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{{Short description|American animal rights organization}}
{{pp-semi-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Redirect|PETA||Peta (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect|PETA}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Infobox Non-profit
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
| Non-profit_name =
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
| Non-profit_logo = ]<br /><br/>]
{{POV|date=October 2023|talk="Controversial" in lead sentence}}
|caption = PETA's trademark "Lettuce ladies" in Columbus, Ohio
{{Infobox organization
| Non-profit_type = ]
| name = People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
| founded_date = March 1980
| logo = Peta logo.svg
| founder = ] and ]
| alt = PETA logo
| location = ]
| logo_caption = Logo used since 1980
| focus = ]
| type = ]
| revenue = $34 million in 2009
| founded_date = {{start date and age|1980|3|22}}
| num_members = 2,000,000
| founders = {{Unbulleted list
|num_employees = 300
| ]
| Non-profit_slogan = "Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment."
| ]
| homepage =
}}
| location = ], United States
| focus = ]
| leader_name = Ingrid Newkirk<!-- DO NOT LINK, already linked above --><ref name=peta-leadership>{{Cite web|url=https://www.peta.org/about-peta/work-at-peta/jobs-employees/jobs-employees-leadership/|title=Meet PETA's Leadership|access-date=October 11, 2020|website=PETA|date=August 18, 2010 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806062710/https://www.peta.org/about-peta/work-at-peta/jobs-employees/jobs-employees-leadership/|archive-date=August 6, 2020}}</ref>
| leader_title = President
| leader_name2 = ]<ref name=peta-leadership />
| leader_title2 = Senior VP, Campaigns
| revenue = {{US$|66.3}}&nbsp;million (2020)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.peta.org/about-peta/learn-about-peta/financial-report/|title=Financial Reports|date=June 23, 2010|website=PETA|access-date=November 27, 2021}}</ref>
| num_employees =
|| homepage = {{Official URL}}
}} }}
'''People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals''' ('''PETA''') is an American ] organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by ], its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it says it is the largest animal rights group in the world. Its slogan is "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment."<ref>For its focus, and that it says it's the largest AR group in the world, see , PETA, accessed July 3, 2010.
*For the number of employees, see Galkin, Matthew. ], HBO, 2007.</ref>


'''People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals''' ('''PETA'''; {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|iː|t|ə}}) is an American ] nonprofit organization based in ], and led by ], its international president.
Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights activist ], the organization made its name in the summer of 1981 during what became known as the ] case, a widely publicized dispute about experiments conducted on 17 ] monkeys inside the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland. The case lasted ten years, involved the only police raid on an animal laboratory in the United States, triggered an amendment in 1985 to that country's Animal Welfare Act, and established PETA as an internationally known organization.<ref name=SilverSpring>Schwartz, Jeffrey M. and Begley, Sharon. ''The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force'', Regan Books, 2002, p. 161ff.
*Pacheco, Alex and Francione, Anna. , in Peter Singer (ed.) ''In Defense of Animals'', Basil Blackwell 1985, pp. 135&ndash;147.</ref> Since then, in its campaigns and undercover investigations, it has focused on four core issues&mdash;opposition to ], ], ], and animals in entertainment&mdash;though it also campaigns against fishing, the killing of animals regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, ], ], and ].<ref name=about>, PETA, accessed July 3, 2010.</ref>


Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights activist ], the organization first gained attention in the summer of 1981 during what became known as the ] case.<ref name=SilverSpring>Schwartz, Jeffrey M. and Begley, Sharon. ''The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force'', Regan Books, 2002, p. 161ff.
The group has been the focus of criticism from inside and outside the animal rights movement. Newkirk and Pacheco are seen as the leading exporters of animal rights to the more traditional animal protection groups in the United States, but sections of the movement nevertheless say PETA is not radical enough&mdash;law professor ] calls them the new welfarists, arguing that their work with industries to achieve reform makes them an ], not an animal rights, group.<ref>For Newkirk and Pacecho being the leading exporters of AR, see Garner, Robert. ''Animals, politics, and morality''. Manchester University Press, 1993; this edition 2004, p. 70.
* Pacheco, Alex and Francione, Anna. , in Peter Singer (ed.) ''In Defense of Animals'', Basil Blackwell 1985, pp. 135–147.</ref> The organization opposes ], ], ], and other activities it considers to be exploitation of animals.{{efn|Some of the examples include eating meat, fishing, the killing of animals regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, ], ], ], hunting, animal testing, cruelty to pets, guide dogs, zoos, and ].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=About PETA|url=https://www.peta.org/about-peta/|access-date=September 26, 2021|website=PETA|language=en-US}}</ref>
*For Francione's criticism, see Francione, Gary. ''Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement''. Temple University Press, 1996, pp. 67&ndash;77.</ref> Newkirk told ''Salon'' in 2001 that PETA works toward the ideal, but tries in the meantime to provide carrot-and-stick incentives.<ref>Brandt, Peter. , ''Salon'', April 30, 2001. The full quote:<p> "What I say to myself all the time is that we have our heads in the clouds looking for Utopia, but we have our feet firmly planted on the ground dealing with reality. We make no bones about the fact that we want an end to all cruelty to animals. But I think the meat industry and the leather industry and the experimenters understand, especially if we're fighting them, that we will back off if they move society and their industry a step forward. We're not going to stop everything overnight, so while we work for the ideal we certainly wish to provide the carrot-and-stick incentives to move along toward that goal.<p> "Animals are going to die by the millions today in all sorts of ugly ways for all sorts of ridiculous, insupportable reasons. If one animal who is lying in a battery egg farm cage could have the extra room to stretch her wing today because of something you've done, I think she would choose to have that happen." </ref> There has also been criticism from feminists within the movement about the use of scantily clad women in PETA's anti-fur campaigns, and criticism in general that the group's media stunts trivialize animal rights. Newkirk's view is that PETA has a duty to be what she calls press sluts.<ref>For the feminist criticism, see Adams, Carole J. ''Neither Man nor Beast: Feminism and the Defense of Animals''. Continuum International Publishing Group, 1995, pp. 135, 228. Also see Garner, Robert. ''The political theory of animal rights''. Manchester University Press, 2005, p. 144.
}}
*For the argument that PETA trivializes animal rights, see Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 242.
*For Newkirk's response, see Specter, Michael. , ''The New Yorker'', April 4, 2003.</ref>


The organization's controversial campaigns have been credited with drawing media attention to animal rights issues, but have also been widely criticized for their disruptive nature. Its use of euthanasia has resulted in legal action and a response from Virginia lawmakers.
Outside the movement, the confrontational nature of PETA's campaigns has caused concern, as has the number of animals it ]. It was further criticized in 2005 by United States Senator ] for having given grants several years earlier to ] (ALF) and ] (ELF) activists. PETA responded that it has no involvement in ALF or ELF actions and does not support violence, though Newkirk has elsewhere made clear that she does support the removal of animals from laboratories and other facilities, including as a result of illegal ].<ref>Frieden, Terry. , CNN, May 19, 2005; CNN said: " Inhofe said there was 'a growing network of support for extremists like ELF and ALF,' and he singled out People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for giving money to members of both groups."
*For Inhofe's original allegations (primary sources), see and , U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, May 18, 2005, accessed June 26, 2010.
*For Newkirk's views on the removal of animals, see Rosenberg, Howard. , ''The Los Angeles Times'', March 22, 1992.</ref>


==History== ==History==
===Ingrid Newkirk=== ===Ingrid Newkirk===
{{main|Ingrid Newkirk}}
] with ], 2008]]
]
Newkirk was born in England in 1949 and raised in Hertfordshire, and later New Delhi, India, where her father&mdash;a navigational engineer&mdash;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 a shelter in 1969, and appalled by the conditions she found there, she choose a career in animal protection instead.<ref>Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 227.</ref> She became an animal protection officer for Montgomery County, then the District 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 Washingtonian of the Year.<ref>For her education in a convent and her career details, see Specter, Michael. , ''The New Yorker'', April 4, 2003.
*For Washingtonian of the Year, see , ''The Washingtonian'', accessed June 26, 2010.</ref> She told Michael Specter of ''The New Yorker'' that working for the shelters left her shocked at the way the animals were treated:


]
<blockquote>I went to the front office all the time, and I would say, "John is kicking the dogs and putting them into freezers." Or I would say, "They are stepping on the animals, crushing them like grapes, and they don't care." In the end, I would go to work early, before anyone got there, and I would just kill the animals myself. Because I couldn't stand to let them go through that. I must have killed a thousand of them, sometimes dozens every day. Some of those people would take pleasure in making them suffer. Driving home every night, I would cry just thinking about it. And I just felt, to my bones, this cannot be right.<ref name=Specter>Specter, Michael. , ''The New Yorker'', April 4, 2003.</ref></blockquote>
]]] ]
] was born in England in 1949, and raised in ] and 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.<ref name=Specter>{{Cite magazine|last=Specter|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Specter|url=http://www.michaelspecter.com/2003/04/the-extremist/|title=The Extremist: The woman behind the most successful radical group in America|magazine=]|date=April 4, 2003|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200309221947/http://www.michaelspecter.com/2003/04/the-extremist/|archive-date=March 9, 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref>Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 227.</ref> She became an animal-protection officer for ], and then the ]'s first woman ]. 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2008/01/29/past-washingtonians-of-the-year/|title=Past Washingtonians of the Year &#124; Washingtonian (DC)|date=January 29, 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421052126/https://www.washingtonian.com/2008/01/29/past-washingtonians-of-the-year/|archive-date=April 21, 2016|work=]}}</ref>
]]]


In 1980, she divorced Steve Newkirk, whom she had married when she was 19, and the same year met Alex Pacheco, a political major at George Washington University. Pacheco had studied for the priesthood, then worked as a crew member of the ]'s first ship.<ref name=Rosenberg/> He volunteered at the shelter where she worked, and they fell in love and began living together, though as Kathy Snow Guillermo writes they were very different&mdash;Newkirk was older and more practical, whereas Pacheco could barely look after himself.<ref name=Guillermo18>Guillermo, Kathy Snow. ''Monkey Business''. National Press Books, 1993, p. 18.</ref> He introduced Newkirk to ]'s influential book, ] (1975), and in March 1980 she persuaded him 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 the ] . Pacheco was reluctant at first. "It just didn't sound great to me," he told ''The Los Angeles Times'' in 1992." I had been active in Europe ... and I thought there were just too many formalities. I thought we should just do things ourselves. But she made a convincing case that Washington needed a vehicle for animals because the current organizations were too conservative."<ref>For the Pacheco quote and for Pacheco introducing her to Peter Singer's book, see Rosenberg, Howard. , ''The Los Angeles Times'', March 22, 1992. In 1980, after her divorce, she met Alex Pacheco, a political science major at ].<ref name=Rosenberg/> He volunteered at the shelter where she worked, and they fell in love and began living together.<ref name=Guillermo18>Guillermo, Kathy Snow. ''Monkey Business''. National Press Books, 1993, p. 18.</ref> Newkirk read ]'s influential book, ] (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, ], a British activist who went on to become the national organizer of the ].<ref>* For the "five people in a basement" quote, see Schwartz, Jeffrey and Begley, Sharon. ''The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force''. HarperCollins, 2002, p. 161.
* For the early membership of PETA, and Pacheco's background, see Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 229.
*For the "five people in a basement" quote, see Schwartz, Jeffrey and Begley, Sharon. ''The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force''. HarperCollins, 2002, p. 161.
* For Kim Stallwood's involvement, see Liddick, Don. ''Eco-Terrorism''. Greenwood Publishing Company, 2006, p. 53.</ref>
*For the early membership of PETA, and Pacheco's background, see <Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 229.
*For Kim Stallwood's involvement, see Liddick, Don. ''Eco-Terrorism''. Greenwood Publishing Company, 2006, p. 53.</ref>


