People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

"PETA" redirects here. For other uses, seePETA (disambiguation).

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Logo used since 1980
Founded	March 22, 1980(1980-03-22)
Founders	Ingrid Newkirk Alex Pacheco
Type	501(c)(3)
Focus	Animal rights
Location	Norfolk, Virginia,United States
President	Ingrid Newkirk
Senior VP, Campaigns	Dan Mathews
Revenue	US$66.3million (2020)
Website	www.peta.org

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals(PETA;/ˈpiːtə/) is an Americananimal rightsnonprofit organization based inNorfolk, Virginia,and led byIngrid Newkirk,its international president. PETA says that its entities have more than 9 million members globally.

Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights activistAlex Pacheco,the organization first gained attention in the summer of 1981 during what became known as theSilver Spring monkeyscase.The organization opposesfactory farming,fur farming,animal testing,and other activities it considers to be exploitation of animals.

The organization's controversial campaigns have been credited with drawing media attention to animal rights issues, but have also been widely criticized. Its use of euthanasia has resulted in legal action and a response from Virginia lawmakers.

History

Ingrid Newkirk

Newkirk talking about herself and her legacy (11:27)

Ingrid Newkirk

Ingrid Newkirkwas born in England in 1949, and raised inHertfordshireand later New Delhi, India, where her father—a navigational engineer—was stationed. Newkirk, now an atheist, was educated in a convent, the only British girl there.She moved to the United States as a teenager, first studying to become a stockbroker, but after taking some abandoned kittens to an animal shelter in 1969 and being appalled by the conditions that she found there, she chose a career in animal protection instead.She became an animal-protection officer forMontgomery County, Maryland,and then theDistrict of Columbia's first woman poundmaster. By 1976 she was head of the animal disease control division of D.C.'s Commission on Public Health and in 1980 was among those named as "Washingtonians of the Year."

Alex Pacheco

In 1980, after her divorce, she met Alex Pacheco, a political science major atGeorge Washington University.He volunteered at the shelter where she worked, and they fell in love and began living together.Newkirk readPeter Singer's influential book,Animal Liberation(1975), and in March 1980, she persuaded Pacheco to join her in forming People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, at that point just "five people in a basement," as Newkirk described it. They were mostly students and members of the local vegetarian society, but the group included a friend of Pacheco's from the UK,Kim Stallwood,a British activist who went on to become the national organizer of theBritish Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

Silver Spring monkeys

PETA distributed images of the monkeys with the caption, "This isvivisection.Don't let anyone tell you different. "

The group first came to public attention in 1981 during theSilver Spring monkeyscase, a dispute about experiments conducted by researcher Edward Taub on 17macaque monkeysinside the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland. The case led to the first police raid in the United States on an animal laboratory, triggered an amendment in 1985 to the United States Animal Welfare Act, and became the first animal-testing case to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court,which upheld a Louisiana State Court ruling that denied PETA's request for custody of the monkeys.

Pacheco had taken a job in May 1981 inside a primate research laboratory at the institute, intending to gain firsthand experience of working inside an animal laboratory.Taub had been cuttingsensory gangliathat supplied nerves to the monkeys' fingers, hands, arms, and legs—a process called "deafferentation" —so that the monkeys could not feel them; some of the monkeys had had their entire spinal columns deafferented. He then used restraint, electric shock, and withholding of food and water to force the monkeys to use the deafferented parts of their bodies. The research led in part to the discovery ofneuroplasticityand a new therapy for stroke victims calledconstraint-induced movement therapy.

Pacheco went to the laboratory at night, taking photographs that showed the monkeys living in what the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research'sILAR Journalcalled "filthy conditions."He passed his photographs to the police, who raided the lab and arrested Taub. Taub was convicted of six counts of cruelty to animals, the first such conviction in the United States of an animal researcher; the conviction, though, was overturned on appeal.Norm Phelpswrites that the case followed the highly publicized campaign ofHenry Spirain 1976 against experiments on cats being performed at theAmerican Museum of Natural Historyin New York and Spira's subsequent campaign in April 1980 against theDraize test.These and the Silver Spring monkey case jointly put animal rights on the agenda in the United States.

The 10-year battle for custody of the monkeys—described byThe Washington Postas a vicious mud fight, during which both sides accused the other of lies and distortion— transformed PETA into a national, then international, movement. By February 1991, it claimed over 350,000 supporters, a paid staff of over 100, and an annual budget of over $7 million.

PETA India

PETA India was founded in 2000 and is based inMumbai,India.

PETA and theNGOAnimal Rahat, authorized by theAnimal Welfare Board of India(AWBI), participated in a nine-month investigation of 16 circuses in India. After it was said that "animals used in circuses were subjected to chronic confinement, physical abuse, and psychological torment", AWBI, in 2013, banned the registration of elephants for performance.

PETA India put up billboards prior to a 2020 annual religious eventEid al-Adhawhere animals are ritualistically slaughtered. The billboards depicted goats with the words "I am a living being and not just meat. Change your view towards us and become a vegan." and "I am ME, Not Mutton. See the Individual. Go Vegan."Muslim clericswanted to take down the billboards, saying that it was hurtful to their religious sentiments.

In July 2020, PETA put up billboards saying "ThisRakshabandhan,protect me: Go leather-free ".

Locations

PETA was based inRockville, Maryland,until 1996, when it moved to Norfolk, Virginia.It opened a Los Angeles division in 2006and also has offices in Washington, D.C., andOakland, California.In addition, PETA has international affiliates.

Philosophy and activism

Two young women from PETA,body paintedto look like foxes, protesting against thefur tradenext to theThree Smiths Statuein Helsinki,Finlandon March 25, 2010.

Profile

PETA is an animal rights organization that opposesspeciesism,and the abuse of animals in any way, such as for food, clothing, entertainment, or research.

In 2020, PETA's website claimed they had 6.5 million supporters,and received donations of $49 million for 2019.

