I have never supported or advocated for PETA – and never will. Every so often I still see people side with them on controversial posts and can never comprehend why.

PETA – if you do not know, stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

So what do we think that should mean?

They should advocate for EVERYONE treating animals better! This means no abuse, no neglect – just compassion, care and love. Well, that is what you would think anyway.

I want to give them accolades for what they are “trying” to do – but to push an agenda so hard that you are forced to such low antics is just not what I would envision a group doing. They are strongly aligned with the vegan world – and I understand that passion, but the reality is most people will not become vegan – and PETA doing what they do is only further alienating any potential vegans because they are so far out there.

With that said – I would love a group like PETA to start up – but do things in a less disgusting way. We are not again the “ethical treatment of animals” – we are against their tactics of fear and bullying to make a point.

But let’s review the realities of what they do so you can better understand the realities of their work.

The “Barbecue A Dog” Campaign

At Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall PETA created a campaign to make a statement to the visitors that flock to the mall every day.

This specific campaign included a banner reading “If you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat a lamb? Go Vegan!”

OK, so far so good. Nothing too horrific right?

But then took it to a whole level of disgusting by adding a prop they had specially created that was a fake barbecued dog – and to top it off they brought in a barbecue grill and a chef to “grill the dog”.

This is my opinion is just plain disturbing – and as a parent, I would be disgusted if my kids had to see this.

Below is the instagram post about this campaign – and clearly we are not alone in our feeling of disgust.

PETA supporters grill a dog on the streets of #Sydney, Australia to raise the question, “If you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat a lamb?”

If you find these images disturbing, but you eat meat, think about your perception. pic.twitter.com/AUlYsDcdmm

— PETA (@peta) January 25, 2019

Other Disgusting PETA Campaigns

PETA is known for their over the top campaigns to try and get their point across. But personally I think they are tasteless, one-sided and can cause anguish for children who see these ads. As an animal lover – I am repulsed by the tactics they use – barbecuing a dog is only one bad example.

Below are several others you may have never seen:

Your Mommy Kills Animals

A comic created that was geared towards children and was apparently handed out to the children of women wearing fur cats at theaters.

The front is a gruesome cartoon image of a woman killing a rabbit and the back actually features pictures of skinned animals. NO CHILD SHOULD SEE THIS.

Apparently there was a video done for this campaign too – but apparently is was removed for offending too many people. You think that would realize they are doing things wrong!

KKK or AKC

They apparently did a demonstration outside the American Kennel Club Westminster show where they were trying to get across that the AKC is like the KKK. Not sure how those 2 things are related, but OK.

You can actually see in their blog post they think they are doing something so amazing. What is sad to me is that there is a child handing out the fliers.

Now – let me say I am NOT a fan of dog shows. I love all dogs — I prefer mutts. But I in no way shape or form see the AKC like the KKK in any way and I think it is disgusting they are implying this.

Meat Is Murder

Another demonstration that I am glad my daughter did not see. This was done in NYC and was meant to get people to stop eating meat. By using real people covered in blood in giant meat wrappers – they were hoping to hit people in the gut with this grisly scene. You can see the images in this blog post – again they are clearly proud of their work.

And the list goes on – this is just a super small outline of MANY bad campaigns.

This is where their money goes – so think carefully is this is how you want your donations to be used.

Luring Dogs To Their Death

Did you hear the story about the van that goes around luring pets off their properties so they can be captured and called a “stray”.

That would be PETA.

And if you do not believe they would do that – why would they settle a lawsuit with a dogs owners for doing this very thing?

PETA took a ride through a mobile home park – took the chihuahua who was loved and cherished by a 9 year old girl – and euthanized it before the required 5 day grace period. PETA was fined for that action.

Don’t believe they do this?

Well, thankfully the owner of the dog had a video camera and caught the entire thing on video. The PETA workers went ON THEIR PORCH to take the dog. We are baffled that the judge dropped the complaint saying “no criminal intent” could be proven. To us dog stealing IS criminal intent.

They Care About Stupid Things

Monkey Business

Who doesn’t remember the stupid and frivolous lawsuit that was filed by PETA so that a monkey can can retain the copyright for a selfie he took so he can get the money?

Yes, seriously!