===Silver Spring monkeys=== ===Silver Spring monkeys===
{{main|Silver Spring monkeys}}
]. Don't let anyone tell you different."<ref>Carbone, Larry (2004). '"What Animal Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy''. Oxford University Press, p. 149, see figure 4.2.</ref>]]
The group first came to public attention in 1981 during the Silver Spring monkeys case, a dispute about experiments conducted by researcher Edward Taub on 17 macaque monkeys inside 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 argued before the United States Supreme Court.<ref>Schwartz, Jeffrey M. and Begley, Sharon. ''The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force'', Regan Books, 2002, p. 161ff.
*Pacheco, Alex and Francione, Anna. , in Peter Singer (ed.) ''In Defense of Animals'', Basil Blackwell 1985, pp. 135&ndash;147.</ref>


]. Don't let anyone tell you different."<ref>Carbone, Larry (2004). ''What Animals Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy''. Oxford University Press, p. 149, see figure 4.2.</ref>]]
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.<ref>Pacheco, Alex. , U.S. House Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology, PETA, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref> Taub had been cutting ] that supplied nerves to the monkeys' fingers, hands, arms, and legs&mdash;a process called "deafferentation"&mdash;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 of ] and a new therapy for stroke victims called ].<ref>Doidge, Norman. ''The Brain That Changes Itself''. Viking Penguin, 2007, p. 141.
The group first came to public attention in 1981 during the ] case, a dispute about experiments conducted by researcher Edward Taub on 17 ] inside 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,<ref name="SilverSpring"/> which upheld a Louisiana State Court ruling that denied PETA's request for custody of the monkeys.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2p0MptGeBkC&q=Silver%20Spring%20Monkeys%20Supreme%20Court&pg=PA55|title=Animals and the Law: A Sourcebook|first=Jordan|last=Curnutt|pages=55–57|access-date=August 12, 2010|year=2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, Ca.|isbn=1576071472}}</ref>
*Johnson, David. , curledup.com, 2003, accessed June 26, 2010.
*For information about the discovery of neuroplasticity, see Leary, Warren E. , ''The New York Times'', June 28, 1991.
*, excerpted from "A Rehab Revolution," ''Stroke Connection Magazine'', September/October 2004, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref>


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.<ref>Pacheco, Alex. , U.S. House Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology, PETA. Retrieved June 26, 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716135643/http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=silver-spring-monkeys&Player=wm |date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref> Taub had been cutting ] that 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 of ] and a new therapy for stroke victims called ].<ref>Doidge, Norman. ''The Brain That Changes Itself''. Viking Penguin, 2007, p. 141.
Pacheco visited the laboratory at night, taking photographs that showed the monkeys living in what the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research's ''ILAR Journal'' called filthy conditions.<ref>Sideris, Lisa et al. , Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, ILAR Journal V40(1), 1999.</ref> He passed his evidence to the police, who raided the lab and arrested Taub. Taub was convicted of six counts of animal cruelty, the first such conviction in the United States of an animal researcher, overturned on appeal.<ref name=Schwartz161>Schwartz, Jeffrey M. and Begley, Sharon. ''The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force'', Regan Books, 2002, p. 161.</ref> Norm Phelps writes that the case followed the highly publicized campaign of ] in 1976 against experiments on cats being performed at the ] in New York, and Spira's subsequent campaign in April 1980 against the ]. These and the Silver Springs monkey case jointly put animal rights on the agenda in the United States.<ref>Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 233.
* Johnson, David. , curledup.com, 2003. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
*For the view that the case was pivotal to the animal rights movement, see Leary, Warren E. , ''The New York Times'', June 28, 1991.</ref>
* For information about the neuroplasticity studies, see Leary, Warren E. , ''The New York Times'', June 28, 1991.
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103113915/http://www.strokeassociation.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3029931 |date=January 3, 2007 }}, excerpted from "A Rehab Revolution", ''Stroke Connection Magazine'', September/October 2004. Retrieved June 26, 2010.</ref>


Pacheco went to the laboratory at night, taking photographs that showed the monkeys living in what the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research's ''ILAR Journal'' called "filthy conditions."<ref>Sideris, Lisa et al.{{cite web|url=http://dels.nas.edu/ilar_n/ilarjournal/40_1/40_1Roots.shtml |title=Roots of Concern with Nonhuman Animals in Biomedical Ethics |access-date=June 3, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901080534/http://dels.nas.edu/ilar_n/ilarjournal/40_1/40_1Roots.shtml |archive-date=September 1, 2006 }}, Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, ILAR Journal V40(1), 1999.</ref> 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.<ref name=Schwartz161>Schwartz, Jeffrey M. and Begley, Sharon. ''The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force'', Regan Books, 2002, p. 161.</ref> ] writes that the case followed the highly publicized campaign of ] in 1976 against experiments on cats being performed at the ] in New York and Spira's subsequent campaign in April 1980 against the ]. These and the Silver Spring monkey case jointly put animal rights on the agenda in the United States.<ref>Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 233.
The ten-year battle for custody of the monkeys&mdash;described by ''The Washington Post'' as a vicious mud fight, during which both sides accused the other of lies and distortion&mdash;&nbsp;transformed PETA into a national, then international, movement. By February 1991, it claimed over 350,000 members, a paid staff of over 100, and an annual budget of over $7 million.<ref>Carlson, Peter. , ''The Washington Post'', February 24, 1991.</ref>
* For the view that the case was pivotal to the animal rights movement, see Leary, Warren E. , ''The New York Times'', June 28, 1991.</ref>
{{clear}}

The 10-year battle for custody of the monkeys—described by ''The Washington Post'' as a vicious mud fight, during which both sides accused the other of lies and distortion—&nbsp;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&nbsp;million.<ref>Carlson, Peter. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730033226/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/72090854.html?dids=72090854:72090854&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+24%2C+1991&author=Peter+Carlson&pub=The+Washington+Post+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=THE+GREAT+SILVER+SPRING+MONKEY+DEBATE&pqatl=google |date=July 30, 2013 }}, ''The Washington Post'', February 24, 1991.</ref>

=== PETA India ===
PETA India was founded in 2000 and is based in ], India.<ref>{{cite web |title=About PETA |url=http://www.petaindia.com/about-peta/ |website=petaindia.com}}</ref>

PETA and the ] Animal Rahat, authorized by the ] (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.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 5, 2014 |title=Elephants Still Being Subjected to Torture in Indian Circuses: PETA |url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/elephants-still-being-subjected-to-torture-in-indian-circuses-peta-674933 |access-date=May 16, 2016 |website=]}}</ref>

PETA India put up billboards prior to a 2020 annual religious event ] where 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." ]s wanted to take down the billboards, saying that it was hurtful to their religious sentiments.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ahmad |first1=Qazi Faraz |date=July 4, 2020 |title=With Photo of a Goat, PETA's 'Go Vegan' Hoardings in Lucknow Spark Row; Locals Say it Hurts Sentiments Ahead of Bakri Eid |publisher=] |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/hurting-muslim-sentiments-as-eid-al-adha-kab-hai-2020-peta-hoardings-against-eating-meat-lucknow-islam-non-veg-2700497.html |access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=July 1, 2020 |title=Ahead of Bakra Eid 2020, PETA Starts Campaign to Stop the Sacrifice of Goats, Urges People to 'Go Vegan' |website=] |url=https://www.india.com/viral/ahead-of-bakra-eid-2020-peta-starts-campaign-to-stop-the-sacrifice-of-goats-urges-people-to-go-vegan-4072761/ |access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref>

In July 2020, PETA put up billboards saying "This ], protect me: Go leather-free".<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 17, 2020 |title=PETA Puts Up Posters For Raksha Bandhan Asking Indians to Protect Cows, Internet is Confused |url=https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/peta-says-protect-cows-this-raksha-bandhan-twitter-says-rakhis-are-not-made-of-leather-2718459.html |access-date=December 29, 2020 |website=News18 |language=en}}</ref>

===Locations===
PETA was based in ], until 1996, when it moved to Norfolk, Virginia.<ref name="40losangeles">{{cite web|url=http://hamptonroads.com/2009/12/peta-move-40-norfolk-workers-los-angeles|title=PETA to move 40 Norfolk workers to Los Angeles|work=The Virginian-Pilot|access-date=May 9, 2013|archive-date=October 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029173450/http://hamptonroads.com/2009/12/peta-move-40-norfolk-workers-los-angeles|url-status=dead}}</ref> It opened a Los Angeles division in 2006<ref name=40losangeles /> and also has offices in Washington, D.C., and ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.peta.org/about-peta/work-at-peta/search-jobs-peta/|title=Join Our Team|date=October 25, 2013|website=PETA}}</ref> In addition, PETA has international affiliates.


==Philosophy and activism== ==Philosophy and activism==
] to look like foxes, protesting against the ] next to the ] in Helsinki, ] on March 25, 2010.]]

===Profile=== ===Profile===
PETA is an animal rights organization that opposes ], and the abuse of animals in any way, such as for food, clothing, entertainment, or research.<ref name=":1" />
{{see|Animal rights}}
], ] (above) is one of PETA's key players.<ref name=Specter/>]]
PETA writes that it is an animal rights organization, and as such it rejects ] and the idea of animals as property, and opposes the use of animals in any form: as food, clothing, entertainment, or as research subjects.<ref>, ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', first accessed July 10, 2006, and again June 26, 2010.</ref> One oft-cited quote of Newkirk's is: "When it comes to feelings like hunger, pain, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy."<ref name=Specter/> The group has been criticized by other animal rights advocates for its willingness to work with industries that use animals&mdash;a position many animal rights advocates find problematic (see ]). Newkirk rejects the criticism, and has said of the group that it is here to hold the radical line.<ref>Pesce, Carolyn. "Holding the 'radical line'"], ''USA Today'', September 3, 1991.</ref>


In 2020, PETA's website claimed they had 6.5&nbsp;million supporters,<ref name=":1" /> and received donations of $49&nbsp;million for 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.peta.org/about-peta/learn-about-peta/financial-report/|title=Financial Reports|date=June 23, 2010|website=PETA|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004020055/https://www.peta.org/about-peta/learn-about-peta/financial-report/|archive-date=October 4, 2020}}</ref>
PETA lobbies governments to impose fines where animal-welfare legislation has been violated, promotes a vegan diet, tries to reform the practices in factory farms and slaughterhouses, goes undercover into animal research laboratories, farms, and circuses, initiates media campaigns against particular companies or practices, helps to find sanctuaries for former circus and zoo animals, and initiates lawsuits against companies.<ref name=annual2004>, PETA, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref>


===Campaigns and consumer boycotts===
The group has two million members and supporters, it received donations of over $32 million for the year ending July 31, 2009, and its website was receiving four million hits a month as of November 2008. Over 80 percent of its operating budget was spent on its programs in 2008-2009, 15 percent on fundraising, and four percent on management and general operations. Thirty-two percent of its staff earned under $30,000, 24 percent over $40,000, and Newkirk just under $37,000.<ref>, PETA, accessed June 26, 2010; , charitynavigator.org, accessed June 26, 2010.
]
*For the number of website hits, see Glass, Suzanne. , ''The Financial Times'', November 7, 2008.</ref>
The organization is known for aggressive media stunts, combined with a solid base of celebrity support—in addition to its honorary directors, ], ], ], ], ], and many other notable celebrities have appeared in PETA ads.<ref> ''Chicago Tribune''. Retrieved June 22, 2015.</ref> Every week, Newkirk holds what ''The New Yorker'' calls 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".<ref name=Specter/> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/03/04/09/7-companies-win-petas-proggy-awards|title=7 companies win PETA's 'Proggy Awards'|last=Servando|first=Kristine|date=March 4, 2009|access-date=August 5, 2010|publisher=ABS-CBNnews.com}}</ref>