Campaigns and consumer boycotts

PETA's trademark "Lettuce ladies" in Columbus, Ohio

The organization is known for aggressive media stunts, combined with a solid base of celebrity support—in addition to its honorary directors,Paul McCartney,Alicia Silverstone,Eva Mendes,Charlize Theron,Ellen DeGeneres,and many other notable celebrities have appeared in PETA ads.Every week, Newkirk holds whatThe New Yorkercalls a "war council," with two dozen of her top strategists gathered at a square table in the PETA conference room, with no suggestion considered too "kooky or unkind".PETA also gives an annual prize, called the Proggy Award (for "progress" ), to individuals or organizations dedicated to animal welfare or who distinguish themselves through their efforts within the area of animal welfare.

Many of the campaigns have focused on large corporations. Fast food companies such as KFC, Wendy's, and Burger King have been targeted. In the animal-testing industry, PETA's consumer boycotts have focused on Avon, Benetton, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Chesebrough-Pond's, Dow Chemical, General Motors, and others. The group'smodus operandiincludes buying shares in target companies such as McDonald's and Kraft Foods to exert influence.The campaigns have delivered results for PETA. McDonald's and Wendy's introduced vegetarian options after PETA targeted them; and Polo Ralph Lauren said it would no longer use fur.Avon, Estée Lauder, Benetton, and Tonka Toy Co. all stopped testing products on animals, the Pentagon stopped shooting pigs and goats in wounds tests, and a slaughterhouse in Texas was closed down.

As part of its anti-fur action, PETA supporters have infiltrated hundreds of fashion shows in the U.S. and Europe and one in China, throwing red paint on the catwalks and unfurling banners. Celebrities and supermodels have posed naked for the group's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign—some men, but mostly women—triggering criticism from some feminist animal rights advocates.The New Yorkerwrites that PETA activists have crawled through the streets of Paris wearing leg-hold traps and thrown around money soaked in fake blood at the International Fur Fair.They sometimes engage in pie-throwing—in January 2010, Canadian MPGerry Byrnecompared them to terrorists for throwing a tofu cream pie at Canada's fishery ministerGail Sheain protest of the seal slaughter, a comment Newkirk called a silly chest-beating exercise."The thing is, we make them gawk" she toldSatyamagazine, "maybe like a traffic accident that you have to look at."

PETA has also objected to the practice ofmulesing(removing strips of wool-bearing skin from around the buttocks of a sheep). In October 2004, PETA launched a boycott against the Australian wool industry, leading some clothing retailers to ban products using Australian wool from their stores.In response, the Australian wool industry sued PETA, arguing among other things that mulesing preventsflystrike,a very painful disease that can affect sheep. A settlement was reached, and PETA agreed to stop the boycott, while the wool industry agreed to seek alternatives to mulesing.

In 2011, PETA named five orcas as plaintiffs and suedSeaWorldover the animals' captivity, seeking their protection under theThirteenth Amendment.A federal judge heard the case and dismissed it in early 2012.In August 2014, SeaWorld announced it was building new orca tanks that would almost double the size of the existing ones to provide more space for its whales. PETA responded that a "larger prison is still a prison."In 2016, SeaWorld admitted that it had been sending its employees to pose as activists tospyon PETA.Following an investigation by an outside law firm, SeaWorld's Board of Directors directed management to end the practice.

PETA supporters campaign againstBurberryin an anti-fur protest in 2007

In 2011,Patricia de Leonwas the Hispanic spokesperson for PETA's anti-bullfighting campaign.

Some campaigns have been particularly controversial. Newkirk was criticized in 2003 for sending a letter to PLO leaderYasser Arafatasking him to keep animals out of the conflict, after a donkey wasblown upduring an attack in Jerusalem.

To reduce milk consumption, it created the "Got Beer?" campaign, a parody of the dairy industry's series ofGot Milk?ads, which featured celebrities with milk "mustaches" on their upper lips. When the mayor of New York,Rudy Giuliani,was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, PETA ran a photograph of him with a white mustache and the words "Got prostate cancer?" to illustrate their claim that dairy products contribute to cancer, an ad that caused an outcry in the United States.After PETA placed ads in school newspapers linking milk to acne, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and strokes,Mothers Against Drunk Drivingand college officials complained it encouraged underage drinking; the British Advertising Standards Authority asked that the ads be discontinued after complaints from interest groups such as The National Farmers' Unions.

In August 2011, it was announced that PETA will be launching asoft pornographywebsite in the.xxxdomain. PETA spokesperson Lindsay Rajt told theHuffington Post,"We try to use absolutely every outlet to stick up for animals," adding that "We are careful about what we do and wouldn't use nudity or some of our flashier tactics if we didn't know they worked." PETA also used nudity in its "Veggie Love" ad which it prepared for theSuper Bowl,only to have it banned by the network. PETA's work has drawn the ire of some feminists who argue that the organization sacrifices women's rights to press its agenda. Lindsay Beyerstein criticized PETA saying "They're the ones drawing disturbing analogies between pornography, misogyny and animal cruelty."

PETA has approached cities to pressure them to change their names, includingFishkill, New Yorkin 1996,Hamburg, New Yorkin 2003,andCommerce City, Coloradoin 2007.

PETA sometimes issues isolated statements or press releases, commenting on current events. AfterLady Gagaworea dress made of meatin 2010, PETA issued a statement objecting to the dress.After a fisherman in Florida was bitten by a shark in 2011, PETA proposed an advertisement showing a shark devouring a human, with the caption "Payback Is Hell, Go Vegan". The proposed ad drew criticism from relatives of the injured fisherman.After Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer admitted that he had killedCecil the lionin Zimbabwe in 2015, PETA's president, Newkirk, issued a statement on behalf of PETA in which she said:

Hunting is a coward's pastime. If, as has been reported, this dentist and his guides lured Cecil out of the park with food so as to shoot him on private property, because shooting him in the park would have been illegal, he needs to be extradited, charged, and, preferably, hanged.

