Eat Tofu But Kill Puppies
PETA -- "People Eradicating Thousands of Animals," the NY Post calls 'em -- and rightly so, picking up on a story I saw a while back. The Center for Consumer Freedom is a restaurant and food company lobbying group (click on the link below), but the info on what PETA is doing seems to be confirmed in the memo linked below. From the Post op-ed:
The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom last week reported that PETA slaughtered fully 95 percent of the stray dogs and cats it "rescued" in 2011.And that's par for the cat-killing course: Overall, PETA has killed more than 90 percent of the animals it's taken in since 2005.
Bottom line: The organization that claims its members would "rather go naked than wear fur" prefers to kill dogs and cats rather than find homes for them.
Yes, making the effort to find homes for stray pets takes time -- of which PETA apparently has precious little.
In 2010, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services discovered that fully 84 percent of the strays taken in by PETA were killed within 24 hours.
No wonder: The report concluded that PETA's headquarters "does not contain sufficient animal enclosures to routinely house the number of animals annually reported as taken into custody."
So, off they go to the gas chamber.
No surprise, though, that the organization is much more adept at fund-raising than it is at finding homes for kittens and puppies.
PETA's annual budget is $37 million, "most," it claims, coming from tax-deductible contributions from 2 million members.
Doc with the death toll here.
That's because PeTA was never about animal welfare. They are a group of nihilists.
You can tell a lot about how someone will treat people by watching how they treat animals.
brian at March 6, 2012 6:15 AM
I'm not peta fan but I'm skeptical. If the purpose for peta's existance isn't to promote a crazy animal rights agenda; then why does it exist? It just doesn't make sense that they would round up strays so that they could kill them.
Mike Hunter at March 6, 2012 8:18 AM
@Mike Hunter A lot of PeTa people are against pet ownership -- because they feel that having a pet is basically "enslaving" an animal.
So for many, euth'ing a dog or a cat is better than having them end up as a pet.
Some PETA types take a more reasonable view of spaying and neutering -- and adopting from shelters rather than buying from breeders (which I agree with). But there are some super extreme people in their leadership who are willing to reduce the domesticated animal populations by killing as many otherwise adoptable strays as possible.
sofar at March 6, 2012 9:03 AM
I'm not a huge fan of PETA's tactics and policies, but this is a deceptive attack by corporations that profit from animal cruelty: seal clubbers, puppy mills, factory farms, etc. It's the same sleazy PR firm that attacks Mothers Against Drunk Driving (on behalf of the liquor industry) and urges pregnant women to eat 10x the safe level of mercury-contaminated fish (on behalf of the seafood industry).
Like everything that comes out of the PR firm behind CCF, this is a false attack funded by those with a vested interest in preserving animal cruelty.
So, there are plenty of reasons to disagree with PETA, but this one is bogus. Would you call a hospice a "medical center with a 95% mortality rate"?
No. That's a deceptive framing of the facts.
PETA's "shelter" has no adoption facilities because adoptable animals are sent to other organizations that are able to adopt them out. The animals turned in to PETA are terminally ill, critically wounded, irremediably aggressive. It's called a "shelter of last resort" for a reason.
And yes, those are animals are euthanized, because it is the merciful thing to do.
The whole story is always more complicated than the PR sound bite. Those who care about animals have a duty to learn the parts of the story that the animal abusers aren't telling you.
John Doppler Schiff at March 6, 2012 9:05 AM
Old news - Penn and Teller revealed this news on their show some years ago. Indeed, they have many "animal companions" in freezers, awaiting disposal.
PETA takes a reasonable idea ("be nice to animals") and takes it to a degree where it's no longer recognizable, or even rational. Don't kick puppies? Sounds good. Keep the stray population down by spaying or neutering? Again, strong plan. Ban honey because it exploits the bees? Time for the laughing and pointing.
"Would you call a hospice a 'medical center with a 95% mortality rate'?"
Depends - are the gassing the old people and storing them in freezers, and not telling anyone? No? Bad comparison, then.
Vinnie Bartilucci at March 6, 2012 9:47 AM
PETA doesn't care about animal welfare, Mike.
Their conception of animal "rights" is that they have the "right" to be free of human influence or control - including what we mere mortals consider benefits to them.
So of course they kill animals from their shelters - because pet ownership is something PETA opposes.
(The same dichotomy explains why your local Humane Society, which is an animal welfare organization, does good work, while the HSUS, which is an animal rights organization, is a worthless waste of protoplasm.)