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's ''modus operandi'' includes buying shares in target companies such as McDonald's and Kraft Foods to exert influence.<ref>For example, as shareholders of YUM! Brands, which owns KFC, PETA submitted a shareholders' resolution asking for more humane treatment of the animals KFC processes.
Pacheco left the group in 1999, and since then the two key staff members next to Newkirk have been ], director of vegan outreach&mdash;a devout Catholic who spent years working in soup kitchens, and who gives 20 percent of his income to the church&mdash;and ], the group's openly gay senior vice-president.<ref name=Specter/>
* For the Yum story, see , ''Business First'', May 18, 2005.
* For some of the companies PETA has boycotted, see Friedman, Monroe. . Routledge 1999, p. 181ff and particularly p. 186.
* For the purchase of shares in McDonald's and Kraft, see , ''The Daily Telegraph'', May 24, 2010.</ref> 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.<ref>For McDonald's, see , CNN, December 29, 2004.
* For Wendy's, see , ''USA Today'', September 5, 2001.
* For Polo Ralph Lauren, see , Associated Press, June 10, 2006.</ref> 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.<ref name=Rosenberg/>


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.<ref>"Fashion and Dress," ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 2006.
===Campaigns and consumer boycotts===
* . Retrieved June 26, 2010; also see .
] during PETA's "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaign]]
* Francione, Gary. ''Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement''. Temple University Press, p. 74.
The organization is known for its aggressive media campaigns, combined with a solid base of celebrity support&mdash;], ], ], ], ], ], and ] have all appeared in PETA ads.<ref name=Specter/> Every week, Newkirk holds what ''The New Yorker'' calls a war council, with two dozen of her top strategists gathered round a square table in the PETA conference room, no suggestion considered too outrageous.<ref name=Specter/>
</ref> ''The New Yorker'' writes 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.<ref name=Specter/> They sometimes engage in pie-throwing—in January 2010, Canadian MP ] compared them to terrorists for throwing a tofu cream pie at Canada's fishery minister ] in protest of the seal slaughter, a comment Newkirk called a silly chest-beating exercise.<ref>, CBC News, January 26, 2010; {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606101644/http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/755958--pie-tossing-is-terrorism-mp-says |date=June 6, 2011 }}, ''Toronto Star'', January 26, 2010.</ref> "The thing is, we make them gawk" she told '']'' magazine, "maybe like a traffic accident that you have to look at."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.satyamag.com/jan01/newkirk.html |title=The Satya Interview With Ingrid Newkirk: Part II: Activism and Controversy |access-date=April 14, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010515235359/http://www.satyamag.com/jan01/newkirk.html |archive-date=May 15, 2001 |website=] |date=January 2001}}</ref>


PETA has also objected to the practice of ] (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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/uk-retailer-bans-aussie-mulesing-wool-20100621-yrn9.html|title=UK retailer bans Aussie mulesing wool|date= June 21, 2010|access-date=June 21, 2010|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|first=Petrina|last=Berry}}</ref> In response, the Australian wool industry sued PETA, arguing among other things that mulesing prevents ], 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.<ref>Smith, Wesley, ''A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement'', Encounter Books, 2010, pp. 94–98.</ref>
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. Their ''modus operandi'' includes buying shares in target companies such as McDonald's and Kraft Foods in order to exert influence.<ref>For example, as shareholders of YUM! Brands, which owns KFC, PETA submitted a shareholders' resolution asking for more humane treatment of the animals KFC processes.
*For the Yum story, see , 'Business First'', May 18, 2005.
*For some of the companies PETA has boycotted, see Friedman, Monroe. . Routledge 1999, p. 181ff and particularly p. 186.
*For the purchase of shares in McDonald's and Kraft, see , ''The Daily Telegraph'', May 24, 2010.</ref> The campaigns have delivered results for PETA. McDonald's and Wendy's introduced vegetarian options after PETA targeted them; Petco stopped selling some exotic pets; and Polo Ralph Lauren said it would no longer use fur.<ref>For McDonald's, see , CNN, December 29, 2004.
*For Wendy's, see , ''USA Today'', September 5, 2001.
*For Petco, see , PETA, April 12, 2005, accessed June 27, 2010.
*For Polo Ralph Lauren, see , Associated Press, June 10, 2006.</ref> Avon, Estee 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.<ref name=Rosenberg/>


In 2011, PETA named five orcas as plaintiffs and sued ] over the animals' captivity, seeking their protection under the ].<ref>Emily Feldman, "PETA Sues SeaWorld Over Killer Whale Enslavement," NBC10 7 February 2012.</ref> A federal judge heard the case and dismissed it in early 2012.<ref> Associated Press February 8, 2012.</ref> 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."<ref name="SeaWorldTanks">{{cite news|title=SeaWorld to redesign tank for Killer Whales amid public criticism|url=http://www.theorlandonews.net/index.php/sid/224813159|date=August 16, 2014|access-date=August 16, 2014|publisher=The Orlando News.Net}}</ref> In 2016, SeaWorld admitted that it had been sending its employees to pose as activists to ] on PETA.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bever|first1=Lindsey|title=Beleaguered SeaWorld admits employees spied on animal-rights activists|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/02/25/seaworld-admits-workers-spied-on-animal-rights-activists/|newspaper=]|date=February 25, 2016}}</ref> Following an investigation by an outside law firm, SeaWorld's Board of Directors directed management to end the practice.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pedicini|first1=Sandra|title=SeaWorld admits employees posed as animal activists to spy on critics|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-seaworld-employee-spy-20160225-story.html|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=February 25, 2016}}</ref>
As part of its anti-fur action, PETA members have infiltrated hundreds of fashion shows in the U.S, Europe, and once 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&mdash;some men, but mostly women&mdash;triggering criticism from feminist animal rights advocates (see ]).<ref>"Fashion and Dress," ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'', accessed 2006.
] in an anti-fur protest in 2007]]
*, accessed June 26, 2010; also see .
In 2011, ] was the Hispanic spokesperson for PETA's anti-bullfighting campaign.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.womenfitness.net/patricia-de-leon/|title=Patricia de Leon: Exceptionally Talented & Accomplished Panamanian Actress Reveals Her Success Mantra|date=October 19, 2016|first=Namita|last=Nayyar|newspaper=Women Fitness}}</ref>
*Francione, Gary. ''Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement''. Temple University Press, p. 74.
*For some of the celebrity anti-fur ads, see , PETA Media Center, accessed June 30, 2010.</ref> ''The New Yorker'' writes 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.<ref name=Specter/> They regularly engage in pie-throwing&mdash;in January 2010, Canadian MP ] compared them to terrorists for throwing a tofu cream pie at Canada's fishery minister ] in protest at the seal hunt, a comment Newkirk called a silly chest-beating exercise.<ref>, CBC News, January 26, 2010; , ''The Toronto Star'', January 26, 2010.</ref> "The thing is, we make them gawk," she told ''Satya'' magazine, "maybe like a traffic accident that you have to look at."<ref>, ''Satya'', January 2001, accessed June 27, 2010.</ref>
]


Some campaigns have been particularly controversial. Newkirk was criticized in 2003 for sending a letter to PLO leader ] asking him to keep animals out of the conflict, after a donkey was ] during an attack in Jerusalem. The group's 2003 "Holocaust on your Plate" exhibition&mdash;eight {{convert|60|sqft|m2|adj=on}} panels juxtaposing images of ] victims with animal carcasses and animals being transported to slaughter&mdash;was criticized by the ]. In 2005, the ] complained about the "Are Animals the New Slaves?" exhibit, which showed images of African-American slaves, Native Americans, child laborers, and women, alongside chained elephants and slaughtered cows.<ref>For the letter to Arafat, see , February 3, 2003; Dougherty, Kerry , ''Jewish World Review'', February 10, 2003. Some campaigns have been particularly controversial. Newkirk was criticized in 2003 for sending a letter to PLO leader ] asking him to keep animals out of the conflict, after a donkey was ] during an attack in Jerusalem.<ref>For the letter to Arafat, see {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128222159/http://www.peta.org/feat/arafat/|date=November 28, 2009}}, February 3, 2003; Dougherty, Kerry , ''Jewish World Review'', February 10, 2003.
*For "Holocaust on your Plate," see Teather, David. , ''The Guardian'', March 3, 2003.
*For "Are Animals the New Slaves?", see Brune, Adrian. , ''Orlando Sentinel'', October 5, 2005; , PETA's Animal Liberation Project; , Southern Poverty Law Center, August 15, 2005.</ref> After the 2008 beheading of ] on a bus in Manitoba, PETA produced an ad for a local newspaper comparing his death to the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses; the newspaper declined to run it.<ref>For an example of the McLean ad coverage, see , CBC News, August 6, 2008.
*For the PETA perspective, see , PETA, August 6, 2008, and , PETA, August 7, 2008, accessed July 17, 2010.
*Also in Canada, PETA produced an ad in 2002 comparing the murders of women in British Columbia by a serial killer, ], to the slaughter of animals on Pickton's farm; see , CBC News, November 13, 2002.</ref>


* For "Holocaust on your Plate," see Teather, David. , ''The Guardian'', March 3, 2003.</ref>
The group has also been criticized for aiming its message at young people. "Your Mommy Kills Animals" features a cartoon of a woman attacking a rabbit with a knife.<ref>, Fox News, November 25, 2005.</ref> To reduce milk consumption, it created the "Got Beer?" campaign, a parody of the dairy industry's series of ] ads, which featured celebrities with milk "mustaches" on their upper lips. When the mayor of New York, ], 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.<ref>Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 241.
*For PETA's response, see Lueck, Thomas J. , ''The New York Times'', September 2, 2000.</ref> After PETA placed ads in school newspapers linking milk to acne, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and strokes, ] and 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.<ref>For the Mothers Against Drink Driving complaint, see Johnson, Mike and Spice, Linda. "Saving face?; PETA's new anti-milk ad campaign, aimed at teens, angers ag department," ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', May 20, 2000.
*For the other complaints, see , BBC News, September 4, 2001.
*For PETA's material, see , PETA, accessed June 27, 2010.</ref>


To reduce milk consumption, it created the "Got Beer?" campaign, a parody of the dairy industry's series of ] ads, which featured celebrities with milk "mustaches" on their upper lips.<ref>"," CBSNews.com, 16 March 2000.</ref> When the mayor of New York, ], 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.<ref>Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 241.
Other campaigns are light-hearted. {{anchor|Sea kitten}} In 2008, it launched the "Save the Sea Kittens" campaign to change the name of fish to "sea kittens" to give them a positive image, and it regularly asks towns to adopt a new name. It campaigned in 1996 for a new name for Fishkill, New York, and in April 2003 offered free veggie burgers to Hamburg, New York, if it would call itself Veggieburg.<ref>For sea kittens and other name changes, see , ''Westword'', March 22, 2007; , PETA, accessed June 27, 2010.
* For PETA's response, see Lueck, Thomas J. , ''The New York Times'', September 2, 2000.</ref> After PETA placed ads in school newspapers linking milk to acne, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and strokes, ] and 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.<ref>For the Mothers Against Drunk Driving complaint, see Johnson, Mike and Spice, Linda. "Saving face?; PETA's new anti-milk ad campaign, aimed at teens, angers AG department," ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', May 20, 2000.
*Also see ", CBS News, April 22, 2003.
* For the other complaints, see , BBC News, September 4, 2001.
*For the ''New Yorker'' interview, see Specter, Michael. , ''The New Yorker'', April 4, 2003.</ref>
* For PETA's material, see {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903161124/http://www.milksucks.com/ |date=September 3, 2006 }}, PETA. Retrieved June 27, 2010.</ref>


