Why do people hate PETA?

Question

A) Why do people hate PETA? Even some vegitarians don't like them. What have they done?
B) What's your take on PETA?
C) Are there any alternative, more reliable/ethical/etc sources of fair animal treatment - other than PETA?
D) Are there any good products in the US that aren't animal tested? How would you know?

BONUS QUESTIION! What is Ellen Degeneres' religion, if any?

Thanks a bunch. :) Answer what you can!

Answer 1

PETA is hypocritical. They claim they work for animal rights, but then they put dogs and cats to sleep and leave them in dumpsters. I'm all for animal rights, but practice what you preach.

Ellen Degeneres was raised Christian Scientist, but I'm not sure as to what her current religion is.

Answer 2

A) They are extremists.
B) I think they have the wrong idea. I think they exploit people's emotions and get carried away, without actually knowing anything about population dynamics or the animals they're trying to "save."

Example: Remember the cute baby harp seal pictures? They plastered those everywhere to get Canada to pass laws against the baby harp seal hunt. It worked, because those little buggers are adorable! But the people hunting the babies were the Indigenous people of the area, who know not to take too much. They weren't threatening the population. The babies are cute, yes, and no one likes to see them getting clubbed. But it wasn't hurting the population. What was hurting the population were the poachers who were hunting the adults. But PETA didn't go after them, because adult seals apparently don't have the same appeal. So PETA stopped a hunt that was sustainable, and ignored a hunt that was threatening the population, all for aesthetics.

C) Yes, try to learn about Indigenous traditions of treating animals. You might start by reading some books - one of my favorite is "On behalf of the wolf and the first people," by Joseph Marshall. In most Indigenous traditions, animals are equal with humans. You can eat animals and plants, but you respect where that food came from and insist that it be an animal that was killed with respect (in other words, no slaughterhouse meat). Which is a good practice - studies have shown that the fear and adrenaline hormones that cows release when they're being herded up the chute end up in the meat, and we consume them. It's very bad for you.
Indigenous tradition respects life, and understands that there is a balance that is always changing. You can't "conserve" anything, all you can do is act responsibly and life will respond accordingly.

That's all I've got :-) Hope it helps!

Answer 3

I'm a carnivore, so I don't think I'm on PETA's good side; however, I don't have much personal experience with the organization. I bought one of my cats from PetsMart, but the purchase was filtered through PETA goons who'd set up shop at the store. I was grilled for a few minutes on how I would house the cat: inside, outside, inside-outside. I was honest and said that she would be an inside-outside cat. That didn't sit well with PETA; they said that, simply by looking at the cat, they could tell she was strictly an inside animal. So I lied and told them I'd keep her inside. Four years later and my "strictly inside" PETA cat is a ferocious killer of rabbits and other rodents. I'm nearly convinced that PETA doesn't know much about animals -- probably because it attempts to treat them like human beings.

Answer 4

A) Because they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and save animals, which leads to accidental killing of the animal.

B) I really dislike PETA. I am disgusted by the way they think. A PETA member said that animals have the same rights as retarded children. Another PETA activist was asked the question, "If a boat capsized, and a baby and a dog were on board which one would you save?" The activist replied, "If the baby was retarded, then I'd save the dog." How horrible.

C)?
D)?

Answer 5

PETA is a bit extreme in their beliefs. They don't really think about their actions. For instance, freeing farm raised animals without thinking about the fact that the animals can't sustain themselves on their own, they were'nt raised that way. I've read several instances of this. Or their excessive protests. If PETA had its way no one would own a pet because all animals should be free. That sounds good in theory but domesticated animals cannot survive well on their own after years of depending on humans. Plus, most of what they do is childish and does not help the greater good of animals. If your going to supprt animals choose the human society, they actually care about animals' well-being and are active in helping them.

Answer 6

I hate them. They are too militant. I honestly wonder why they think they know better how to treat animals when they go to the wall against humans. Shouldn't we be fixing our own people problems first? Sure, I'm against cruelty to animals, but humans also developed into omnivores in nature. It is not unnatural to eat animals. Yes, we could all eat a little less than we do of meat, but, really, what's so bad about it? Should cats, dogs, and other animals be vegetarian? Makes little sense. And once an animal is dead, what is gained by not utilizing it? People also have worn fur since forever. I'm not saying let's kill animals for their fur, but I am saying lets use our natural resources. They don't impress me as very knowledgeable.

Answer 7

They're hypocrites.

The VP of PETA has no problem about killing animals for testing her insulin: "I'm an insulin-dependent diabetic. Twice a day I take synthetically manufactured insulin that still contains some animal products -- and I have no qualms about it ... I'm not going to take the chance of killing myself by not taking insulin. I don't see myself as a hypocrite. I need my life to fight for the rights of animals." --Glamour, January 1990

Who’s killed more animals? Vick (8) or PETA (14,400):
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) loves to point the finger at others, when they should be looking at their own record of killing more than 90% of the animals left in their care. According to government records PETA has killed more than 14,400 animals since 1998.

http://www.petakillsanimals.com/vick_press_release.cfm

Answer 8

Well I read all of the answers so far to your question before giving you my take on PETA.
Some talked about food (slaughter houses) and food (native hunters that respect the gift that they need to survive)
Both are valid points
Although i choose not to hunt...... not to kill an animal when i can go to the local butcher shop and buy my meat there, I dont try to judge someone that does hunt. personally if i saw a deer in the woods i would rather have my camera than my gun. I only need my gun for the human animals that might seek to harm me.
Unless i happen to run across a hungry grizzly bear animals are not a threat.
Am i wrong to buy meat that came from a slaughterhouse? Is that more ethical than the hunter? I dont know.
I choose not to hunt and I choose to eat meat.
But the key word in all of it to me is CHOOSE
And in my mind this is where PETA comes in.
Animals are a gift. They should be protected. Our pets cannot CHOOSE to cut on the sink when they are thirsty. They cannot CHOOSE to fix a sandwich if they are hungry. They cannot CHOOSE to open the back door and go outside when they need to pee.
They need us to do these things for them.
In return they give us the most precious gift of all ... Unconditional Love.

Such a gift should be protected at all costs even if it means inconvenviencing those of us with opposable thumbs sometimes....... After all we can CHOOSE to take care of ourselves.......... often in the most selfish shortsighted uncaring idiotic ways.

I am glad PETA is there for them. Wolf

Answer 9

I'm all for the fair treatment of animals but I think PETA is a little extreme sometimes. I don't think bath & body works tests on animals neithier does Internal Restructure.

Answer 10

Thank God they exist is the way I see it! I understand that they can go overboard a bit and I get it that human life should never be put on the same level as an animal's but c'mon people. Do we really have to do to animals the chit we do to them! We people can be a abit sadistic and over the top ourselves.