? "Holocaust on your plate"? Go screw yourself, PeTA.

[Zavulon]

49. I stopped paying attention to anything PETA said years ago,

and I see I made the right decision. They need to know how and when to pick battles; this fly thing makes them look bat-shit crazy.

[conscious evolution]

50. I am beginning to think that

they are one of the CIA's psy-op groups whose purpose is to discredit the enviromental movement.

[Kali]

60. heh

I think something similar about Ann Coulter - just can't be for real. Too bad the people that she aims at are too stupid to get it and actually be turned off. :rofl:

[LaurenG]

51. They tend to go too far

If there is a way to get rid of flies without fly guts all over the place I'm all for it.
I won't write Peta off completely but I have been rolling my eyes a lot over what they've been doing recently.

[Danger Mouse]

52. As I said in the other thread on this topic...

I think PETA does a lot of good. A lot of their ad campaigns are interesting, some even clever, and some are downright stupid or offensive. A couple are plain bizarre (ever see the TV ad that was just cats having sex? Yeah.)
I'm glad they continue to do good for animals, I just wish that sometimes they'd think twice about the ads they put out there. Comparing eating meat to the holocaust, for instance, deeply offends people and doesn't serve their cause at all.

[Common Sense Party]

53. Exactly. It turns what might me otherwise sympathetic people (like me)

against anything they do or say. When I hear it's PETA, I tune out. That's the bed they made; they have to lie in it. It's the price they pay. Yes, their ads are shocking and garner attention, which is what they want. But do they convert more people than they drive away? Doubtful.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

54. They are extremists

I pay the same amount of attention to PETA that I do to Fred Phelps. Fuck em and their horseshit theatrics.

[melman]

55. I love PETA

I think they are great.

[Orrex]

58. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[melman]

59. Thanks!

[JanMichael]

56. Nope

they have to act like they do to get assholes attention. We treat animals like shit in this country.