In August 2011, it was announced that PETA will be launching a ] website in the ] domain. PETA spokesperson Lindsay Rajt told the ''Huffington 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 the ], 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."<ref>{{cite news|last=White|first=Madeline|title=PETA to launch porn website: Is this still about animal rights?|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/peta-to-launch-porn-website-is-this-still-about-animal-rights/article2139025/|access-date=August 23, 2011|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=August 23, 2011|location=Toronto|archive-date=August 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824223114/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/peta-to-launch-porn-website-is-this-still-about-animal-rights/article2139025/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
=== Undercover investigations ===
PETA sends its staff undercover into research laboratories, factory farms, and circuses to document the treatment of animals, requiring them to spend many months as employees of the facility, making copies of documents and wearing hidden cameras.<ref name=Rosenberg>Rosenberg, Howard. , ''The Los Angeles Times'', March 22, 1992.</ref> By 2007, it had conducted 75 such investigations.<ref name=Galkin>Galkin, Matthew. ], HBO, 2007.</ref> It has also produced videos based on material collected during ALF raids. Some investigations have led to lawsuits or government action against the companies or universities. PETA itself faced legal action in April 2007 after the owners of a chinchilla ranch in Michigan complained about an undercover inquiry there, but the judge ruled in PETA's favor that undercover investigations can be legitimate.<ref>Rood, Justin. , ABC News, April 13, 2007.</ref>


PETA has approached cities to pressure them to change their names, including ] in 1996,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.cnn.com/1996-09-06/us/9609_06_fishy.name_1_mayor-george-carter-peta-animal-rights-group?_s=PM:US|date=September 6, 1996|title=A fishy name will stay the same|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009113038/http://articles.cnn.com/1996-09-06/us/9609_06_fishy.name_1_mayor-george-carter-peta-animal-rights-group?_s=PM:US|archive-date=October 9, 2012|publisher=]|url-status=dead}}</ref> ] in 2003,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peta-woos-hamburgers-with-rare-offer/ |title=PETA Woos Hamburgers With Rare Offer |date=April 22, 2003 |first=Jaime |last=Holguin |publisher=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226152534/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peta-woos-hamburgers-with-rare-offer/ |archive-date=February 26, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> and ] in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.westword.com/news/pluck-you-5092035 |title=Pluck You |date=March 22, 2007|website=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105150409/https://www.westword.com/news/pluck-you-5092035 |archive-date=November 5, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Notable cases include the 26-minute film PETA produced in 1984, '']'',<ref>, ''Peta.org''. The film can be downloaded from * * * * * (video)</ref> based on 60 hours of researchers' footage obtained by the ALF during a raid on the University of Pennsylvania's head injury clinic. The footage showed researchers laughing at baboons as they inflicted brain damage on them with a hydraulic device intended to simulate whiplash. Laboratory animal veterinarian Larry Carbone writes that the researchers openly discussed how one baboon was awake before the head injury, despite protocols being in place for anaesthesia.<ref>Carbone, Larry. . Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 90.</ref> The ensuing publicity led to the suspension of funds from the university, the firing of its chief veterinarian, the closure of the lab, and a period of probation for the university.<ref>For descriptions of the experiments and the PETA investigation, see Blum, Deborah. . Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 118.
*Also see Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 237.
*Rudacille, Deborah. . University of California Press 2000, pp 145&ndash;147.
*For a description of the case in the ILAR journal, see Sideris, Lisa; McCarthy, Charles & Smith, David H. , ''Bioethics of Laboratory Animal Research'', Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) Journal V40 (1) 1999.</ref>


PETA sometimes issues isolated statements or press releases, commenting on current events. After ] wore ] in 2010, PETA issued a statement objecting to the dress.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114134413/http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2010/09/13/Lady-Gagas-Meat-Dress.aspx |date=November 14, 2013 }}, September 13, 2010, Ingrid Newkirk</ref> 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.<ref>, Joshua Rhett Miller, Fox News, September 29, 2011</ref> After Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer admitted that he had killed ] in Zimbabwe in 2015, PETA's president, Newkirk, issued a statement on behalf of PETA in which she said: {{blockquote|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.<ref name="Washington Post 30 July 2015">{{cite news |last= Miller |first= Michael E. |title= PETA calls for Walter Palmer to be 'hanged' for killing Cecil the lion|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/30/peta-calls-for-walter-palmer-to-be-hanged-for-killing-cecil-the-lion/| date= July 30, 2015| newspaper= ] |location= Washington| access-date= July 30, 2015 }}</ref>}}
, BBC News, January 18, 2001.</ref>]]
In 1990, ], a Las Vegas entertainer, lost his wildlife license, as well as a later lawsuit against PETA, after the group broadcast an undercover film of him slapping and punching orangutans in 1989.<ref>Hearne, Vicki. , ''Harpers'', November 1, 1993.
*, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, February 22, 1994, accessed June 26, 2010.
*, Supreme Court of Nevada, May 22, 1995, accessed June 28, 2010.
*Geer, Carri. , ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'', April 20, 1998.
*Geer, Carri. , ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'', February 15, 2000.
*Greer, Carri. , ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'', March 11, 2002.</ref> In 1997, a PETA investigation inside Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), a contract animal-testing company, produced film of staff in the UK beating dogs, and what appeared to be abuse of monkeys in the company's New Jersey facility. After the video footage aired on British television in 1999, a group of activists set up ] to close HLS down, a campaign that continues.<ref>For PETA's involvement in the HLS investigation, see Doward, Jamie, and Townsend, Mark. , ''The Observer'', August 1, 2004. Also see , BBC News, January 18, 2001.
*For PETA's material, see , filmed at the Huntingdon Research Centre, England (video), accessed June 26, 2010; , accessed June 28, 2010; , filmed at the HLS Princeton Research Center, New Jersey, U.S. (video), accessed June 20, 2009.</ref>


===Undercover work===
In 1999, a North Carolina grand jury handed down indictments against pig-farm workers on Belcross Farm in Camden County, the first indictments for animal cruelty on a factory farm in the United States, after a three-month PETA investigation produced film of the workers beating the animals.<ref>Associated Press. , July 9, 1999.
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.<ref name="Rosenberg">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-22-tm-7432-story.html |title=Fighting Tooth & Claw: Ingrid Newkirk's Combative Style and Headline-Grabbing Stunts Have Shaken Up the Animal-Rights Movement |date=March 22, 1992 |access-date=October 11, 2024 |website=] |first=Howard |last=Rosenberg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721065556/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-22-tm-7432-story.html |archive-date=July 21, 2020}}</ref>
*For PETA's material, see , PETA video narrated by James Cromwell, ''YouTube'', and , PETA, accessed June 27, 2010.</ref> In 2004, PETA published the results of an eight-month undercover investigation in a West Virginia Pilgrim's Pride slaughterhouse that supplies chickens to KFC. ''The New York Times'' reported the investigation as showing workers stomping on live chickens, throwing dozens against a wall, tearing the head off a chicken to write graffiti, strangling one with a latex glove, and squeezing birds until they exploded. Yum Brands, owner of KFC, called the video appalling, and threatened to stop purchasing from Pilgrim's Pride if no changes were made; Pilgrim's Pride fired 11 employees, and introduced an anti-cruelty pledge for workers to sign.<ref>McNeil, Donald G. , ''The New York Times'', July 25, 2004.</ref>


==== 1990s ====
, PETA, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref>]]
* In 1984, PETA produced a 26-minute film, '']'', based on 60 hours of research video footage stolen by the ] during a break-in at the University of Pennsylvania's head injury clinic. The footage showed experiments on the ]s with a hydraulic device intended to simulate ]. 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 2004 and 2005, PETA shot footage inside ], an animal-testing company in the United States and Europe, that appeared to show monkeys being mistreated in the company's facility in Vienna, Virginia. According to ''The Washington Post'', PETA said an employee of the group filmed primates there being choked, hit, and denied medical attention when badly injured.<ref name=Buske>Buske, Jennifer. , ''The Washington Post'', August 3, 2008.</ref> After PETA sent the video and a 253-page complaint to the United States Department of Agriculture, Covance was fined $8,720 for 16 citations, three of which involved lab monkeys; the other citations involved administrative issues and equipment. The company said none of the issues were pervasive or endemic, and that they had taken corrective action.<ref>*Benz, Kathy and McManus, Michael. , CNN, May 17, 2005.
* In 1990, two PETA activists posed as employees of ], where they took pictures and video footage inside the company, alleging that ]s were being mistreated.<ref>{{cite web|first=Sarah|last=Avery|url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=AWNB&p_text_direct-0=document_id=(%200EB19215057F245C%20)&p_docid=0EB19215057F245C&p_theme=aggdocs&p_queryname=0EB19215057F245C&f_openurl=yes&p_nbid=N5BT62BWMTI4ODg5ODAwNy45NTExNjU6MTo0OjE5Mjg&&p_multi=GNRB|title=Beleaguered Supplier Denies Animal Cruelty|publisher=Greensboro News & Record|date=October 29, 1990|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Following the release of PETA's tapes, the ] conducted its own inspection and subsequently charged the company with seven violations of the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EDoaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5237,1727623&dq=carolina+biological&hl=en|title=Hearing Begins for Carolina Biological|date=March 9, 1993|work=The Times-News|via=]|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Four years later, an administrative judge ruled that Carolina Biological had not committed any violations.<ref>{{cite web|first=David A|last=Hall|url=http://iw.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_theme=aggdocs&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=AWNB&p_docid=0EAF8599A6BC663D&p_text_direct-0=document_id=(%200EAF8599A6BC663D%20)&p_multi=GNRB&s_lang=en-US&p_nbid=W52T59ENMTI4ODg5NTU2NS40MjMwMzQ6MTo0OjE5Mjg|title=Company Cleared of Animal Cruelty Charges by Judge|publisher=Greensboro News and Record|date=May 19, 1994|url-access=subscription|via=]}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
*For details of the fine and the citations, and Covance's response, see Scott, Luci. , ''The Arizona Republic'', April 1, 2006.
* In 1990, ], 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 punching ]s in 1989.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Hearne|first=Vicki|url=https://harpers.org/archive/1993/11/can-an-ape-tell-a-joke-learning-from-a-las-vegas-orangutan-act/|title=Can an ape tell a joke?|magazine=]|url-access=subscription|date=November 1, 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rcfp.org/news/1994/0222f.html|title=High court throws out $4.2 million judgment animal trainer won in libel, privacy suit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611200819/http://www.rcfp.org/news/1994/0222f.html |publisher=]|date=February 22, 1994|access-date=June 26, 2010|archive-date=June 11, 2011|url-status=dead|author=News Media Update}}</ref>
*For the PETA perspective, see , PETA, and , PETA, accessed June 28, 2010.
* In 1997, PETA made a film from footage obtained by PETA member Michele Rokke, who went undercover to report on UK company ], which aired on television. Huntingdon sued PETA, and PETA agreed to drop its campaign against Huntingdon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/aug/01/animalwelfare.world|title=Focus: animal activists – Beauty and the beasts|first1=Jamie|last1=Doward|first2=Mark|last2=Townsend|date=July 31, 2004|website=]}}</ref>
*For the Covance perspective, see , Covance press release, March 31, 2008, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref> In 2005 Covance initiated a lawsuit charging PETA with fraud, violation of employee contract, and conspiracy to harm the company's business, but did not proceed with it.<ref name=Buske/>
* In 1999, a North Carolina grand jury indicted three workers at a ] after 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".<ref>{{cite web|publisher=]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19990708&id=FewyAAAAIBAJ&pg=6661,1729672|title=PETA probe spurs indictment of three for cruelty to pigs|date=July 8, 1999|via=]|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>


