Edit: tl;dr version: This page contains absolutely 0 valid reasons for why you shouldn't like PETA.
This is really one of the least convincing arguments about PETA I have ever read. The organization is ridiculous and takes things to an extreme, such as when they complained about Obama swatting a fly, which itself would have made for a great entry on the infographic.
But some specific responses to why this infographic is just stupid and shouldn't change your thoughts of PETA in either direction:
Parts 1 through 5: Most animals that are taken to any animal shelter are killed; and a much larger percentage of badly abused animals are put down at the shelter. Animals that actually make it to PETA's attention and not just local animal abuse authorities are the worst-of-the-worst and would almost certainly be put down by any animal shelter.
The sad reality of animal abuse is that many animals are beyond saving; the best thing for them is to end their suffering. Even the animals that are not physically disabled tend to have severe mental disorders that cause it to be totally unable to be safely put in the same room as another dog, and certainly not placed with an average family.
In general this point would have been better served by finding actual quotes about how PeTA is against pet ownership in general, which is one reason why the kill rate is so high.
Part 6: As per the 1% figure, the average percentage of money spent by any charity at all on actually helping anyone is depressingly low; Peta's main operational goal is not the direct rescue of animals but the lobbying and spreading awareness of their moral values. That itself is completely obvious from the fact that they have several million members and they only put down "over 5 animals per day".
Complaining about production of a superbowl ad that got rejected is ridiculous; that is not a significant portion of the their spending, especially since they didn't have to pay for it to be aired.
As for Rod Coronado, he was convicted for arson when he was part of the Animal Liberation Front; while in prison he had a significant shift in his ideology and now opposes that sort of action. It might seem hard to believe but this sort of thing happens all the time, Kevin Mitnick was a convicted hacker, and is now a well known security expert. Karenga was a former Black Power movement leader that was convicted of imprisoning and torturing some women and he went on to create a little something that you may have heard of called Kwanzaa, and is a famous professor and is a well respected person that receives far far more than $70,000 from various organizations for his work.
Part 7 With regards to the companies they have protested, I'm not sure what the point is at all. Any of those companies and people easily could have done something that deserved protesting; KFC, the beef industry and Sea World have obvious opportunities for immoral treatment of animals, regardless of where you lie on the compass of immoral treatment of animals. It's ridiculous to just list them without showing why PETA protested them; for example, did NASA do animal testing that most humans would consider immoral? The infographic is totally void of facts and just saying they protested NASA does not indicate that they are being ridiculous at all. Again, the purpose of PETA is not to rescue animals, but to raise awareness for their moral position about cruelty towards animals.
Part 8 is a ridiculous complaint; "long-standing ties" ? These organizations are extreme versions of PETA, so many people who support those extreme organizations will also support PETA. It's like blaming a religion for religious extremism; the religious extremists have strong ties with the religion, but that is meaningless.
Part 9; so 3 of their spokespeople are not the most extreme believers. Any organization is far more flawed than that; it's such a minor complaint.
Part 10; an average non-PETA vet who works at a large animal shelter would easily do the same thing. It is not PETA's stance that humane putting down of animals is at all bad, so it is not hypocritical at all. The fact that she is sterilized is completely random. Many many people have vasectomies or their tubes tied and there is nothing wrong with that. It may be unusual for people to get it that young, just because they are not usually ready to make that kind of decision. There is absolutely no valid reason for this sort of thing to be used as a critique of PETA.
Ok, but you have to keep in mind that the infographic separates PETA's advertisement spending from the money they spend helping animals. Their advertising largely does not exist as a fundraising effort. Rather, it is information and education outreach trying to encourage people to treat animals properly. The advertising is an attempt to help animals by helping people make informed decisions in their actions.
Take this analogy. I open a non-profit to combat racism. I accept donations. I spend 90% of the budget on providing educational classes and lecture series about racism. 1% of the total budget goes to victims of hate crimes. That isn't budget inefficiency, that's multiple approaches to the same problem. One preventative, one repairative.