Undercover work

PETA sends its staff undercover into industries and other facilities that use animals to document the alleged abuse of animals. Investigators may spend many months as employees of a facility, making copies of documents and wearing hidden cameras.

1990s

• In 1984, PETA produced a 26-minute film,Unnecessary Fuss,based on 60 hours of research video footage stolen by theAnimal Liberation Frontduring a break-in at the University of Pennsylvania's head injury clinic. The footage showed experiments on thebaboonswith a hydraulic device intended to simulatewhiplash.The publicity led to investigations, suspension of grant funding, the firing of a veterinarian, the closure of the research lab, and a period of probation for the university.
• In 1990, two PETA activists posed as employees ofCarolina Biological,where they took pictures and video footage inside the company, alleging thatcatswere being mistreated.Following the release of PETA's tapes, theUSDAconducted its own inspection and subsequently charged the company with seven violations of theAnimal Welfare Act.Four years later, an administrative judge ruled that Carolina Biological had not committed any violations.
• In 1990,Bobby Berosini,a Las Vegas entertainer, lost his wildlife license as well as (on appeal) a later lawsuit against PETA, after PETA broadcast an undercover film of him slapping and punchingorangutansin 1989.
• In 1997, PETA made a film from footage obtained by PETA member Michele Rokke, who went undercover to report on UK companyHuntingdon Life Sciences,which aired on television. Huntingdon sued PETA, and PETA agreed to drop its campaign against Huntingdon.
• In 1999, a North Carolina grand jury indicted three workers at ahog farmafter three-months of videotaping by a PETA operative while he was employed at the farm. The veterinarian who oversaw the farm said the video PETA had made from the footage was a distortion and was made by someone who "lied during his employment interview".

2000s

• In 2004, PETA released video tapes taken from eight-months of undercover filming in a West Virginiaslaughterhousethat supplies chicken to the fast food industry. The recordings showed workers stomping on livechickensand throwing dozens against a wall. The parent corporation sent in their inspectors and told the plant to take corrective measures or risk losing their contract. Eleven employees were fired and the company introduced an anti-cruelty pledge for workers to sign.
• For 11 months PETA shot footage insideCovance's Virginia facility. Alleging that the footage showedprimatesbeing choked, hit, and denied medical attention, PETA sent the video and a 253-page complaint to theUnited States Department of Agriculture.The department investigated and Covance was fined $8,720. In 2005, Covance filed a lawsuit. "In exchange for not suing the infiltrator for illegally filming within Covance's lab, which was in breach of contract, PETA US handed over all the video footage to Covance and signed an agreement not to try and infiltrate Covance's laboratories for the next five years."
• In 2006, PETA filmed a trainer at Carson & Barnes Circus instructing others to beat theelephantsto make them obey. A company spokesman said they stopped usingelectrical prodson animals after the video was released.
• In 2007, the owners of achinchillaranch in Michigan sued PETA after pretending in 2004 to be interested buyers and secretly filming them, creating a video "Nightmare on Chinchilla Farm". A judge dismissed the case, writing "Undercover investigations are one of the main ways our criminal justice system operates," and noted that investigative television shows "often conduct undercover investigations to reveal improper, unethical, or criminal behavior."
• In 2008, the famous Spanish singerAlaskacollaborated with PETA in a joint campaign withAnimaNaturalis,posing nude in a picture to raise awareness for what she considers cruel activity,bullfighting.