====2000s====
PETA also goes undercover into circuses. In 2006, they filmed trainers at Carson & Barnes Circus&mdash;including Tim Frisco, the animal-care director&mdash;striking elephants while shouting at them; ''The Washington Post'' writes that the video shows Frisco shouting "Make 'em scream!" A company spokesman dismissed PETA's concerns as 'Utopian philosophical ideology," but said the circus would no longer use electric prods.<ref>Miroff, Nick. , ''The Washington Post'', September 21, 2006.
* In 2004, PETA released video tapes taken from eight-months of undercover filming in a West Virginia ] that supplies chicken to the fast food industry. The recordings showed workers stomping on live ]s and 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.<ref>{{cite web|last=McNeil|first=Donald G|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/weekinreview/the-nation-gaining-ground-at-last-a-company-takes-peta-seriously.html|title=The Nation: Gaining Ground; At Last, a Company Takes PETA Seriously|work=]|date=July 25, 2004}}</ref>
*For PETA's material, see , PETA, July 6, 2006, accessed June 26, 2010; and , PETAtv.com (video), accessed June 26, 2010.</ref>
* For 11 months PETA shot footage inside a facility in Virginia operated by Covance (now ]). Alleging that the footage showed ]s being choked, hit, and denied medical attention, PETA sent the video and a 253-page complaint to the ]. The department investigated and the company was fined $8,720. In June 2005, the company filed a lawsuit in the United States against PETA and the investigator for fraud, breach of employee contract, and conspiracy.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bioworld.com/articles/463804 | title=Court report: Covance files suit vs. PETA; Scrushy says 'no plea bargain' | work=Bioworld | date=June 8, 2005}}</ref> PETA agreed to hand over all video footage and written notes to the company, and agreed to a ban on conducting any infiltration of the company for five years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cei.org/opeds_articles/peta-cruel-and-unusual/ | title=PETA: Cruel and Unusual | first1=Iain | last1=Murray | first2=Ivan | last2=Osorio | work=] | date=January 17, 2006}}</ref>
* In 2006, PETA filmed a trainer at Carson & Barnes Circus instructing others to beat the ]s to make them obey. A company spokesman said they stopped using ] on animals after the video was released.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092000016.html|title=Rights Group Targets Circus|first=Nick|last=Miroff|date=September 21, 2006|newspaper=]}}</ref>
* In 2007, the owners of a ] ranch 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."<ref>{{cite web|last=Rood|first=Justin|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/undercover_came.html|title=Undercover Cameras OK, Judge Rules|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070426125214/http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/undercover_came.html |archive-date=April 26, 2007|date=April 13, 2007|work=ABC News}}</ref>
* In 2008, the famous Spanish singer ] collaborated with PETA in a joint campaign with ], posing nude in a picture to raise awareness for what she considers cruel activity, ].<ref> (in Spanish)</ref>


===Positions=== ====2010s====
* In 2013, PETA investigated ] farms in China and released video footage showing farmers ripping out the wool from live rabbits while they screamed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/peta-releases-video-of-angora-rabbit-investigation-in-china/|title=PETA releases video of angora rabbit investigation in China|publisher=]|first=Heba|last=Kanso|date=November 20, 2013}}</ref> In 2015, ] announced they would discontinue their use of angora and donated their existing inventory to ]. Seventy other retailers had also stopped selling angora wool since the release of PETA's graphic video footage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-inditex-angora-0210-biz-20150209-story.html|title=Zara parent bans sales of Angora wool, donates fur to Syrian refugees|first=Alexia|last=Elejalde-Ruiz|website=]|date=February 9, 2015}}</ref>
====On direct action and the ALF====
* Between 2012 and 2014, PETA investigated ] sheds in the ] industry in Australia and the US. PETA sent reports and film footage to local authorities alleging that shearers had kicked and beat ], 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/peta-there-s-no-such-thing-humane-wool-n151326|title=PETA: There's No Such Thing as Humane Wool|publisher=]|first=Anna|last=Schecter|date=July 9, 2014}}</ref>
{{see|Animal Liberation Front}}
* In 2014, PETA conducted an undercover investigation of the ] industry, filming seven hours of footage that, as '']'' reported, "showed mistreatment of the ]s to be widespread and cavalier." Noted trainer ] and 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 their ]s use 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."<ref>Drape, Joe. , ''The New York Times'', March 19, 2014.</ref> In November 2015, as a result of PETA's investigation, Asmussen was fined $10,000 by the ]. 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, the ], which also received PETA's allegations, found that Asmussen did not violate any of its rules. Asmussen remains under investigation by the ] for allegedly violating the ].<ref>Drape, Joe. , ''The New York Times'', November 23, 2015.</ref> 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.<ref>Privman, Jay. , ''ABC News'' May 4, 2016.</ref>
Newkirk is outspoken in her support of ], writing that no movement for social change has ever succeeded without what she calls the militarism component: "Thinkers may prepare revolutions," she wrote of the ALF in 2004, "but bandits must carry them out."<ref name=NewkirkBest341>Newkirk, Ingrid. "The ALF: Who, Why, and What?", ''Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals''. Best, Steven & Nocella, Anthony J (eds). Lantern 2004, p. 341./</ref>
* In 2015, as '']'' reported, PETA investigated Sweet Stem Farm, a ] that supplies meat to ]. The resulting video footage "featured images of ]s, 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 Post'' notes that "n the wake of the PETA investigation, Whole Foods has removed the Sweet Stem video from its Web site."<ref>Moyer, Justin Wm. , ''The Washington Post'', September 21, 2015.</ref> PETA subsequently filed a class-action lawsuit against Whole Foods, "alleging that the chain's claims about animal welfare amount to a 'sham.'"<ref>Mitchell, Dan. , ''Fortune'', September 23, 2015.</ref> 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."<ref>Stempel, Jonathan , Reuters, April 27, 2016.</ref>
{{Rquote|right|Not until black demonstrators resorted to violence did the national government work seriously for civil rights legislation ... In 1850 white abolitionists, having given up on peaceful means, began to encourage and engage in actions that disrupted plantation operations and liberated slaves. Was that all wrong?<br/><br/>&mdash;Newkirk, 2004<ref name=NewkirkBest341/>}}
* Other PETA investigations from around this time focused on ] and alligator farms in Texas and Zimbabwe,<ref>Gibson, Kate. , CBS News, June 24, 2015.</ref> a ] breeding facility in Florida,<ref>Luscombe, Richard. , ''The Guardian'', July 6, 2015.</ref> ] in Taiwan,<ref>AFP. , ''Bangkok Post'', September 27, 2015.</ref> ] slaughterhouses and ] in South Africa.<ref>Curkin, Charles. , ''The New York Times'', February 25, 2016.</ref>
* CBS News reported in November 2016 that PETA had captured footage from restaurants that serve live ], ], and other marine animals. The group's video showed "an octopus writhing as its limbs are severed by a chef at T Equals Fish, a ] sushi 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."<ref>CBS News. , CBS News, November 17, 2016.</ref>
* In December 2016, PETA released video footage from an investigation at ]'s dog laboratory, which deliberately breeds ]s to contract ]. 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." The '']'' noted 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.<ref>Malisow, Craig. , ''Houston Press'', September 20, 2017.</ref>
* 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-conscious ], injecting live ] with ] and claiming that they sometimes would freeze ]s to death." PETA brought 25 charges of cruelty to animals against the company. Drowning is not considered an acceptable form of euthanasia, according to the ], and its standards of humane euthanasia must be followed by companies certified by the ] such as Bio Corporation.<ref>Hugo, Kristin. , ''Newsweek'', January 10, 2018.</ref> 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."<ref>Edenloff, Al. , ''Echo Press'', April 24, 2018.</ref>
* In 2018, police raided a ] store in Tennessee, after receiving video footage from PETA. Police confiscated six animals: a ], ], and ]s. 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."<ref name=wztv>{{Cite web|url=https://fox17.com/news/local/petsmart-sues-former-employee-peta-activist-connected-to-bellevue-raid|title=Petsmart sues former employee, PETA activist connected to Bellevue raid|first1=Adrian|last1=Mojica|first2=Kaylin|last2=Jorge|date=June 26, 2018|publisher=]}}</ref><ref name=wtvf>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newschannel5.com/news/petsmart-suing-peta-over-undercover-stings|title=PetSmart Suing Over Undercover PETA Stings|date=June 26, 2018|publisher=]}}</ref> In 2019, PetSmart added PETA as a defendant in the lawsuit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.petproductnews.com/News/PetSmart-Adds-PETA-to-Smear-Campaign-Lawsuit/|title=PetSmart Adds PETA to 'Smear Campaign' Lawsuit|publisher=Pet Product News|date=May 14, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514174556/http://www.petproductnews.com/News/PetSmart-Adds-PETA-to-Smear-Campaign-Lawsuit/|archive-date=May 14, 2019}}</ref>
* On May 1, 2018, PETA released an investigation of the ] industry that led more than 80 retailers, including ] and ], to drop products made with mohair. The video evidence "depicts ]s being thrown around wood floors, dunked in poisonous cleaning solution or having their ears mutilated with pliers. ... mployees are shown cutting goats' throats, breaking their necks, electrically shocking them and beheading them."<ref>Weinberg, Lindsay. , ''The Hollywood Reporter'', May 24, 2018.</ref>


===Ag-gag laws===
In 2004 ''The Observer'' described what it called a network of relationships between apparently unconnected animal rights groups on both sides of the Atlantic, writing that, with assets of $6.5 million, and with the PETA Foundation holding further assets of $15 million, PETA funds a number of activists and groups&mdash;some with links to militant groups, including the ALF, which the FBI has named as a domestic terrorist threat. American writer Don Liddick writes that PETA gave $1,500 to the Earth Liberation Front in 2001&mdash;Newkirk said the donation was a mistake, and that the money had been intended for public education about destruction of habitat, but Liddick writes that it went to the legal defense of ], an ELF spokesman. That same year, according to ''The Observer'', PETA gave a $5,000 grant to American animal rights activist Josh Harper, an advocate of arson.<ref>For the material about PETA's assets, the ALF, and the grant to Josh Harper, see Doward, Jamie. , ''The Observer'', August 1, 2004.
*Also see Hsu, Spencer S. , ''The Washington Post'', December 20, 2005.
*For the grant to the ELF, see Liddick, Don. ''Eco-Terrorism''. Greenwood Publishing Company, 2006, p. 50, and Friedman, Stefan C. , ''New York Post'', undated, accessed June 27, 2010.
*For FBI testimony, see Jarboe, James F. , FBI testimony before the House Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, February 12, 2002, accessed June 27, 2010.</ref>
] are alleged to have substantial links.<ref name=Liddick52/>]]