A nature photographer who had prepared his positioning and the camera for the shot – but a monkey actually pushed the button claims he is the copyright holder. Even though he did not press the button, he set up the landscape for the image.

PETA disagrees saying the monkey owns the copyright and actually filed a suite in federal court in San Francisco allowing THEM to manage the proceeds made from the photo – supposedly to benefit the monkeys living in the Indonesian island they reside on.

So they had NOTHING to do with this – but they want to manage the money. OK.

The US copyright office issued a section on copyright that clarifies copyright can ONLY be issued to human beings and clarified that works produced by animals would not qualify.

PETA disagreed with this stating it was just their “opinion”.

Whether you agree or disagree about whether the monkey should own the copyright – why is PETA even getting involved? There is nothing about this case that had to do with how an animal is being treated.

Pokemon Abuse!

And then we have the Pokemon protest. They seriously came out and made a statement that Pokemon are treated as unfeeling objects – and basically that children should not be sent that message. Who can take PETA seriously after this stupidity?

What About the Co-Founder

The co-founder of PETA is Ingrid Newkirk – an activist that works in a variety of areas not just the animal world.

But let’s talk about a few of the disgusting things she has said that just show the type of person she really is.

“We are complete press sluts”

She used this in an interview with The New Yorker magazine – and followed up sating she said it because she “has to do whatever it takes to try and get people to talk about you”

We’re looking for good lawsuits that will establish the interests of animals as a legitimate area of concern in law.

And this one is the worst of the worst in our opinion and has been said to be the reason their euthanasia rates are so horrifically high.

You ready?

Here you go!

Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation.

and this…

In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether.

and this….

One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild … they would have full lives, not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them and then sit there and watch TV.

This is what PETA represents – they want animals “free” – to not enjoy the comforts of a home, warmth, food and love. The belief that pet ownership is wrong – just baffles my mind.

There was also a statement made by a former employee of PETA regarding the can and what happens to the animals that find their way into them.

They Kill More Animals Than Most Kill Shelters Do

We are only providing details for 2017 – but you can visit this link to get a pretty good idea of just how many pets they have euthanized over the years dating back to the early 2000’s.

For 2017 they euthanized 1,864 of the 2,513 of domestic animals they took in.

That is an almost 75% euthanasia rate.

They also euthanized 31 of the 52 wildlife animals they took in.

An almost 60% euthanasia rate.

Do you think that is OK? We sure don’t!

And we won’t even talk about the fact that call most “owner surrenders” which is what they claim the chihuahua above was that they took off a families porch. Meaning, who knows where they are getting the dogs from they are killing.

Pit Bull Confusion

This is one area I am pretty focused on because I am and always will be an advocate for the pit bull breeds. They have contradicted themselves many times on their feelings regarding pit bulls so honestly, I am not clear even to this day where they stand.

But I am standing on the side that they despise them – only because I do not condone how they treat any animals.

They do claim that they are “for ’em” as noted in this blog post. They do say that they are for all breeding bans on all dogs because they believe we should not be breeding dogs when so many are dying every year.

We will not argue that.

Their thinking is that these dogs should not exist if they are just going to suffer – and we cannot really argue that either.

But – then they went ahead and joined forces with a variety of pit bull hating organizations to promote an event called “National Pit Bull Victim Awareness Day”.

—yes, scratching my head here —

S0 you support pit bulls, but then will help promote a day to victimize them?

So they state on their own website that they want “breed-specific protection” to help the pit bull breeds not be used for abuse or neglect as they commonly are. They claim they want all pit bulls to be spayed or neutered for their own good.

Final Thoughts

I am an animal advocate. I want all animals to have the BEST lives they can, but I cannot ethically take part in anything PETA stands for. I believe we can make a difference with honest education.

I believe PETA are just a group of “media whores” who use shock value to get it. I do not see any truth that they care for animals of any kind – and wish they could use their status and brand for more good than evil. There is no “perfect”solution for the animal issues we have – we have to all work TOGETHER and be open minded to a variety of options to help animals have better lives.

But for now – I hope I have provided enough information to help you see the real PETA – and that you will decide to put your efforts and donations to more animal friendly organizations.

Want to know about another group that we feel are doing a disservice to animals? Check out our article about the AKC Marketplace, while not quite as bad as PETA, they too are definitely a group you want to be educated about!