2010s

• In 2013, PETA investigatedangora rabbitfarms in China and released video footage showing farmers ripping out the wool from live rabbits while they screamed.In 2015,Inditexannounced they would discontinue their use of angora and donated their existing inventory toSyrian refugees.Seventy other retailers had also stopped selling angora wool since the release of PETA's graphic video footage.
• Between 2012 and 2014, PETA investigatedsheep shearingsheds in thewoolindustry in Australia and the US. PETA sent reports and film footage to local authorities alleging that shearers had kicked and beatsheep,stomped on their heads, necks and legs, punched them with clippers, slammed them onto the floor, and sewed up cuts without pain relief. An American Wool Council spokesperson said "We do not condone or support the actions of anyone that results in the abuse of sheep either intentionally or unintentionally. Rough handling of animals that might result in the injury of a sheep is an unacceptable maneuver during the shearing process or anytime when sheep are handled."
• In 2014, PETA conducted an undercover investigation of thehorse-racingindustry, filming seven hours of footage that, asThe New York Timesreported, "showed mistreatment of thehorsesto be widespread and cavalier. "Noted trainerSteve Asmussenand his top assistant trainer, Scott Blasi, were accused "of subjecting their horses to cruel and injurious treatments, administering drugs to them for nontherapeutic purposes, and having one of theirjockeysuse an electrical device to shock horses into running faster. "The newspaper noted that this investigation" was PETA's first significant step into advocacy in the horse racing world. "In November 2015, as a result of PETA's investigation, Asmussen was fined $10,000 by theNew York State Gaming Commission.Robert Williams, executive director of the commission, said, "We recognize PETA for playing a role in bringing about changes necessary to make thoroughbred racing safer and fairer for all." By contrast, theKentucky Horse Racing Commission,which also received PETA's allegations, found that Asmussen did not violate any of its rules. Asmussen remains under investigation by theU.S. Department of Laborfor allegedly violating theFair Labor Standards Act of 1938.After a thorough investigation, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission did not bring any charges against Asmussen, stating the allegations "had neither a factual or scientific basis." While the fine from the New York State Gaming Commission was for a minor transgression, the most serious charges were deemed unfounded.
• In 2015, asThe Washington Postreported, PETA investigated Sweet Stem Farm, apig farmthat supplies meat toWhole Foods.The resulting video footage "featured images ofpigs,some allegedly sick and not given appropriate care, crowded into hot pens and roughly handled by employees, "contradicting both the farm's own video self-portrait and Whole Foods' claims about" humane meat "(a term that PETA maintains is an oxymoron).The Postnotes that "[i]n the wake of the PETA investigation, Whole Foods has removed the Sweet Stem video from its Web site."PETA subsequently filed a class-action lawsuit against Whole Foods, "alleging that the chain's claims about animal welfare amount to a 'sham.'"The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal magistrate, who ruled that the store's signage "amounted to permissible 'puffery'" and that "the statement that 'no cages' were used to raise broiler chickens was not misleading merely because Whole Foods failed to also disclose that poultry suppliers normally do not use cages in the first place."
• Other PETA investigations from around this time focused oncrocodileand alligator farms in Texas and Zimbabwe,amonkeybreeding facility in Florida,pigeon racingin Taiwan,ostrichslaughterhouses andtanneriesin South Africa.
• CBS News reported in November 2016 that PETA had captured footage from restaurants that serve liveoctopus,shrimp,and other marine animals. The group's video showed "an octopus writhing as its limbs are severed by a chef at T Equals Fish, aKoreatownsushi restaurant in Los Angeles. "PETA noted that octopuses" are considered among the most intelligent invertebrates "and" are capable of feeling pain just as a pig or rabbit would. "
• In December 2016, PETA released video footage from an investigation atTexas A&M University's dog laboratory, which deliberately breedsdogsto contractmuscular dystrophy.PETA claims that for "35 years, dogs have suffered in cruel muscular dystrophy experiments... which haven't resulted in a cure or treatment for reversing the course of muscular dystrophy in humans." TheHouston Pressnoted that "Texas A&M has been less than transparent about the research, and in some cases has denied that the dogs experience pain or discomfort." Among other efforts, PETA placed a billboard to oppose the ineffectual research on animals.
• Bio Corporation, a company that supplies dead animals for study and dissection, was the subject of a November 2017 PETA undercover investigation. It was claimed that video footage showed workers at the company's facility in Alexandria, Minnesota "drowning fully-consciouspigeons,injecting livecrayfishwithlatexand claiming that they sometimes would freezeturtlesto death. "PETA brought 25 charges of cruelty to animals against the company. Drowning is not considered an acceptable form of euthanasia, according to theAmerican Veterinary Medical Association,and its standards of humane euthanasia must be followed by companies certified by theUnited States Department of Agriculturesuch as Bio Corporation.On April 18, 2018, the case was dismissed and all charges dropped based on the Alexandria City Attorney's Office's assessment that the allegations of cruelty against either pigeons or crayfish were not sufficiently supported. Daniel Paden, PETA's director of evidence analysis, said that PETA is "reviewing its options to protect animals killed at Bio Corporation."
• In 2018, police raided aPetSmartstore in Tennessee, after receiving video footage from PETA. Police confiscated six animals: aguinea pig,mice,andhamsters.PetSmart sued the ex-employee, Jenna Jordan, claiming she was a paid PETA operative who obtained employment at PetSmart stores in Arizona, Florida and Tennessee to obtain recordings which she provided to PETA. Jordan was accused of committing "animal neglect, theft of confidential information, unlawfully surveilled private conversations, and filing false reports with law enforcement under false pretenses in three states."In 2019, PetSmart added PETA as a defendant in the lawsuit.
• On May 1, 2018, PETA released an investigation of themohairindustry that led more than 80 retailers, includingUNIQLOandZappos,to drop products made with mohair. The video evidence "depictsgoatsbeing thrown around wood floors, dunked in poisonous cleaning solution or having their ears mutilated with pliers.... [E]mployees are shown cutting goats' throats, breaking their necks, electrically shocking them and beheading them. "

Ag-gag laws

Various U.S. states have passedag-gaglaws to prevent animal rights and animal welfare groups from conducting undercover investigations of operations that use animals. In response, PETA has been involved with other groups bringing lawsuits, citingFirst Amendmentprotections for free speech.

• In 2017, a federal judge ruled Utah's ag-gag law an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment in a case brought against the state by PETA, theAnimal Legal Defense Fund,and Amy Meyer, the director of the Utah Animal Rights Coalition.
• In 2018, Idaho's ag-gag law was struck down as unconstitutional in a case brought byACLU-Idaho, theALDFand PETA.
• In 2019, a federal judge struck down Iowa's 2012 ag-gag law in a case filed in 2017 by co-plaintiffs PETA,ALDF,ACLU-Iowa,Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement,Bailing Out Benji, andCenter for Food Safety.
• In 2020, in the case ofPETA et al v. Stein,Judge Schroederstruck four subsections of North Carolina's 2015 Property Protection Act, writing "the law is declared unconstitutional as applied to them in their exercise of speech." The plaintiffs included PETA,Center for Food Safety,ALDF,Farm Sanctuary,Food & Water Watch,Government Accountability Project,Farm Forward,and theASPCA.

Legal proceedings

Two PETA employees were acquitted in 2007 of cruelty to animals after at least 80 euthanized animals were left in dumpsters in a shopping center inAhoskie, North Carolina,over the course of a month in 2005; the two employees were seen leaving behind 18 dead animals, and 13 more were found inside their van. The animals had beeneuthanizedafter being removed from shelters inNorthamptonandBertiecounties. A Bertie County Deputy Sheriff stated that the two employees assured the Bertie Animal Shelter that "they were picking up thedogsto take them back to Norfolk where they would find them good homes. "During the trial, Daphna Nachminovitch, the supervisor of PETA's Community Animal Project, said PETA began euthanizing animals in some rural North Carolina shelters after it found the shelters killing animals in ways PETA considers inhumane, including by shooting them. She also stated that the dumping of animals did not follow PETA's policy.