Various U.S. states have passed ] laws 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, citing ] protections for free speech.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aspca.org/animal-protection/public-policy/what-ag-gag-legislation|title=What Is Ag-Gag Legislation?|website=]}}</ref>
According to Liddick, PETA has substantial links with Native American ALF activist ]. He alleges that two Federal Express packages were sent to an address in Bethesda, Maryland, before and after a 1992 fire at Michigan State University that Coronado was convicted of setting, reportedly as part of "Operation Bite Back," a series of ALF attacks on American animal testing facilities in the 1990s. The first package was picked up by a PETA employee, Maria Blanton, and the second intercepted by the authorities, who identified the handwriting as Coronado's. Liddick writes that the package contained documents removed from the university and a videotape of one of the perpetrators. When they searched Blanton's home, police found some of the paraphenalia of animal liberation raids, including code names for Coronado and Alex Pacheco&mdash;PETA's co-founder&mdash;burglary tools, two-way radios, and fake identification. Liddick also writes that PETA gave Coronado $45,000 for his legal bills and another $25,000 to his father.<ref name=Liddick52>For details of the Federal Express packages, the other evidence, and the payment to Coronado, see Liddick, Don. ''Eco-Terrorism''. Greenwood Publishing Company, 2006, pp. 50, 52.
* 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, the ], and Amy Meyer, the director of the Utah Animal Rights Coalition.<ref>Chappell, Bill. , NPR, July 8, 2017.</ref>
*For Coronado's conviction and Operation Bite Back, see , ], 2006, accessed June 30, 2010.</ref>
* In 2018, Idaho's ag-gag law was struck down as unconstitutional in a case brought by ]-Idaho, the ] and PETA.<ref>{{cite web|last=Berry|first=Harrison|url=https://www.idahopress.com/boiseweekly/news/citydesk/ninth-circuit-appeals-court-strikes-down-key-provisions-of-ag-gag-law/article_63387698-2f77-5cfd-aa44-9114db30211f.html|title=Ninth Circuit Appeals Court Strikes Down Key Provisions of Ag-Gag Law|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120337/https://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/ninth-circuit-appeals-court-strikes-down-key-provisions-of-ag-gag-law/Content?oid=8644354 |archive-date=January 19, 2018|website=]|date=January 5, 2018}}</ref>
* In 2019, a federal judge struck down Iowa's 2012 ag-gag law in a case filed in 2017 by co-plaintiffs PETA, ], ]-Iowa, ], Bailing Out Benji, and ].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reinitz|first1=Jeff|url=https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-federal-judge-strikes-down-iowa-s-ag-gag-law/article_c2d6c1f9-1b21-5413-93da-21fc1d06a5aa.html|title=UPDATE: Federal judge strikes down Iowa's Ag Gag law|website=wcfcourier.com|date=January 9, 2019}}</ref>
* In 2020, in the case of ''PETA et al v. Stein'', ] struck 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, ], ], ], ], ], ], and the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Judge Throws Out Parts of N.C. Workplace Undercover Law|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/north-carolina/articles/2020-06-15/judge-throws-out-parts-of-nc-workplace-undercover-law|date=June 15, 2020|first=Gary D.|last=Robertson|website=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/10497167/PEOPLE_FOR_THE_ETHICAL_TREATMENT_OF_ANIMALS,_INC,_ET_AL_V_STEIN,_ET_AL|title=PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS, INC., ET AL. V STEIN, ET AL.|access-date=July 8, 2020|website=pacermonitor.com}}</ref>


===Legal proceedings===
Newkirk is a strong supporter of direct action that removes animals from laboratories and other facilities&mdash;she told ''The Los Angeles Times'' in 1992 that when she hears of anyone walking into a lab and walking out with animals, her heart sings.<ref name=Rosenberg/> In an interview for ''Wikinews'' in 2007, she said she had been asked by other animal protection groups to condemn illegal acts. "And I won't do it, because it were my animal I'd be happy." But she added that she does not support arson. "I would rather that these buildings weren't standing, and so I think at some level I understand. I just don't like the idea of that, but maybe that's wishy-washy of me, because I don't want those buildings standing if they hurt anyone ... Why would you preserve just so someone can make a profit by continuing to hurt and kill individuals who feel every bit as much as we do?"<ref name=Shankbone>Shankbone, David. , ''Wikinews'', November 13, 2007. Also see Shankbone, David. ], ''Wikinews'', November 20, 2007.</ref>
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 in ], 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 been ] after being removed from shelters in ] and ] counties. A Bertie County Deputy Sheriff stated that the two employees assured the Bertie Animal Shelter that "they were picking up the ]s to take them back to Norfolk where they would find them good homes."<ref>{{cite web |last=Saine |first=Jason |url=http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1420 |title=PETA Employees Face 31 Felony Animal-Cruelty Charges for Killing, Dumping Dogs |access-date=June 21, 2006 |url-status=usurped <!-- usurped, checked 2024-04-14 --> |date=June 18, 2005 |website=Lincoln Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308014113/http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1420 |archive-date=March 8, 2007}}</ref><ref>King, Lauren. " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108070853/http://hamptonroads.com/node/217051 |date=November 8, 2011 }}," ''The Virginian-Pilot'', February 3, 2007</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/2007/01/31/da-probes-into-peta-procedures/ |title=DA probes into PETA procedures |date=January 31, 2007 |work=The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald |access-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 30, 2005.</ref>


In November 2014, a resident of ], produced video evidence that two workers in a van marked with a PETA logo had entered his property in a ] and taken his ], who was then ]. He reported the incident to the police, who identified and charged two PETA workers, but the charges were later dropped by the ] on the grounds that it was not possible to prove ].<ref>Deanna leBlanc (November 12, 2014) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221231123/http://wavy.com/2014/11/12/man-claims-peta-stole-killed-family-pet/ |date=February 21, 2015 }}. Retrieved February 26, 2015.</ref> 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 the ], 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," the ] issued PETA a first-ever violation and imposed a $500 fine. The contract worker who had taken the dog was dismissed by PETA.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Edwards|first1=Jonathan|title=Family of euthanized Chihuahua sues PETA|url=http://pilotonline.com/news/family-of-euthanized-chihuahua-sues-peta-for-million/article_6715657f-db21-5630-8a1a-f87ad6471fde.html|website=PilotOnline.com|publisher=The Virginian-Pilot|access-date=January 19, 2016|archive-date=May 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509032947/http://pilotonline.com/news/family-of-euthanized-chihuahua-sues-peta-for-million/article_6715657f-db21-5630-8a1a-f87ad6471fde.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
====On neutering, backyard dogs, and pets====
, PETA Annual Review 2008, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref>]]
PETA runs several programs though its Community Animal Project that helps cats and dogs in poorer areas of Virginia, near its headquarters.<ref>, PETA, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref> In 2008 they neutered 7,485 cats, dogs, and rabbits in that area, including pit bulls and feral cats, at a discounted rate or free of charge. They help neglected dogs and cats who are ill and injured, and pursue cruelty cases. Each year they set up hundreds of dog houses with straw bedding for dogs chained outside all winter.<ref>They supplied over 300 dog houses and 1,200 bales of straw in 2008; see , PETA Annual Review 2008, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref> They urge population control through neutering and adoption from shelters, and campaign against organizations such as the ] that promote the breeding of purebred strains.<ref>, PETA's Community Animal Project; , PETA's position on pets or 'companion animals'], accessed June 26, 2010; Farris, Gene. , ''USA Today'', February 10, 2009.</ref>


In 2015, PETA sued British nature photographer David Slater in ] as a ] for a wild ] monkey, whom they named Naruto. PETA argued that the monkey was entitled to the ] of a ] it had taken while handling Slater's camera, and naming themselves to be the administrator of any copyright revenue. The ] was originally dismissed by ] who wrote there is no indication that the ] extends to animals and a monkey could not own a copyright.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/07/462245189/federal-judge-says-monkey-cant-own-copyright-to-his-selfie|title=Monkey Can't Own Copyright To His Selfie, Federal Judge Says|publisher=NPR|date=January 7, 2016 |language=en|access-date=January 1, 2019|last1=Domonoske |first1=Camila }}</ref> PETA appealed,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/12/asia/monkey-selfie-settlement/|title=PETA, photographer reach settlement in 'monkey selfie' case|last=Berlinger|first=Joshua|date=September 12, 2017|publisher=]|access-date=April 14, 2024}}</ref> but the ] found in favor of Slater saying that "PETA's real motivation in this case was to advance its own interests, not Naruto's." The decision cited ''Cetacean v. Bush (2004)'' that says animals cannot sue unless ] makes it clear in the ] that animals can sue, and added that "next friend" representation cannot be applied to animals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/24/17271410/monkey-selfie-naruto-slater-copyright-peta|title=Appeals court blasts PETA for using selfie monkey as 'an unwitting pawn'|date=April 24, 2018|first=Sarah|last=Jeong|website=]}}</ref> The court also wrote: {{blockquote|"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."}}
PETA argues that it would have been better for animals had the institution of breeding them as "pets" never emerged, that the desire to own animals is selfish, and that their breeding, sale, and purchase can cause immeasurable suffering. They write that millions of dogs spend their lives chained outside in all weather conditions or locked up in chain-link pens and wire cages in puppy mills, and that even in good homes animals are often not well cared for. They would like to see the population of dogs and cats reduced through spaying and neutering, and for people never to purchase animals from pet shops or breeders, but to adopt them from shelters instead.<ref name=pets>, PETA, accessed June 27, 2010.</ref>


====On euthanasia==== ===Video games===
{{see|Animal euthanasia}}
PETA opposes the ]. The group takes in feral cat colonies with diseases such as ] and ], stray dogs, litters of ]-infected puppies, and backyard dogs, and as such it would be unrealistic to operate a no-kill policy.<ref>, PETA, accessed June 26, 2010; , Petrescueonline.net, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref> They offer free euthanasia services to counties that kill unwanted animals via gassing or shooting&mdash;they recommend the use of an intravenous injection of ] if administered by a trained professional, and for severely ill or dying pets when euthanasia at a veterinarian is unaffordable.<ref>, PETA, accessed June 27, 2010.</ref> They recommend euthanasia for certain breeds, such as pit bull terriers, and in certain situations for animals in shelters: for example, for those living for long periods in cramped cages.<ref>Newkirk, Ingrid. , ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 8, 2005.</ref>


PETA has created ] with such names as ''How Green Is My Diet?'' and ''KKK 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gameranx.com/features/id/18176/article/an-interview-with-peta-game-developer/|title=An Interview with PETA: Game Developer – Gameranx|date=October 21, 2013}}</ref>
Two PETA employees were acquitted in 2007 of animal cruelty, but convicted of littering, after at least 80 euthanized animals were left in dumpsters in a shopping center in Ashoskie 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 been euthanized after being removed from shelters in Northampton and Bertie counties.<ref>, ''Lincoln Tribune''; King, Lauren. "PETA workers cleared of animal cruelty, guilty of littering," ''The Virginia-Pilot'', February 3, 2007.</ref> The group said it began euthanizing animals in some rural North Carolina shelters after it found the shelters killing animals in ways PETA considered inhumane.<ref>Saunders, Debra J. , ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 23, 2005; , ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 30, 2005.</ref>


In 2017, Ingrid Newkirk sent a letter of complaint to ] about their video game '']'', 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."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Frank |first1=Allegra |title=PETA takes aim at Nintendo for 1-2-Switch's milking minigame |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/31/15141004/nintendo-switch-1-2-switch-peta-milking-minigame |access-date=March 8, 2019 |agency=Polygon |date=March 31, 2017}}</ref>
====On wildlife conservation personalities====
], place animals under stress.<ref name=Walls/>]]
PETA is critical of television personalities they call self-professed wildlife warriors, arguing that while a conservationist message is getting across, some of the actions are harmful to animals, such as invading animals' homes, netting them, subjecting them to stressful environments, and wrestling with them&mdash;often involving young animals the group says should be with their mothers.<ref>, PETA, accessed June 27, 2010.</ref> In 2006 when ] died, PETA's vice-president ] said Irwin had made a career out of antagonizing frightened wild animals.<ref name=Walls>Walls, Jeannette (2006). , MSNBC, September 11, 2006.</ref> Australian Member of Parliament ] said PETA should apologize to Irwin's family and the rest of Australia.<ref>, news.com.au, accessed September 15, 2006.</ref>


