A Right to Life???

If you have ever wondered what the word hypocrisy means, just take a look at PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (as they like to call themselves). The word ethical apparently means something different to PETA than it does to me because I personally don't think murder is ethical. 

Last night PETA made yet another hypocritical comment (via twitter) and it definitely evoked a response from me. Of course, I am against clubbing seal cubs and I NEVER want to see an animal tortured, but PETA argues against killing some animals while they themselves inject poison into the veins of thousands.

PETA: FACT: About 95% of harp seals killed in Canada's commercial seal slaughet are btwn 1 - 3 1/2 mos old. [link]

Pet Studio Art: @peta how old were the 1647 dogs and cats that you killed in 2012???

PETA: @petstudioart Sadly, open admissions shelters euthanize far more animals every year as a result of the overpopulation crisis.

Pet Studio Art: @peta While that may be true in some situations, true #nokill open admission shelters are saving upwards of 90% of the animals in their care

PETA: @petstudioart If a shelter was truly open admission, wouldn't it take every animal in a public shelter?Pet Studio Art: @peta In Austin, we are saving 90%+ of the homeless pets as a direct result of embracing the #nokill equation.

Pet Studio Art: @peta AND, even if others kill... does that make it right for you to kill? What happened to the 'ethical' piece? How is murder 'ethical'?

Pet Studio Art: @peta Yes. Austin's open admission shelter takes in ANY animals in the city. Williamson County, just north of Austin does so as well.

PETA: @petstudioart For every animal at a "no-kill" shelter, many more remain at public shelters, which don't have the luxury of no kill.

Pet Studio Art: @peta Both of the #nokill shelters that I mentioned are public, open admission shelters.

You can continue to follow the conversation - or join in on our twitter page.
Another shocking comment: "We [PETA] do not advocate right to life for animals." -Ingrid Newkirk, Founder of People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). 

Yes, she seriously said that. Well, she wrote it on a postcard that she sent to Nathan Winograd back in 1994. (Take a look at the postcard for yourself!). The sad thing is, for those of us that have been involved in animal welfare for any descent amount of time, this is not a surprising quote. Sadly, for the millions of animal lovers that are not directly involved in Animal Welfare, the PETA name still holds the illusion that the organization truly loves animals. 

I won't lie; 10 years ago, I would have had pictures of fuzzy puppies in my head when the name PETA came up. When it comes to marketing, PETA has their act together, but truly, that's all it is... an act! Last year, of the 1843 animals taken in by PETA only 19 were adopted out. Of the remaining animals, 130 were transferred to other animal organizations and 1647 of them were killed by PETA's own employees. That equals a death rate of 89.4% of all animals that PETA got their hands on in 2012. 

So, the PETA supporters may step in and argue that some of these animals may truly have been suffering or had zero quality of life. I am a supporter of truly HUMANE euthanasia. Absolutely I am. I don't believe that any animal should suffer if there is no cure in site and I do believe that a truly dangerous animal that cannot be rehabilitated should be humanely euthanized. BUT, with that being said, even typical U.S. animal shelters that do the bare minimum for their animals are able adopt out around 40% - 50% of the animals they take in. Shelters around the country that are stepping up to become true No Kill shelters are saving upwards of 90% of the animals in their care. So, how was PETA, one of the largest animal related organizations in the world, only able to save 19 animals last year? ...

Then, there are the anti-fur promotions and the pro-vegan promotions. I agree with both of these issues and I still don't like PETA. I agree that wearing fur is supporting a disgusting industry where animals are tortured then skinned alive. I agree that going Vegan or Vegetarian will help end the sad and terrible practices of slaughterhouses and help save the lives of innocent animals. I also believe that killing healthy and adoptable animals is wrong. I believe that using donor money to end the lives of over 29,000 pets in the last 14-15 years is unacceptable. 

PETA may be the most hypocritical organization around. They spend millions of dollars talking about ending the cruel practices of animal abusers, yet they advocate death for the animals that come out of abuse situations. They support ending slaughterhouses, yet they run a slaughterhouse in Virginia; the animals they routinely kill are dogs and cats vs cows and pigs.

So, why do people support PETA still? Because they just don't know. PETA runs impactful advertising campaigns like the "I would rather go naked than wear fur" campaign. Of course, I would rather go naked than wear fur... but I would also rather go naked than support the killing machine known as PETA! 

PETA's Killing Statistics since 2005:

2012: Took in 1843 animals. Killed 1647

2011: Took in 1992 animals. Killed 1911
2010: Took in 2345 animals. Killed 2200

2009: Took in 2366 animals. Killed 2301
2008: Took in 2216 animals. Killed 2124

2007: Took in 1997 animals. Killed 1815

2006: Took in 3061 animals. Killed 2981
2005: Took in 2165 animals. Killed 1946

Stephanie Conrad
Pet Studio Art | Owner | Artist
www.petstudioart.com

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Need more info on PETA:
www.petakillsanimals.com