In November 2014, a resident ofAccomack County, Virginia,produced video evidence that two workers in a van marked with a PETA logo had entered his property in atrailer parkand taken hisdog,who was theneuthanized.He reported the incident to the police, who identified and charged two PETA workers, but the charges were later dropped by thecommonwealth attorneyon the grounds that it was not possible to provecriminal intent.The trailer park's manager had contacted PETA after a group of residents moved out, leaving their dogs behind, which is why the workers were on the property. The state later determined that PETA had violated state law by failing to ensure that theChihuahua,who was not wearing a collar or tag, was properly identified and for failing to keep the dog alive for five days before euthanizing the animal. Citing a "severity of this lapse in judgment," theVirginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Servicesissued PETA a first-ever violation and imposed a $500 fine. The contract worker who had taken the dog was dismissed by PETA.

In 2015, PETA sued British nature photographer David Slater inUS courtas anext friendfor a wildmacaquemonkey, whom they named Naruto. PETA argued that the monkey was entitled to thecopyrightof aselfieit had taken while handling Slater's camera, and naming themselves to be the administrator of any copyright revenue. Themonkey selfie copyright disputewas originally dismissed byJudge Orrickwho wrote there is no indication that theCopyright Actextends to animals and a monkey could not own a copyright.PETA appealed,but theCourt of Appealsfound in favor of Slater saying that "PETA's real motivation in this case was to advance its own interests, not Naruto's." The decision citedCetacean v. Bush (2004)that says animals cannot sue unlessCongressmakes it clear in thestatutethat animals can sue, and added that "next friend" representation cannot be applied to animals.The court also wrote:

"Puzzlingly, while representing to the world that 'animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way,' PETA seems to employ Naruto as an unwitting pawn in its ideological goals."

Video games

PETA has createda number of satirical video gameswith such names asHow Green Is My Diet?andKKK or AKC? Spot the Difference.PETA uses these games to spread attention about animal rights and animal welfare and to advocate vegetarian and vegan diets. PETA's head of online marketing Joel Bartlett said "We've found that parody games are extremely popular. By connecting our message with something people are already interested in, we're able to create more buzz."

In 2017, Ingrid Newkirk sent a letter of complaint toNintendoabout their video game1-2-Switch,during which players get to milk a cow. In her letter, Newkirk called the game "unrealistic" and wrote "you've taken all the cruelty out of milking". She also suggested that "instead of sugarcoating the subject, Nintendo switch to simulating activities in which no animals suffer."

In March 2020, PETA issued a "Vegan Guide to Animal Crossing" for the video gameAnimal Crossing: New Horizons.

Person of the year

Each year, PETA selects a "Person of the Year" who has helped advance the cause of animal rights.

• 2006:Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry (founders ofMethod Products).
• 2007:Robert C. Byrd(for his passionate defense of animals throughout six decades of public service).
• 2008:Oprah Winfrey(for using her powerful voice to defend those without one).
• 2009:Tim Gunn(Man of the Year) andEllen DeGeneres(Woman of the Year).
• 2010:Bill Clinton(for his influence to promote the benefits of following a vegan diet).
• 2011:Russell Simmons(for tirelessly advocating for animals and setting a positive example for others by promoting a vegan lifestyle).
• 2012:Anjelica Huston.(for her work to keep animals with their families in the habitats where they belong, instead of being used on production sets and fur farms and to pull carriages).
• 2013:Ricky Gervais.
• 2014:Bill de Blasio.(for his defense of tigers, elephants, and horses forced to work in New York and his promotion of vegan eating).
• 2015:Pope Francis(selected for his encouragement to treat animals with kindness and to respect the environment).
• 2016:Mary Matalin(chosen for her fight for the humane treatment of farm animals and monkeys).
• 2017:Naruto (a monkey unaware ofhis role in a copyright case).
• 2018:California WildfireHeroes.
• 2019:Joaquin Phoenix.
• 2020:Tabitha Brown.
• 2021:Billie Eilish.
• 2022:James Cromwell(for speaking out against the live export of pigs from Ireland, and pressuring Starbucks to end its vegan milk up-charge).
• 2023:James Gunn.

PETA India

• 2011:Hema Malini(for taking a stand and speaking out for animals).
• 2012:R. Madhavan(for helping make the world a better place for animals).
• 2013:Shashi Tharoor.
• 2014:K. S. Panicker Radhakrishnan(Man of the year for a landmark judgement banningJallikattu) andJacqueline Fernandez(Woman of the year).
• 2015:Kapil Sharma(for his dedication in championing the adoption of dogs from animal shelters or the streets).
• 2016:Sunny Leone(for advocating the support of vegan fashion,vegetarianism,and cat & dog adoption / sterilisation).
• 2017:Anushka Sharma(for her wide-reaching work for animals, from helping to protect dogs from fireworks to advocating for horses who are forced to pull carriages).
• 2018:Sonam Kapoor.
• 2019:Virat Kohli.
• 2020:John Abraham.
• 2021:Alia Bhatt(for her continuous work in support of an animal-friendly fashion industry).
• 2022:Sonakshi Sinha.(for action which helped spare the lives of animals killed for fashion, and her strong advocacy for cats and dogs in need).

PETA UK

• 2008:Leona Lewis.(for her campaign againstfoie gras).
• 2009:Roger Moore.
• 2010:Pamela Anderson.
• 2011:Morrissey.
• 2012:Brian May(for badger activism).
• 2014:Tony Benn.
• 2016:Pamela Anderson.
• 2017:Roger Moore.
• 2018:Lewis Hamilton.
• 2020:Carrie Johnson(for her work to protect endangered animals).
• 2023:Paul O'Grady(for his lifelong determination to make the world a kinder place for animals).