In March 2020, PETA issued a "Vegan Guide to Animal Crossing" for the video game '']''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Craddock|first=Ryan|date=March 24, 2020|title=PETA Takes A Dig At Animal Crossing: New Horizons With 'Vegan Guide' To The Game|url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/03/peta_takes_a_dig_at_animal_crossing_new_horizons_with_vegan_guide_to_the_game|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Nintendo Life|language=en-GB}}</ref>
====On animal testing====
{{see|Animal testing}}
PETA opposes animal testing&mdash;whether toxicity testing, basic or applied research, or for education and training&mdash;on both moral and practical grounds. Newkirk told ''Vogue'' magazine in 1989 that even if it resulted in a cure for AIDS, PETA would oppose it.<ref>''Vogue magazine'', September 1989.</ref> 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, including ] research and ] cell research.<ref>, PETA, accessed June 30, 2010. Also see Rosenberg, Howard. , ''The Los Angeles Times'', March 22, 1992.</ref> PETA employees have themselves volunteered for human testing of vaccines; Scott Van Valkenburg, the group's Director of Major Gifts, said in 1999 that he had volunteered for human testing of HIV vaccines.<ref>Van Valkenburg, Scott. , ''Seattle Weekly'', July 7, 1999; see , PETA, accessed June 30, 2010.</ref>


==Position within the animal rights movement== ===Person of the year===
Each year, PETA selects a "Person of the Year" who has helped advance the cause of animal rights.
{{see|Animal rights movement}}
] posing for PETA. The series of ads triggered criticism from feminist animal rights advocates.<ref>, accessed June 26, 2010.</ref>]]
]
Robert Garner of the University of Leicester writes that Newkirk and Pacheco are the leading exporters of animal rights to the more moderate groups in the United States&mdash;both members of an animal rights elite that he argues has shaken up the animal rights movement, setting up new groups and radicalizing old ones.<ref name=Garner70>Garner, Robert. ''Animals, politics, and morality''. Manchester University Press, 1993; this edition 2004, p. 70.</ref>


* '''2006:''' Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry (founders of ]).
There is criticism of PETA from both the conservative and radical ends of the movement. Michael Specter writes that it provides for groups such as the ] the same dynamic that ] provided for ], or ] for ]&mdash;someone radical to alienate the mainstream and make moderate voices more appealing.<ref name=Specter/> The failure to condemn the Animal Liberation Front triggers complaints from the conservatives, while the more radical activists say the group has lost touch with its grassroots, is soft on the idea of animal rights, and that it should stop the media stunts, the pie-throwing, and the targeting of women. "It's hard enough trying to get people to take animal rights seriously without PETA out there acting like a bunch of jerks," one activist told writer Norm Phelps.<ref name=Phelps242>Phelps, Norm. . Lantern Books, 2007, p. 242.</ref>
* '''2007:''' ] (for his passionate defense of animals throughout six decades of public service).<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 26, 2007 |title=Senator Named PETA's Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/senator-named-petas-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2008''': ] (for using her powerful voice to defend those without one).<ref>{{Cite web |title=PETA Picks Oprah Winfrey 'Person of the Year' |url=https://people.com/celebrity/peta-picks-oprah-winfrey-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 22, 2008 |title=Winfrey named PETA's 'Person of the Year' |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/winfrey-named-peta-s-person-of-the-year-3256957.php |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en}}</ref>
* '''2009''': ] (Man of the Year) and ] (Woman of the Year).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bennett |first=Karin |date=December 30, 2009 |title=PETA Names Man and Woman of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/peta-names-man-woman-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2010:''' ] (for his influence to promote the benefits of following a vegan diet).<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 14, 2010 |title=Bill Clinton Named PETA's 2010 Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/features/bill-clinton-named-petas-2010-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mesure |first=Susie |date=January 2, 2011 |title=Bill Clinton is named the animal world's new best friend |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/bill-clinton-is-named-the-animal-world-s-new-best-friend-2174150.html |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>
* '''2011''': ] (for tirelessly advocating for animals and setting a positive example for others by promoting a vegan lifestyle).<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 7, 2011 |title=Russell Simmons Named PETA's 2011 Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/features/russell-simmons-named-petas-2011-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2012''': ]. (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).<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 27, 2012 |title=Anjelica Huston Named PETA's 2012 Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/features/anjelica-huston-2012-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2013''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mullins |first=Alisa |date=December 23, 2013 |title=Ricky Gervais Is PETA's Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/ricky-gervais-petas-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 9, 2023 |title=PETA's Person of the Year |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/petas-person-of-the-year-ricky-gervais/FFVQG4KRIFFHYGNCVKWT2ZAJGQ/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=NZ Herald |language=en-NZ}}</ref>
* '''2014''': ]. (for his defense of tigers, elephants, and horses forced to work in New York and his promotion of vegan eating).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mullins |first=Alisa |date=December 18, 2014 |title=New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Named PETA's Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/new-york-mayor-bill-de-blasio-named-petas-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2015''': ] (selected for his encouragement to treat animals with kindness and to respect the environment).<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4130961/peta-pope-francis/|title=Pope Francis is PETA's Person of the Year|magazine=Time|first=Daniel|last=White|date=December 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Michelle |date=December 1, 2015 |title=Why Is Pope Francis PETA's 2015 Person of the Year? |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/pope-francis-is-petas-2015-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2016''': ] (chosen for her fight for the humane treatment of farm animals and monkeys).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gops-mary-matalin-is-petas-person-of-the-year|title=GOP's Mary Matalin is PETA's 'Person of the Year'|date=December 8, 2016|website=Washington Examiner|first=Paul|last=Bedard}}</ref>
* '''2017''': Naruto (a monkey unaware of ]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/monkey-selfie-peta-person-of-the-year-crested-black-macaque-copyright-lawsuit-naruto-david-slater-a8095496.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/monkey-selfie-peta-person-of-the-year-crested-black-macaque-copyright-lawsuit-naruto-david-slater-a8095496.html |archive-date=May 25, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Monkey that took selfie named 'Person of the Year' by PETA|date=December 6, 2017|website=The Independent}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiltsie |first=Megan |date=December 4, 2017 |title=Selfie-Snapping Monkey Is Named PETA's 2017 Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/selfie-snapping-monkey-named-petas-2017-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2018''': ] Heroes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Toliver |first=Zachary |date=December 6, 2018 |title=PETA's 2018 'Person of the Year' Saved Lives During Wildfires |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/petas-2018-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiltsie |first=Megan |date=December 12, 2018 |title=Butte Airport, Animal Control, and Fairgrounds Named Among PETA's 'Person of the Year' |url=https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/butte-airport-animal-control-and-fairgrounds-named-among-petas-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2019''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sachkova |first=Margarita |date=December 2, 2019 |title=PETA Announces 2019's Person of the Year: Joaquin Phoenix |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/joaquin-phoenix-2019/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2020''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 14, 2020 |title=PETA Crowns Tabitha Brown 2020's Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/features/tabitha-brown-petas-2020-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2021''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skinner |first=Tom |date=December 2, 2021 |title=Billie Eilish named PETA's 'Person Of The Year' for 2021 |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/billie-eilish-named-petas-person-of-the-year-2022-3109528 |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sachkova |first=Margarita |date=December 2, 2021 |title=And PETA's 2021 'Person of the Year' Is … |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/billie-eilish/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2022''': ] (for speaking out against the live export of pigs from Ireland, and pressuring Starbucks to end its vegan milk up-charge).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perle |first=David |date=December 28, 2022 |title=James Cromwell Is PETA's 'Person of the Year' |url=https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/1052375/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burton |first=Jamie |date=December 28, 2022 |title=James Cromwell happy to be "offensive" and "unpopular" on PETA's behalf |url=https://www.newsweek.com/james-cromwell-interview-succession-peta-animal-rights-offensive-unpopular-1769914 |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref>
* '''2023''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Waldman |first=Elena |date=December 7, 2023 |title=PETA's 2023 Person of the Year Award Goes to … |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/peta-2023-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burlingame |first=Ross |date=December 8, 2023 |title=Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: James Gunn Named PETA's 2023 Person of the Year |url=https://comicbook.com/movies/news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-james-gunn-named-petas-2023-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=Movies |language=en}}</ref>


==== PETA India ====
The ads featuring barely clad or naked women have appalled feminist animal rights advocates. When ]'s daughter ] posed naked for ''Playboy'', donating half her $100,000 fee to PETA, the group issued a press release saying Davis "turns the other cheek in an eye-opening spread," then announced she had been photographed naked with ]'s dog for an anti-fur ad. In 1995, PETA formed a partnership with ''Playboy'' to promote human organ donation, with the caption "Some People Need You Inside Them" on a photograph of Hefner's wife.<ref>For feminist criticism of the Patti Davis ad, see , Feminists for Animal Rights newsletter, vol 8, no 3–4, 1994.
*For reference to the poster, Patti Davis, and the human organ donation campaign, see Francione, Gary. . Temple University Press, pp. 74&ndash;75.</ref> The long-standing campaign, "I'd rather go naked than wear fur," in which celebrities and supermodels strip for the camera, generated particular concern.<ref>Adams, Carole J. ''Neither Man nor Beast: Feminism and the Defense of Animals''. Continuum International Publishing Group, 1995, p. 228. Also see p. 135 for more on the anti-fur ads.
*For a general discussion of the issues, see Adams, Carole J. and Donovan, Josephine. ''Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations''. Duke University Press, 1995.</ref>


* '''2011''': ] (for taking a stand and speaking out for animals).<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=DHNS |title=From Alia Bhatt, Shashi Tharoor to Sunny Leone, a look at PETA India's 'Person of the Year' awardees |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/archives/from-alia-bhatt-shashi-tharoor-to-sunny-leone-a-look-at-peta-indias-person-of-the-year-awardees-1067519-1450698 |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en}}</ref>
Newkirk has replied to the criticism that no one is being exploited, the women taking part are volunteers, and if sexual attraction advances the cause of animals, she is unapologetic.<ref name=Phelps242/> Asked by Wikinews how she feels when criticized from within the movement, she said: "Somebody has to push the envelope. If you say something that someone already agrees with, then what's the point, and so we make some more conservative animal protection organizations uncomfortable; they don't want to be associated with us because it will be embarrassing for them, and I understand that. Our own members write to us sometimes and say, 'Oh why did you do this? I don't want anyone to know I'm a PETA member.'"<ref name=Shankbone/>
* '''2012''': ] (for helping make the world a better place for animals).<ref name=":6" />
] argues that PETA are "new welfarists," not animal rights advocates.]]
* '''2013''': ].<ref name=":6" />
{{rquote|left|If anybody wonders 'what's this with all these reforms?', you can hear us clearly. Our goal is total animal liberation, and the day when everyone believes that animals are not ours to eat, not ours to wear, not ours to experiment , and not ours for entertainment or any other exploitive purpose.<br/><br/>—Newkirk, 2002<ref name=Newkirkspeech/>}}
* '''2014''': ] (Man of the year for a landmark judgement banning ]) and ] (Woman of the year).<ref name=":6" />
* '''2015''': ] (for his dedication in championing the adoption of dogs from animal shelters or the streets).<ref name=":6" />
* '''2016''': ] (for advocating the support of vegan fashion, ], and cat & dog adoption / sterilisation).<ref name=":6" />
* '''2017''': ] (for her wide-reaching work for animals, from helping to protect dogs from fireworks to advocating for horses who are forced to pull carriages).<ref name=":6" />
* '''2018''': ].<ref name=":6" />
* '''2019''': ].<ref name=":6" />
* '''2020''': ].<ref name=":6" />
* '''2021''': ] (for her continuous work in support of an animal-friendly fashion industry).<ref name=":6" />
* '''2022''': ]. (for action which helped spare the lives of animals killed for fashion, and her strong advocacy for cats and dogs in need).<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Sonakshi Sinha is PETA India's 2022 'Person of the Year' |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/sonakshi-sinha-peta-india-2022-person-of-the-year-animal-rights-love-8326268/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arora |first=Sumit |date=December 20, 2022 |title=PETA India's 2022: Sonakshi Sinha named as 'Person of the Year' title |url=https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/peta-indias-2022-sonakshi-sinha-named-as-person-of-the-year-title/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=adda247 |language=en-IN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Actress Sonakshi Sinha Named PETA Person Of The Year 2022 |url=https://www.millenniumpost.in/entertainment/actress-sonakshi-sinha-named-peta-person-of-the-year-2022-502308 |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=www.millenniumpost.in |language=en}}</ref>


