PETA: love 'em or hate 'em?
 

just curious if y'all support PETA or think they are crazed fanatics. i've been to a lot of sites that adhere to the latter, but so far other than being extreme in some cases, i think they are fightin the fight.

what about it veg*n chicks? thoughts on PETA?

I'm not veg of any kind, but I do have a very strong sense of ownership of our planet - I think that it's everyone's responsibility to be thoughtful in what they eat, wear, and use.

That said, I think PETA as an organization is one step away from terrorism. Their officers and administrative people have admitted that they "fudge" and manipulate data in order to "prove" their points. They fund organizations that have caused bodily harm to human beings in order to "save" animals. Most of the information they provide is heavily propagandized.

I cannot, in good conscience, support an organization that uses terroristic tactics, no matter what "good" they may be trying to do.

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Honestly,

I would say I don't know a lot about PETA but from what I do know, I wouldn't want to have anything to do with them.

I'm vegetarian and I love animals but PETA really puts me off. I think they have the right message but execute it terribly. The way they go about spreading the message puts more people off than it helps.

mmmm..well, as a country, the U.S. funds organizations that cause bodily harm to human beings i.e. in the name of democracy. do you support our government? we use terrorist tactics like ummm....war. so what's the difference?

any org uses heavily propagandized info. right? that's the point to get the message across right? i'm totally playin devils advocate here btw

then how would you suggest they (we?) execute it? are we not a country that only pays attention to shock tactics? is that not why we know the name peta and no one has ever heard of vegan action? have they not put animals and ethical treatment in the same sentence? do we not need lobbyist fanatics on the hill? is the system not designed this way? again devil's advocate

PETA put me off many years on vegetarianism as well as veganism. I might've explored both at a much earlier age if it wasn't for PETA. I do think there are better ways to educate about the benefits of vegetarianism/veganism as well as animal rights.

Photochick - Although ollie mentioned the same thing playing devils advocate, when I read your post, I had to think about the numerous other organizations that 'fudge' their numbers in order to further their cause. PETA is selling a product in a sense in that they want people to understand the horrors of animal cruelty but does it really matter if 500 animals are tortured versus 50? Do the 50 animals feel less pain? I do think organizations should be truthful but I don't have much faith in most organizations. Again, I don't want anything to do with PETA but I think fudging the numbers, putting their own slant/bias etc is expected.

Ah. See, I'm not going to get sucked into this conversation. I had a feeling this would go this way. :)

Good luck to you. :)

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They have turned two of my friends veg. I think personally they are a little extreme.

hmmmm....sorry photochick. wasn't tryin to suck anything out of anybody. i would honestly just like to know the right way of going about things that won't turn people off...but actually gets something accomplished. it's more than just "oh well, peta sucks let's go buy some wool socks"

i want to know what works without the fanatical approach....and wanted to hear folks' idears...

Stewardship and moderation and tolerance are my mantras. I have some issues with Peta, but philosophically, I agree with them much of the time. They take things to the extreme, and get a bad (deservedly) rap much of the time, but their core message is solid.

When they decided to come and cut up my aviary for my injured birds of prey that were to be released in the wild that was when it went sour for me when I think about PETA. All of my animals are treated with love and respect but I guess they wanted to prove a point, just have no idea what it was.

So yeah I have no respect for them and I'm a big supporter of animal rights....not a vegan or veggie though.

I would have answered but I couldn't have said it better than this. :(

i agree. i am a total passive pacifist:) but throughout history all the social movements are centered around extremism...i was wondering why that is and is that the only way we as humans finally pay attention? (hope not...)

ollie - It depends what your goals are. If your goals are to get people to eat less animal products, then sometimes health will do it. For me, I read 2 books that helped me immensely, eat to live and the china study. Both being on the scientific side and supportive side helped me. I've also decided to stop buying leather as well. I figure if I'm not going to eat animal products, I'm not going to wear/use them as much as I can control.

If your goals are purely 'stop animal cruelty', that is a harder thing to do because well there are different opinions about what is animal cruelty. Some people will see animals as things always and some people will see animals as sources of food always. Again, I think plain old education is useful but you need a sympathetic ear.

If someone came up to me said "Hi I'm from Peta and ...", I'd stop them right there because really I don't have any interest.

Of course then you also get the people who think you are a crazy whacko when you say you are vegetarian because of the things PETA does. I also know some people have a real hard time with peer pressure and staying vegetarian and I don't think that helps.