Labels

PETA certifies beauty and cosmetics companies with "Beauty without Bunnies" bunny labels in two tiers. In the first tier ( "Animal Test-Free" ), the entire company does not use animal testing. The company may still produce non-vegan products. In the second tier ( "Cruelty-Free" ), the company may not produce non-vegan products. The company is animal test-free and also vegan, i.e. does not use any animal-derived ingredients. If a company carries the PETA "animal test-free" or "cruelty-free" label, it must also have signed agreements with its suppliers that they do not use animal testing.

PETA also awards a "Vegan" label to clothing and furniture products (instead of entire companies), which means that the products are free from animal-derived ingredients, but the companies can still produce non-vegan products.

PETA labels

Label	PETA Animal Test-Free	PETA Cruelty-Free	PETA Vegan
Visual label
Object certified	Beauty and cosmetics companies	Beauty and cosmetics companies	Clothing and furniture products
Meaning	All of the company's products animal test-free	All of the company's products animal test-free All of the company's products vegan	Product vegan

Positions

Direct action and the ALF

Newkirk is outspoken in her support ofdirect action,writing that no movement for social change has ever succeeded without what she calls the militarism component: "Thinkers may prepare revolutions, but bandits must carry them out."Newkirk is a strong supporter of direct action that removes animals from laboratories and other facilities: "When I hear of anyone walking into a lab and walking out with animals, my heart sings."Newkirk was quoted in 1999, "When you see the resistance to basic humane treatment and to the acknowledgment of animals' social needs, I find it small wonder that the laboratories aren't all burning to the ground. If I had more guts, I'd light a match."

Euthanasia

PETA is a strong proponent of euthanasia. They oppose theno-kill movement,and rather than adoption programs, PETA prefers to aim for zero births throughspaying and neutering.They recommend not breedingpit bulls,and support euthanasia in certain situations for animals in shelters, such as those being housed for long periods in cramped cages.

Pet as a derogatory term

PETA considers the word pet to be "derogatory and patronises the animal", and prefers the term "companion" or "companion animal". "Animals are not pets," Newkirk has said.

Hearing-ear and seeing-eye dogs

PETA supportshearing dogprograms when animals are sourced from shelters and placed in homes, but opposesseeing-eye-dogprograms "because the dogs are bred as if there are no equally intelligent dogs literally dying for homes in shelters, they are kept in harnesses almost 24/7".

Animal testing

PETA opposesanimal testing—whether toxicity testing, basic or applied research, or for education and training—on both moral and practical grounds. Newkirk told theVoguemagazine in 1989 that even if animal testing resulted in a cure for AIDS, PETA would oppose it.The group also believes that it is wasteful, unreliable, and irrelevant to human health, because artificially induced diseases in animals are not identical to human diseases. They say that animal experiments are frequently redundant and lack accountability, oversight, and regulation. They promote alternatives, includingembryonic stem cellresearch andin vitrocell research.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/White Coat Waste Project

The White Coat Waste Project, a group of activists that hold that taxpayers should not have to pay $20 billion every year for experiments on animals,said that theNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseasesprovided $400,000 in taxpayer money to fund experiments in which 28 beagles were infected by disease-causing parasites.The White Coat Project found reports that said dogs taking part in the experiments were "vocalizing in pain" after being injected with foreign substances.Following public outcry, PETA made a call to action that all members of theNational Institute of Healthresign effective immediatelyand that there is a "need to find a new NIH director to replace the outgoingFrancis Collinswho will shut down research that violates the dignity of nonhuman animals. "

Controversies

High euthanasia rates

PETA'seuthanasiapractices have drawn intense scrutiny from lawmakers and criticism from animal rights activists for years. The consistently high percentage of animals euthanized at PETA's shelter has been controversial.

In 2008,meat industrylobby group theCenter for Consumer Freedom(CCF) said in a news release that "[a]n 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," with a kill rate of 97.4 percent.In 2012, theVirginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Servicessaid that it had in the past considered changing PETA's status from "shelter" to "euthanasia clinic", citing PETA's willingness to take in "anything that comes through the door, and other shelters won't do that."PETA acknowledged that it euthanized 95% of the animals at its shelter in 2011.

PETA calls their shelter inNorfolk, Virginiaa "shelter of last resort", claiming they only receive old, sick, injured, badly behaved, and otherwise unadoptable animals. Operating as open admission, they take in animals "no one else will", and consider death "a merciful end". In 2014, PETA euthanized over 80% of the shelter's animals and justified its euthanasia policies as "mercy killings".

Fueled by public outrage from a 2014 incident where PETA workers took a petchihuahuafrom its porch and euthanized it the same day, along with documentation that of the 1,606 cats and 1,025 dogs accepted by the shelter that same year, 1,536 cats and 788 dogs were euthanized, theVirginia General Assemblypassed Senate Bill 1381 in 2015 aimed at curtailing the operation of PETA's shelter. The bill defines a private animal shelter as "a facility operated for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for animals."

Though risking their legal access to euthanasia drugs, PETA has continued their practices.In the chihuahua case, PETA paid a fine and settled a civil claim with the family three years later.

Child targeted messaging

PETA has also been criticized for aiming its message at young people. In the past the company has passed out pamphlets such as "Your Daddy Kills Animals", and "Your Mommy Kills Animals",both warning children from letting their "addicted to killing" parents have contact with their pets. The pamphlet was criticized by theCenter for Consumer Freedom,who said "There's going to be long-term psychological damage from these kids being exposed to the material that PETA puts in front of them on a regular basis."

As part of its 1999 "McCruelty" campaign, PETA attempted to distribute "Unhappy Meals" to young audiences: a parody ofMcDonald'sHappy Meal.When describing the box, they explained that "PETA's spoof of a McDonald's chicken sandwich box features the image of a knife-wieldingRonald McDonald,along with pictures of birds who have been mutilated and scalded alive. The inside of the Unhappy Meal box is stained with blood and contains a blood-filled packet urging McDonald's to "Ketchup With the Times," a paper cutout of a menacing Ronald McDonald with PETA's parody "I'm Hatin' It" logo, a bloodyplastic chicken,and a "Chicken McCruelty" T-shirt wrapped up like a sandwich. "The violent imagery was decried by parents who stated "I don't want my son to be around something like this."As part of the same campaign, PETA attempted to place a large statue of a crippled, scalded chicken in front of a McDonalds's inLittle Rock,but were denied,and released a short comic book titled Ronald McDonald Kills Animals, in which Ronald McDonald,Grimace,and theHamburglarunite to killBirdie'sparents, feed them to her unknowingly, then eat her as well.