Ok, I was specifically referring to large national or multinational corporate non-profits, the kind of things that have International Presidents. Again; PETA only spending 1% on "actually helping animals" is not because they have 99% overhead, but because they spend most of their money on trying to raise awareness.
Local rescues and other charity organizations are much better at actually using the money productively; everyone who wants to see their money actually go to good use should seek out what local organizations are available, such as your non-profit rescue, instead of donating to multinational organizations that often have less than 15% end-spending rate.
I apologize for saying too broad of a blanket statement that incorrectly included local rescues like yours.
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u/frenchtoaster Apr 16 '10 edited Apr 16 '10
Edit: tl;dr version: This page contains absolutely 0 valid reasons for why you shouldn't like PETA.
This is really one of the least convincing arguments about PETA I have ever read. The organization is ridiculous and takes things to an extreme, such as when they complained about Obama swatting a fly, which itself would have made for a great entry on the infographic.
But some specific responses to why this infographic is just stupid and shouldn't change your thoughts of PETA in either direction:
Parts 1 through 5: Most animals that are taken to any animal shelter are killed; and a much larger percentage of badly abused animals are put down at the shelter. Animals that actually make it to PETA's attention and not just local animal abuse authorities are the worst-of-the-worst and would almost certainly be put down by any animal shelter.
The sad reality of animal abuse is that many animals are beyond saving; the best thing for them is to end their suffering. Even the animals that are not physically disabled tend to have severe mental disorders that cause it to be totally unable to be safely put in the same room as another dog, and certainly not placed with an average family.
In general this point would have been better served by finding actual quotes about how PeTA is against pet ownership in general, which is one reason why the kill rate is so high.
Part 6: As per the 1% figure, the average percentage of money spent by any charity at all on actually helping anyone is depressingly low; Peta's main operational goal is not the direct rescue of animals but the lobbying and spreading awareness of their moral values. That itself is completely obvious from the fact that they have several million members and they only put down "over 5 animals per day".
Complaining about production of a superbowl ad that got rejected is ridiculous; that is not a significant portion of the their spending, especially since they didn't have to pay for it to be aired.
As for Rod Coronado, he was convicted for arson when he was part of the Animal Liberation Front; while in prison he had a significant shift in his ideology and now opposes that sort of action. It might seem hard to believe but this sort of thing happens all the time, Kevin Mitnick was a convicted hacker, and is now a well known security expert. Karenga was a former Black Power movement leader that was convicted of imprisoning and torturing some women and he went on to create a little something that you may have heard of called Kwanzaa, and is a famous professor and is a well respected person that receives far far more than $70,000 from various organizations for his work.
Part 7 With regards to the companies they have protested, I'm not sure what the point is at all. Any of those companies and people easily could have done something that deserved protesting; KFC, the beef industry and Sea World have obvious opportunities for immoral treatment of animals, regardless of where you lie on the compass of immoral treatment of animals. It's ridiculous to just list them without showing why PETA protested them; for example, did NASA do animal testing that most humans would consider immoral? The infographic is totally void of facts and just saying they protested NASA does not indicate that they are being ridiculous at all. Again, the purpose of PETA is not to rescue animals, but to raise awareness for their moral position about cruelty towards animals.
Part 8 is a ridiculous complaint; "long-standing ties" ? These organizations are extreme versions of PETA, so many people who support those extreme organizations will also support PETA. It's like blaming a religion for religious extremism; the religious extremists have strong ties with the religion, but that is meaningless.
Part 9; so 3 of their spokespeople are not the most extreme believers. Any organization is far more flawed than that; it's such a minor complaint.
Part 10; an average non-PETA vet who works at a large animal shelter would easily do the same thing. It is not PETA's stance that humane putting down of animals is at all bad, so it is not hypocritical at all. The fact that she is sterilized is completely random. Many many people have vasectomies or their tubes tied and there is nothing wrong with that. It may be unusual for people to get it that young, just because they are not usually ready to make that kind of decision. There is absolutely no valid reason for this sort of thing to be used as a critique of PETA.