In this day in age where we don't trust our politicians, or our corporations, or just about anyone else, it's still a shock to see something like the news this week that unfurled about PETA.
Note, everything I have to say here is here-say and conjecture and opinion, so none of it may be true. Do your own research and make up your own mind. Here's what is in my mind…
An official report filed by PETA itself shows that the animal rights group put to death nearly every dog, cat, and other pet it took in for adoption in 2006. During that year, the well-known animal rights group managed to find adoptive homes for just 12 animals. Not counting pets brought to PETA for spaying or neutering, the organization killed 2,981 of the 3,061 “companion animals” it took in. According to VDACS, the average euthanasia rate for humane societies in Virginia was 34.7 percent in 2006. PETA’s “kill rate” was 97.4 percent..
Without knowing anything else about PETA or why they did this, I immediately jump to the conclusion that I've been duped. A bunch of hippie-do-gooders have been telling me to spay or neuter my pet so they don't have to kill it's offspring. I thought PETA was about saving animals, but it appears that it may not be so.
I go to their website and sure enough, the headlines are talking about no more animal testing, how Purdue University Kills Dogs (I wonder if they killed as many as PETA did), How cruel KFC is for killing chickens for food (I wonder how many of the animals PETA killed were then eaten). They're trying to make me into a vegetarian with free vegetarian packages I can order, etc.
Still, I don't see anything that says they don't kill animals, only that everyone else who kills animals should be beat, boycotted, and banished.
So the news this week that shocked the world about how PETA only got a handful of their animals adopted and killed the rest in 2006 shouldn't really shock anyone. We should assume they are doing political doublespeak and hope they murdered fluffy and snowball "ethically" instead of "inhumanely". AFter all, "Ethical Treatment" is right there in their name.
Maybe we should just stop blindly trusting the non-profits too.
4 Comments
*sigh* Hypocrisy is bad… but hippy-hypocrisy is the worst.
I'm getting ready to take the plunge and get a doggie. Which one of these do you think I should get? http://boulderhumane.org/hsbv/go.asp?mode=adopt_dogs
oooh! oooh! I like Sara the best and I like Jaun's a cutey too. I wish we had cute dogs .
I'm not a ($) supporter of PETA, but I think I will refrain from comment at this time, until further investigation takes place. The 'official' report you read came from what news source by the way? Not to mention any comment on supporting non-profits. You know where I stand.
I didn't quote the source above because this thing has been all over the news. A quick search at google on "PETA 2981" (using the number of animals quoted in the report that they killed) returns over 32,000 hits.
see for yourself. there's even a youtube video, which makes it official…
sources like the Center for Consumer Freedom, KALB television, the Huffington Post, Doggie News, Forbes Magazine, Reuters, The Desert Rat. The list goes on and on.
I first read about it on CNN at some point.
This is not an attack on supporting non-profits. It's a challenge to pay attention to what's going on and to not assume a company is a good thing just because it's a non-profit. PETA is definitely not something I'm interested in supporting, but I would have considered it last week. now they're completely off the list.