A similar "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" campaign occurred in 2004, when PETA criticizedKFCand distributed "Buckets of Blood" to children: the buckets (meant to mimic KFC's buckets of chicken) included a bag of fake blood, feathers, and bones; a bloodyplastic chicken;and a cardboard caricature of a blood-spatteredColonel Sandersholding a butcher knife toward a terrified-looking chicken.

A 2013 ad titled TraditionalThanksgiving Dinnerfrom your Family Butcher,was developed usinglenticulartechnology to show parents a benignThanksgivingpromo, but show their children a mother stabbing a live turkey while her children look on in shock.

"It's Still Going On" campaign

PETA's "It's Still Going On" campaign features newspaper ads comparing widely publicized murder-cannibalizationcases to the deaths of animals in slaughterhouses. The campaign has attracted significant media attention, controversy and generated angry responses from the victims' family members. Ads were released in 1991 describing the deaths of the victims of serial killerJeffrey Dahmer,in 2002 describing the deaths of the victims of serial killerRobert William Pickton,and in 2008 describing thekilling of Tim McLean.In several cases, newspapers have refused to run the ads.

"Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign

In 2003 PETA composed the "Holocaust on Your Plate"exhibition—eight 60-square-foot (5.6 m²) panels juxtaposing images ofHolocaustandconcentration campvictims with scenes offactory farming,battery cages,animal carcasses and animals being transported to slaughter, along with captions stating that "Like the Jews murdered in concentration camps, animals are terrorized when they are housed in huge filthy warehouses and rounded up for shipment to slaughter. Theleathersofa and handbag are the moral equivalent of thelampshades made from the skins of people killed in the death camps."

The exhibition was quickly criticized byAbraham Foxmanand theAnti-Defamation League,who said, "the effort by Peta to compare the deliberate systematic murder of millions of Jews to the issue of animal rights is abhorrent" and "[r]ather than deepen our revulsion against what theNazisdid to theJews,the project will undermine the struggle to understand the Holocaust and to find a way to make sure such catastrophes never happen again. "Alex Herschafthad made similar comparisons in the past, but criticized PETA's use as "careless and reckless" and impersonal.Elie Wieselwas appalled to find the campaign used his own image, calling it possibly the greatest disappointment of his life, and reiterating that "I am not afraid of forgetfulness, I am afraid of banalization, of trivialization and this is part of it."Other detractors included theUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumandWesley Smith.

As a response to critics of the UK campaign asking for a ban or some form of censorship, PETA accused them ofbook burningto further imply Nazi mentality.In 2004 a complaint was made byPaul Spiegeland theCentral Council of Jews in Germany,asking the German court to order PETA to halt the campaign and threatening to sue.In July 2009, theGerman Federal Constitutional Courtruled that PETA's campaign was not protected by free speech laws and banned it within Germany as an offense against human dignity,before later upholding the ban in 2012.

The exhibit had been funded by an anonymous Jewish philanthropistand created by Matt Prescott, who lost several relatives in the Holocaust. Prescott said: "The very same mindset that made the Holocaust possible—that we can do anything we want to those we decide are 'different or inferior'—is what allows us to commit atrocities against animals every single day.... The fact is, all animals feel pain, fear and loneliness. We're asking people to recognize that what Jews and others went through in the Holocaust is what animals go through every day in factory farms."In addition, PETA claimed a direct influence by the prominent Jewish authorIsaac Bashevis Singer,whose grandson, Stephen R. Dujack, supported the exhibition when it traveled to New York, and quotations for the exhibit also pulled from the writings of German philosopherTheodor Adorno.Karen DavisandGary Yourofskyboth voiced their support of the exhibition.

"Are Animals the New Slaves?" exhibit

In 2005, theNAACPcriticized the "Are Animals the New Slaves?" exhibit, which showed images of African-American lynching victims and slaves, Native Americans, child laborers, and women, alongside chained elephants and slaughtered cows. Lee Hall, the then director ofFriends of Animals,supported the criticism, stating that, "While African-Americans have been systematically degraded by being compared with nonhuman beings, are we to think that angry responses to the pairing of man and monkey were unanticipated?"

Vakiya Courtney, then executive director ofAmerica's Black Holocaust Museum,was outraged; images from the exhibit included one taken at the site of the attempted lynching of the museum founderJames Cameron,and thesuccessful lynching of his two friends."How can you possibly compare the brutality that our ancestors experienced here, and the brutality that people like Dr. Cameron had to overcome, to animal cruelty?" Cameron, himself, had a similar response: "They may have treated us like animals back then, but there is no way we should be compared to animals today."

"Got Autism?" campaign

In 2008 and in 2014, PETA conducted anadvertising campaignlinking milk withautism.Their "Got Autism?" campaign, a play on wordsmockingthe milk industry'sGot Milk?ad campaign that ran from 1993 to 2014, stated "Studies have shown a link between cow's milk and autism." PETA also claimed milk was strongly linked tocancer,Crohn's disease,and other diseases.When pressed, PETA cited two scientific papers, one from 1995 and one from 2002 using very small samplings of children (36 and 20), and neither showed a correlation nor a causation between milk and autism. Newer studies from 2010 and 2014 came to the same conclusion.Despite having been corrected, in 2014, PETA's Executive Vice President confirmed their position, and additionally stated that dairy consumption contributes toasthma,chronic ear infection,constipation,iron deficiency,anemia,andcancer.

