I was just wondering, why is there so much hatred towards PETA? It's not like I love them or anything, but I'm just curious what is it so wrong that they are doing?
They're insane extremists. They happily advocate the end of farming as we know it, the desctruction of all fieldsports, &c. &c.. They have the same relationship to rational animal rights groups as Al-Qaida has to the Muslim Council.
PETA has accomplished a lot of things. For that I admire & appreciate them. But like jim_w said, they are extremists. They make a lot of noise, which I suppose is important, but they make a lot of enemies due to their righteous approach. In that respect, I don't know if they've done more help or harm to their cause.
PETA is the source of much controversy even within the animal advocate community. On one hand, their outspoken nature and knack for getting attention has brought countless animal issues into the spotlight. On the other hand, they have made several unwise choices that has undoubtedly damaged the credibility of all animal advocates and veg*ns in the public's eye. That said, it is important to recognize that a great deal of the over-the-top PETA-hatred comes from consumptive-use individuals and organizations who actively engage in, or profit from animal exploitation and killing. Consumptive-use industries see animal rights and protection as a threat to their bottom line. In many cases, these industries want to see the end of even the most responsible animal rights organizations--they just use PETA-bashing as a way to get their foot in the door with the general public. PETA is an easy target because they are well-known for a radical reputation. Scare-tactic language, such as claims that PETA will somehow magically make all farms disappear, or make meat illegal, are baseless and should be viewed as such. No government that is as heavily invested in animal agriculture as ours would ever pass such legislation in any forseeable future. Throughout history, social movements of all kinds have had more radical components. An argument could be made that more radical groups help push important issues into the spotlight and get bigger and more conservative organizations off their butts. If not for agitator organizations, it's probably doubtful that old-guard humane organizations would ever take a stand on important animal cruelty issues like factory farming and animal-based cosmetics testing. The moral of the story is, take a look at various organizations--but also take a look at who's making the negative claims and decide what may make them say these things. Do the naysayers have the animals or their personal profits and pleasure closer to their hearts? Good luck with sticking up for the animals...even when some groups make unwise choices, we need to be responsible advocates to get the message across to the public.
For me, Peta, sometimes I just don't understand them. They have a good message but they seem to just take it too far at times.
Peta does take it to the extreme and can insult people but they get the job done. Somebody's gotta do it. I am thankful to them because thier video is the only reason I am a veggie right now. If it weren't for their shock tactics, I would still be unaware of the truth, and therefore still be an omni. They can give animal rights activists and veg*ns a bad name but at least, like RainbowCat said, they are getting the message out. Peta often says what some want to say, but don't because they are afraid of offending others, or being labeled as extreme. (this includes me perhaps one day I'll grow a pair and say what I really feel). Peace and Love Twila Red
PETA sucks. they divert trusting good natured people form doing anything useful, turning them into meanspirited holier than thou radicals.
Any individual who would significantly change their personality to become a "holier than thou radical" because of an organization is a very weak person to begin with. If someone is going to be turned into an angry or unpleasant person by a few newsletters, it's doubtful they could even function as an independant individual in our advertising-dominated society. Why no fretting over what GAP or Mountain Dew or McDonald's ads could do to especially mentally vulnerable people? In actuality, from observations on this thread and other websites, it seems that a great many PETA supporters do take all interest organizations with a healthy dose of reality, and are the first to admit there are things they like and dislike about these groups.
Nothing peta could ever do would be more shocking or offensive then the amount of animal cruelty and sheer torture that goes on in this country everday. If you are going to get offended by something then get offended by that. They get the message OUT. They are the catalyst behind my being a vegetarian as well many others. They expose alot of stuff that goes on behind closed doors that we woudn't otherwise get to see.....I'm so thankful to peta. I totally agree with peacegal.....
Peta is the opposite radical extreme of the animal production industry. They're just as extreme, but since people are normally ignorant of the animal production industry, they view Peta as close to terrorists. And Peta has, on at least one occasion, said something like "we welcome all terrorists to go and bomb these places that use animals." Peta is just filled with immature morons. They won't change the world, they will only make it harder to change it. Yes, they get the message out there, but they get it out there in such a way that people don't understand the message anymore because it's so distorted, so they just yell at Peta.
this is a very good point. truth is you catch more flies with honey . . . when they use aggro or destructive methods, it turns people away from wanting to help, or from giving credit to different viewpoits. if i were to dump paint on a rich lady with a fur coat. . . she is not going to pause and think, she is going to be too busy calling the cops (rightfully so) and then she is going to buy a new fur coat, and probably a hat to match, and maybe an extra incase it happens again. and the whole meat is murder thing is bullshit. you are not going to get everyone, or anyone, to stop eating meat if they dont want to. people need to eat. i been a veggie for 11 years, not many people can do it for that long, i even doubt anyone at Peta has done it that long. meat is not murder, it is food, just not for me.
