I read the article PETA's Dirty Secret and I have to say " WOW." I admit i've never been a big PETA fan, but it seems like things have gotten pretty ridiculous. For those of you who might not know what PETA is, it's an organization that protests against pretty much anything related to restricting animals in any way. It stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. From just the name, it doesn't sound like anything bad but what I read in this article definitely proves otherwise.
The passage said that PETA, while also protesting against the 'inhumane' treatment of animals by farmers, anglers, restaurant owners, ect., was recieving and putting to death thousands of animals. The article even provided a nifty little chart showing the amount of animals recieved, euthanized, or adopted out for each year. In 2009 alone, the organization took in 2,366 companion animals. Of those, only 8 were adopted out. Approximately 2,301 of them were put to sleep.
I'm not going to pretend that I understand what these people are thinking because, truthfully, I have no earthly idea. Being an animal lover, I am extremely saddened by the enormity of those numbers. I don't understand how members can sit there and say that anybody that chains up their animal or eats meat is unmoral and unfit to be an owner, when they are slaughtering countless animals without any reasonable justification. Their reasoning, as said by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, is that taking care of the animals costs a lot more than killing them. She was also quoted saying," We could become a no-kill shelter immediately." My thinking is that if they can afford to be a no-kill organization, why haven't they?
Now don't get me wrong. I am not saying that euthanization is completely wrong, because I believe that sometimes it is the best option if an animal is suffering. On the other hand, I don't think that the killing of perfectly healthy animals has any justification worth listening to. In my mind, euthanization should be an absolute last resort; something to relieve the pointless suffering of a terminally ill companion.
PETA is supposedly for animal rights, yet it doesn't seem that 'animal rights' has anything to do with the animals' welfare. I would like to know how some of these people can live with themselves knowing that they are commiting this horrible form of hypocrisy. So maybe we should all think twice about believing what we hear, because what we hear may not be anything like what is actually happening.