Steven Novella,aclinical neurologistandassistant professoratYale University School of Medicine,wrote "This is clearly, in my opinion, a campaign offear mongeringbased upon a gross distortion of thescientific evidence.The purpose is to advocate for avegan diet,which fits [PETA's]ideologicalagenda. They are likely aware that it is easier to spread fears than to reassure with a careful analysis of the scientific evidence. "

PETA's campaign has received backlash from theautism community.A 2008 PETAbillboardwas taken down by theAutistic Self Advocacy Network.In 2017, British food writer, journalist andhunger reliefactivistJack Monroe,demanded PETA remove their recipes from their website "with immediate effect coz I wrote them with my autism". PETA removed their recipes, but did not remove the "Got Autism?" article from their website until 2021. It has been argued that thefrowny facein the campaign image negativelystereotypesautistic people.

"KKK or AKC?" controversy

In 2009, PETA members dressed up inKu Klux Klanrobes and protested at theWestminster Kennel Club Dog Showwhere they passed out brochuresimplying the Klan andAmerican Kennel Clubhave the same goal of "pure bloodlines".This protest was continued in the PETA video gameKKK or AKC? Spot the Difference.

Criticism of Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin atAustralia Zoo

PETA has been critical of Australian wildlife expert and zookeeperSteve Irwin.In 2006,when Irwin died,PETA Vice PresidentDan Mathewssaid Irwin had made a career out of antagonizing frightened wild animals.Australian Member of ParliamentBruce Scottwas disgusted by the comments and said PETA should apologize to Irwin's family and the rest of Australia, and "Isn't it interesting... how they [PETA] want to treat animals ethically, but cannot even think for a minute whether or not their outlandish comments are ethical towards their fellow human beings."

In 2019, PETA criticized Google for creating a slideshowGoogle Doodleof Steve Irwin posthumously honoring his 57th birthday.PETA started aTwittercampaign against Irwin, with several tweets criticizing Google for forwarding a dangerous message, and wrote that Irwin was killed while harassing a stingray and that he forced animals to perform.AWashington Posteditor wrote "PETA can add 'insulting a deceased cultural icon' to its infamous repertoire."

Anti-carnivore sex strike

In 2022, PETA's German division called for asex strikein which women would refrain from sexual activities with men who ate meat, and also called for men who ate meat to be banned from procreating.When pressed on the ban, Laura Weyman-Jones (the Australian division's marketing manager) said that it was a "conversation starter", and not an actual request or threat.The company did not reverse its position that meat consumption was a form oftoxic masculinity,harmful to the environment, increasedmale impotency,and should besin-taxedat an additional 41%.

Human barbecue stunt protest

See also:Lent § Abstinence from meat and animal produce

DuringHoly Week in the Philippines,a PETA Asia member stripped down to her underwear and laid down on a grill to depict a "human barbecue" in front ofQuiapo ChurchinQuiapo, Manila,calling Filipinos to abstain from eating meat even when not abstaining from meat duringLent.The stunt protest drew attention and controversy from churchgoers, and a complaint was filed by the church with theManila Police District.No formal complaint was made, and as such, the members involved were eventually released.

Domain name disputes

Main article:People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. Doughney

In February 1995, a parody website calling itself "People Eating Tasty Animals" registered thedomain name"peta.org". PETA sued, claiming trademark violation, and won the suit in 2001; the domain is currently owned by PETA.While still engaged in legal proceedings over "peta.org", PETA themselves registered the domains "ringlingbrothers" and "voguemagazine", using the sites to accuseRingling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey CircusandVogueof animal cruelty. PETA later surrendered the domains under threat of similar legal action over trademark infringement.

Position within the animal rights movement

Newkirk on clashes with other animal rights organizations and her feelings about the Animal Liberation Front (3:31)

The more radical activists say the group has lost touch with its grass-roots members, is soft on the idea of animal rights, that it should stop the use of media stunts and nudity in its campaigning, and stop "hogging the spotlight at the expense of its allies in the movement".

Robert Garnerof the University of Leicester has written that PETA has shaken up the animal rights movement, setting up new groups and radicalizing old ones.According to reviews atPhilanthropedia,"PETA paved the way for other national organizations to delve into what used to be controversial issues and are now more mainstream concerns."Michael Specterconsiders PETA to be the radical that helps the more mainstream message to succeed.

Because of PETA's euthanasia rates at their "shelter of last resort", attorneyNathan Winograd,advocate for theNo Kill movement,calls Newkirk of PETA "The Butcher of Norfolk".

Gary Francione,professor of law atRutgers Law Schooland a proponent ofabolitionism,says that PETA is not an animal rights group because of their willingness to work with industries that use animals to achieve incremental change. Francione says PETA trivializes the movement with their "Three Stooges" theory of animal rights, making the public think progress is underway when the changes are only cosmetic."Their campaigns are selected more for media image than content."Francione has criticized PETA for having caused grassroots animal rights groups to close, groups that were essential for the survival of the animal rights movement, and rejects the centrality of corporate animal charities. Francione wrote that PETA initially set up independent chapters around the United States, but closed them in favor of atop-down, centralized organization,which not only consolidated decision-making power, but centralized donations. Now, local animal rights donations go to PETA, rather than to a local group.

See also

• Direct Action Everywhere
• European Vegetarian Union
• International Vegetarian Union
• Mercy for Animals
• Women and animal advocacy
• List of animal rights advocates
• List of animal rights groups
• Open rescue
• Veganism

Further reading

• Pence, Gregory.Classic Cases in Medical Ethics: Accounts of Cases That Have Shaped Medical Ethics.McGraw-Hill, 2007.
• Workman, Dave P.Peta Files: The Dark Side of the Animal Rights Movement,Merril Press, 2003.

External links

• Official website
• Guide to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Research Files 1980–2001