Sigivald at March 6, 2012 12:05 PM
Erm, are they killing these animals to prevent them from being pets, or are these the "unadoptable" pets no one will take that pretty much most shelters euthanize?
Even a lot of "no kill" shelters indirectly kill dogs, by passing them on to regular shelters when they can't hold onto them anymore.
NicoleK at March 6, 2012 12:31 PM
2 million members? Wow a lot of crazy people in the world. On the positive side apparently they are only giving $18 each so they don't have money.
Hmmm, hoping the 2 million is fake, because some out there is registering each of their pets as members.
Joe J at March 6, 2012 1:43 PM
I thought that PETA stood for People Eating Tasty Animals?
Tom Pasadena at March 6, 2012 4:29 PM
"seal clubbers, puppy mills, factory farms, etc. It's the same sleazy PR firm that attacks Mothers Against Drunk Driving (on behalf of the liquor industry) and urges pregnant women to eat 10x the safe level of mercury-contaminated fish (on behalf of the seafood industry)."
Just kind of threw out every leftist trope you could think of there, didn't you? (Well, actually you forgot "racist" and "homophobe"...) To take on one of your points: Mothers Against Drunk Driving is no longer what it started out to be; instead, it's now an organization of modern Carrie Nations. These are the people who want to define "drunk driving" so far down that you wouldn't be able to eat a piece of bread and then legally drive. They've gone so far as to excommunicate MADD's founder, Candy Lightner, because she wouldn't support the prohibition agenda.
Cousin Dave at March 6, 2012 6:12 PM
Yes, brian, you can tell a lot about people if they mistreat animals. That often means -- especially if they start as children -- that they will mistreat people. But if people LUUURRRVVEEE animals, that says nothing about how they treat their fellow humans. As with the PETA folks, transferring all your fellow-feelings to animals may mean that that you have nothing but contempt for other people. And unfortunately, when your "love" for animals becomes a political cause, even the animals themselves become secondary to the larger purpose of denigrating humans.
On the other hand, many no-kill shelters are the equivalent of life in prison for unadoptable pets, of which there are many. That's just a reality, one that many animal lovers are unwilling to face.
Gia at March 6, 2012 6:12 PM
"And unfortunately, when your 'love' for animals becomes a political cause, even the animals themselves become secondary to the larger purpose of denigrating humans."
To take that further: A lot of PETA supporters are merely using "love for animals" as a rationalization to engage in anti-social behavior.
Cousin Dave at March 7, 2012 4:18 PM
"PETA's "shelter" has no adoption facilities because adoptable animals are sent to other organizations that are able to adopt them out."
Okay.
Name them.
That ought to be simple. You said "shelter", as in "one".
Radwaste at March 7, 2012 4:44 PM
pigs are just as smart as cats and dogs. I wonder how many of them come out alive from the slaughterhouses the baconeaters are supporting. I wonder how many people who eat pork know that male piglets have their abdomens slit open without anesthetic to castrate them. PETA does not represent everyone who takes animal interests seriously. But, the height of hypocrisy is people who pay people to kill and mutilate animals (after all, what do you call castration, debeaking, detoeing etc without anesthetic) criticizing an organization for killing animals. The Center for Consumer Freedom is happy for animals to suffer as long as there is a profit to be made.
Diana at March 8, 2012 3:29 AM
"pigs are just as smart as cats and dogs"
But not a smart as people. Well, most people. PeTA, by the words of its president, equivocates animals and humans.
I wanted to have a t-shirt made - "Anything stupider then me is food, and you look delicious".
"people who pay people to kill and mutilate animals" pointing out that the organization who chastizes that act does it as well is not hyposrisy; it's pointing out hypocrisy.
I would suggest the height of hypocrisy could far better be defined as the organization that claims to be for animal rights killing the animals placed into their care, or better still, "rescued".
Vinnie bartilucci at March 8, 2012 7:30 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/06/eat_tofu_kill_p.html#comment-3046929">comment from Vinnie bartilucciIf they were so smart, I wouldn't have bacon for breakfast every day.
Amy Alkon at March 8, 2012 7:32 AM
If you go to PETA's website, you will see some of the animals they euthanized. Some of them were in such bad shape, it's hard to believe they were still clinging to life. PETA is an animal protection group--they are trying to help animals. What is CCF trying to do? Prevent PETA from doing its job, because it perceives them as a threat. Obviously, PETA must be doing something right.
Bobbie Mullins at March 8, 2012 10:41 AM
You know, if you're really interested in knowing what PETA stands for, you can just go to their web site instead of making stuff up or believing random rumors.