Wayfaring stranger What do you mean by meat is not murder please explain? It's not hard being vegetarian. Why are you vegetarian by the way?
funny i know someone whos been veggie 30+ years who is vegan, myself 17 years.. vegan for last few of them, I would say a fair number of people have been vege for decades and a fair number would say meat is murder. there is nothing hard in veg*nism at all. People have been vegetarian/vegan since the dawn of time.
In all honestly, I generally don't agree with Peta. Sure, they get the message out there, but like someone said, you attract more flies with honey. Fact is, they are rude, pushy, and extremists. They aren't a very peaceful group, and to me, that makes the message they're trying to send out obselete. However, I will be the first to say that I was very impressed when I found out about something they've done recently. I don't remember where it was (perhaps NYC?), but they held a collection of fur coats that people gave up or didn't want, and instead of disposing of them, which is what I would've expected, they gave them to homeless or poor people. That was a good thing. Also, I became interested in vegetarianism through Paul McCartney, who is a big advocate of Peta and animal rights. So I suppose, indirectly, Peta helped me make the decision. I don't like Peta most of the time--or maybe don't agree is a better term. But sometimes, I guess they're okay. xoxo, Chely {Seashell}
it comes down to how strongly you feel......lets say that lady with the fur coat wasn't wearing fur.....she was wearing baby skin from babies raised for that purpose....just like a fur farm.....would it still be wrong to throw paint on it? If you don't think raising human babies and killing them is wrong your not going to think an organization to combat that is a worth while organization.....if you truely realise what is happening is so wrong it makes you SICK TO YOUR STOMACH....then you will think an organization like peta is great. do certain things they do go to far? well is there such thing as to far....once again...if hand bags were being made out of your family.....would anything you did to try and stop that from happening....be to far? can't balme them for caring.....infact we should all be supporting them for it!
Let's take a second to look at what PeTA stands for. People for the Ethical Treatmend of Animals. 1) What makes the people of PeTA think that they can determine ethics for everyone in the world? People have different values, and PeTA is telling people that their opinions are wrong. Are you liberals against that? 2) Meat is not murder. Murder is the killing of a person. An animal is not the equal of a human. If animals are our equal, then they would be smart enough to figure out a way not to be eaten. 3) Asking terrorists to bomb people with different opinions? Don't you liberals want to "respect" other opinions? Open-minded? Sounds awfully traitorous to me.
fkjaslfk lfska;sl people donnt need to eat, thats a myth like naykidape says, lol, and i truthfully never see myself eating a piece of meat again, time is nothing. also dont think peta is too extreme, dont think they wanna put an end to farming as we know it either. their not against meat eating if its done ETHICALLY, hence the protesting KFC because of the CRUELTY, not because they ate a chicken but because of the terribly inhumane ways they went about raising and killing their chickens. like raising them on drugs so they grow so fast they cant even walk properly, and chopping their beaks off after their born and packing them into tight of spaces as possible, and killing them after 2 months i think it is when they have a natural lifespan of 20 years, they also have done investigations where workes have stomped on chickens for 'fun' and thrown them against walls and played with them like they were toys, if you ask me thats some pretty fucked up shit... and if it wasnt for peta like someone said, a lot of us wouldnt probably wouldnt have a clue about this, factory farms, fur farms, and we probably wouldnt have had the grim pleasure of experiencing and seeing the harsh realities of the world and being a little better for it
I don't like PETA because for everything, their solution is always an insane protest, and they go way too far. Handing out unhappy meals to kids isn't just a small step too far - It's a giant leap too far. I also believe that PETA put people off vegetarianism, and give it that "extreme" edge. It makes vegetarians look like sign waving, angry extremists. I would much prefer a group such as the [http://www.vegsoc.org]vegetarian society[/url] as a group that represents vegetarians. (In the UK, the veg society do represent vegetarians, and PETA aren't in the open so much.) I think that one reason why so many people in the USA have a lack of respect for vegetarianism is because PETA make vegetarians look like loonies.
Sooooo....just because they don't have our level of intelligence they deserve to be tortured and killed? Does that mean the murder of a retarded person or child is justified by thier "stupidity", and the fact that they weren't "smart enough to figure out a way not to be" murdered? If you follow your statement to its conclusion any murder proves a persons inferiority which is absurd and insensitive. It doesn't matter if they are our equals or not, the point is if you break a person's leg and you break a cow's leg, they will feel the same amount of pain. What kind of a person do you have to be to beat, torture and kill living beings that feel pain? How could you listen to the screams? Oh wait, you don't have to. You don't have to see it or think about it so you don't care.