My friends all know I've been a proud PETA member, so every year, my inbox gets flooded when the anti-animal smearmongers (with the help of the sensation-seeking media) try to make a story out of this non-story, using information publicly disclosed by PETA.
Euthanasia ends suffering, it doesn't cause it, and PETA is open about their position that it's often the kindest option for animals who are extremely damaged from neglect and/or abuse -- exactly the kind animals PETA's cruelty field workers focus on helping, since healthy, adoptable animals are usually taken to shelters. They don't run a conventional shelter, but they do adopt out animals who are healthy or who vets think are good candidates for rehabilitation.
If you want to be mad at someone, get mad at the people who starve, abandon, overbreed, hoard, or beat animals. Oh, and don't blame PETA for your bacon-eating...that's what "rude people" do.
Jefferson Thomas at March 8, 2012 11:44 AM
Diana, Bobbie, Jefferson:
I repeat the challenge: name the shelters PETA supports by sending them animals for adoption - and money to compensate for some of the burden they transfer.
That way, you can do more than try to generate PETA website traffic.
Radwaste at March 8, 2012 2:58 PM
I wish Ms. Alkon would have taken a moment to visit PETA’s website to learn why we do the heartbreaking job of euthanizing animals, instead of simply rehashing misleading rumors from a front group for the meat, fur, and circus industries—which kill hundreds of millions of animals every year, not out of compassion, but out of greed.
We have posted about PETA’s work to help dogs and cats in our community on our blog many times over the years. (See http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2009/03/30/why-we-euthanize.aspx and http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2012/02/20/a-gentle-hand-for-the-toughest-cases.aspx.)
PETA takes responsibility for the animals nobody wants—the sick, the scarred and broken, the elderly, the aggressive and unsocialized, and the perfectly healthy ones who are thrown away like last year’s fad toy. We do everything in our power to help these animals. We treat their injuries if we can, we feed them, we love them with all our hearts, and we give them a safe place to rest, if that’s what they need. Sometimes they need the comfort of being put out of their misery—a painless release from a world in which they were abused and unwanted, while being cradled in a caring person’s arms.
PETA has spent millions attacking the overpopulation problem at its roots. Our three mobile clinics have sterilized more than 80,000 animals at low cost to no cost in the last 10 years, preventing countless unwanted animals from being born. Our ads and PSAs have reached millions of people with messages about animal adoption, respect, and the importance of sterilization. PETA’s Community Animal Project fieldworkers are on the road every day and on call 24/7, providing help to abused and neglected animals. We’ve called on governors and even the White House to promote mandatory spay-and-neuter legislation across the country.
We need every caring person’s help. Let’s work together to reach the day when every cat and dog has a loving home by always having our animals spayed or neutered and adopting animals from shelters instead of buying them from breeders and pet stores.
PETA at March 9, 2012 6:46 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/06/eat_tofu_kill_p.html#comment-3050953">comment from PETAPETA puts out plenty of propaganda, let's not kid ourselves, and I'm fine with eating and wearing animals and using them for medical testing (though I think this should be done as humanely as possible -- don't like any creature to suffer).
Either PETA is against killing animals or it is not. There were a whole lot of animals euthanized there. Shouldn't you have opened a doggie and kitty condominium for them? Animal lives at all cost, right?
PS I hope when you go to the hospital you refuse all treatment that came to be through animal testing. You do that, don't you?
Amy Alkon at March 9, 2012 7:08 AM
Okay, PETA - can you answer the question above, about the funding and work of the other agencies to which you are alleged to send adoptable animals?
Radwaste at March 9, 2012 11:37 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/03/06/eat_tofu_kill_p.html#comment-3054843">comment from RadwasteFrom a Twitter comment about a friend's blog item: "Cats: The other white meat."
Heh heh.
I couldn't resist. Have yet to encounter an animal rights person with a sense of humor.
Amy Alkon at March 10, 2012 8:53 PM
Note that I approve of ethics. I'd just like to see it extended beyond the cat or dog when it's the actions of people being addressed.
What agencies get the adoptable animals, guys? That should be easy.
But I don't see the answer. Maybe because that would be admitting that domestic cats and dogs cannot live on their own without becoming an ecological nightmare. Ask any college lab what "feral" means.
Yeah, that looks right.
If PETA helped abandoned animals by placing them with adoption agencies, they'd have to admit domestic cats and dogs are better off being cared for by people.
Radwaste at March 11, 2012 5:56 AM
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