==== PETA UK ====
], professor of law at Rutgers School of Law-Newark, argues that PETA is not an animal rights group&mdash;and further that there is no animal rights movement in the United States&mdash;because of their willigness to work with industries that use animals to achieve incremental change. This makes them an animal welfare group, in Francione's view: what he calls the new welfarists. A proponent of ], Francione argues that PETA is trivializing the movement with what he calls the "Three Stooges" theory of animal rights, making the public think progress is underway when the changes are only cosmetic.<ref>For the Three Stooges point, see Rosenberg, Howard. , ''The Los Angeles Times'', March 22, 1992.
*For the argument that the changes are cosmetic, see Francione, Gary. ''Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement''. Temple University Press, pp. 67&ndash;77.</ref>


* '''2008''': ]. (for her campaign against ]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2008 |title=Fish and Chimps: PETA Europe's Blog {{!}} Leona Lewis Named PETA's Person of the Year 2008 |url=http://blog.peta.org.uk/2008/leona-lewis-named-petas-person-of-the-year-2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604101839/http://blog.peta.org.uk/2008/leona-lewis-named-petas-person-of-the-year-2008 |archive-date=June 4, 2009 |access-date=December 8, 2023 }}</ref>
Like Francione, PETA describes itself as abolitionist.<ref name=Specter/> Newkirk told an animal rights conference in 2002 that PETA's goal remains animal liberation: "Reforms move a society very importantly from A to B, from B to C, from C to D. It's very hard to take a nation or a world that is built on seeing animals as nothing more than hamburgers, handbags, cheap burglar alarms, tools for research, and move them from A to Z ..."<ref name=Newkirkspeech>Newkirk, Ingrid. , at 25:44 mins, Animal rights convention, June 30, 2002, accessed June 28, 2010.</ref>
* '''2009''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scherer |first=Logan |date=November 18, 2009 |title=Sir Roger Moore Named PETA U.K.'s Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/sir-roger-moore-named-peta-uks-person-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2010''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2, 2011 |title=Anderson is PETA 'Person of the Year' |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/a295567/anderson-is-peta-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* '''2011''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=December 27, 2011 |title=Morrissey Named PETA's Person of the Year 2011 |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/morrissey-named-petas-person-of-the-year-2011/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2012''': ] (for badger activism).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Leonie |date=December 30, 2012 |title=Brian May named PETA's Person of the Year for badger activism |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/queen-56-1267360 |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* '''2014''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dan |date=December 24, 2014 |title=PETA UK's 2014 Person of the Year: Tony Benn Continues to Inspire |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/peta-uks-2014-person-year-tony-benn-continues-inspire/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2016''': Pamela Anderson.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dan |date=December 28, 2016 |title=Pamela Anderson Is PETA's 2016 Person of the Year |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/pamela-anderson-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2017''': Roger Moore.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dan |date=December 28, 2017 |title=PETA UK's 2017 Person of the Year: Sir Roger Moore |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/peta-uks-2017-person-year-sir-roger-moore/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2018''': ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sachkova |first=Margarita |date=December 6, 2018 |title=PETA Announces 2018's Person of the Year: Lewis Hamilton |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/lewis-hamilton-peta-2018-person-of-the-year/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2020''': ] (for her work to protect endangered animals).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Karim |first=Fariha |date=December 8, 2023 |title=Peta's person of the year Carrie Johnson has date night at steak restaurant |newspaper=] |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/petas-person-of-the-year-carrie-johnson-has-date-night-at-steak-restaurant-mnkwl2pmb |access-date=December 8, 2023 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bremner |first=Jade |date=December 15, 2020 |title=Carrie Symonds named Peta's 'person of the year' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/carrie-symonds-peta-person-of-the-year-b1774247.html |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brewis |first=Harriet |date=December 15, 2020 |title=Carrie Symonds named 'person of the year' for animal welfare work |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/carrie-symonds-peta-person-year-b319030.html |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref>
* '''2023''': ] (for his lifelong determination to make the world a kinder place for animals).<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 8, 2023 |title=Paul O'Grady: Entertainer named Peta's person of the year |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-67658770 |access-date=December 8, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Naomi |date=December 8, 2023 |title=Paul O'Grady posthumously named Peta's person of the year 2023 {{!}} indy100 |url=https://www.indy100.com/viral/paul-ogrady-posthumously-named-petas-person-of-the-year-2023 |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=www.indy100.com |language=en}}</ref>


=== Labels ===
Francione has also criticized PETA for having caused grassroots animal rights group to close, groups that he argues were essential for the survival of the animal rights movement, which rejects the centrality of corporate animal charities. Francione writes that PETA initially set up independent chapters around the United States, but closed them in favor of a top-down, centralized organization, which not only consolidated decision-making power, but centralized donations too. Now, local animal rights donations go to PETA, rather than to a local group.<ref>Francione, Gary. ''Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement''. Temple University Press, pp. 67&ndash;77.</ref>
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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=June 23, 2010 |title=PETA's 'Global Beauty Without Bunnies' Program |url=https://www.peta.org/living/personal-care-fashion/beauty-without-bunnies/ |access-date=May 23, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref>
{{clear}}

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PETA-Approved Vegan: Das Siegel für vegane Textilien |url=https://www.peta.de/veganleben/peta-approved-vegan/ |access-date=May 23, 2023 |website=PETA Deutschland e.V. |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Apply Now for Your 'PETA-Approved Vegan' Certification {{!}} PETA |url=https://petaapprovedvegan.peta.org/ |access-date=May 23, 2023 |website=petaapprovedvegan.peta.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+PETA labels
!Label
!PETA Animal Test-Free<ref name=":2" />
!PETA Cruelty-Free<ref name=":2" />
!PETA Vegan<ref name=":3" />
|-
|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 of ], 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."<ref name=NewkirkBest341>{{Cite book|title=Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals|last1=Best|first1=Steven|last2=Nocella|first2=Anthony J|date=2004|publisher=Lantern Books|isbn=159056054X|contributor-first=Ingrid|contributor-last=Newkirk|contribution=Afterword: The ALF: Who, Why, and What? (pages 341-343)|quote=I would hazard to say that no movement for social change has ever succeeded without 'the militarism component.' Not until black demonstrators resorted to violence did the national government work seriously for civil rights legislation. In the 1930s labor struggles had to turn violent before any significant gains were made. In 1850 white abolitionists, having given up on peaceful means, began to encourage and engage in actions that disrupted plantation operations and liberated slaves. Was that all wrong? ... There is a difference between violence to property and violence to people, of course. The ALF would not hurt a mouse, but it will burn a building. ... Thinkers may prepare revolutions, but bandits must carry them out.}}</ref> 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."<ref name=Rosenberg/> 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."<ref>Schneider, Alison. "As Threats of Violence Escalate, Primate Researchers Stand Firm", The Chronicle of Higher Education, November 12, 1999.</ref>

===Euthanasia===

PETA is a strong proponent of euthanasia. They oppose the ], and rather than adoption programs, PETA prefers to aim for zero births through ].<ref name="Interlandi">{{cite web |last=Interlandi |first=Jeneen |date=April 27, 2008 |title=PETA and Euthanasia |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2008/04/27/peta-and-euthanasia.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330121445/http://www.newsweek.com/2008/04/27/peta-and-euthanasia.html |archive-date=March 30, 2016 |access-date=July 31, 2020 |website=]}}</ref> They recommend not breeding ]s, and support euthanasia in certain situations for animals in shelters, such as those being housed for long periods in cramped cages.<ref>Newkirk, Ingrid. , ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 8, 2005.</ref>

=== 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bender |first=Kelli |date=February 4, 2020 |title=PETA says word 'pet' is patronising to animals |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/peta-pets-animals-good-morning-britain-piers-morgan-a9316471.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205161904/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/peta-pets-animals-good-morning-britain-piers-morgan-a9316471.html |archive-date=February 5, 2020 |website=]}}</ref>

===Hearing-ear and seeing-eye dogs===
PETA supports ] programs when animals are sourced from shelters and placed in homes, but opposes ] programs "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".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnett |first=Lindsay |date=January 10, 2009 |title=PETA's Vice President: We don't want to take your dog away |newspaper=] |url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/01/when-we-first-r.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119102011/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/01/when-we-first-r.html |archive-date=January 19, 2009}}</ref>

===Animal testing===

PETA opposes ]—whether toxicity testing, basic or applied research, or for education and training—on both moral and practical grounds. Newkirk told the '']'' magazine in 1989 that even if animal testing resulted in a cure for AIDS, PETA would oppose it.<ref>''Vogue'', September 1989.{{nonspecific|date=July 2020}}</ref> 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, including ] research and ] cell research.<ref name="Rosenberg" />

===National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/White Coat Waste Project===
The White Coat Waste Project (WCWP), a group of activists that hold that taxpayers should not have to pay $20&nbsp;billion every year for experiments on animals,<ref>{{Cite web |title=White Coat Waste Project |url=https://www.whitecoatwaste.org/ |access-date=March 8, 2022}}</ref> said that the ] provided $400,000 in taxpayer money to fund experiments in which 28 beagles were infected by disease-causing parasites.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 15, 2016 |title=Should dogs be guinea pigs in government research? A bipartisan group says no. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/11/15/saving-dogs-from-government-research-labs-gets-some-bipartisan-attention/ |newspaper=]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2021 |title=Fauci under fire by beagle organization over alleged puppy experiments |url=https://nypost.com/2021/10/27/fauci-slammed-by-beagle-organization-over-alleged-experiments/ |website=]}}</ref> The White Coat Project found reports that said dogs taking part in the experiments were "vocalizing in pain" after being injected with foreign substances.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 30, 2021 |title=WCW EXPOSÉ: FAUCI SPENT $424K ON BEAGLE EXPERIMENTS, DOGS BITTEN TO DEATH BY FLIES |url=https://blog.whitecoatwaste.org/2021/07/30/fauci-funding-wasteful-deadly-dog-tests/}}</ref> Following public outcry, PETA made a call to action that all members of the ] resign effective immediately<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 5, 2021 |title=PETA calls for Dr. Fauci to resign: 'Our position is clear' |publisher=] |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/peta-calls-for-dr-fauci-to-resign-our-position-is-clear}}</ref> and that there is a "need to find a new NIH director to replace the outgoing ] who will shut down research that violates the dignity of nonhuman animals."<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 25, 2021 |title=Experimenters Fed Puppies' Heads to Infected Flies, but That's Not All Fauci's NIH Funded |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/fauci-niaid-puppies-animal-testing/}}</ref> In 2019, the WCWP discovered a ] funded lab in ] which conducted ] experiments on kittens resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 kittens over 36 years. This discovery led to the USDA banning all taxpayer funded kitten experiments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Scott |date=2024-05-31 |title=Deadly kitten experiments funded by NIH at UC-Davis halted |url=https://wjla.com/features/i-team/national-institute-of-health-nih-maryland-lab-research-cats-toxoplasmosis-disease-kitten-experiments-funded-research-university-of-california-davis-uc-professor-dr-jeroen-saeji-white-coat-waste-project-peta |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=WJLA |language=en}}</ref> In 2024, the WCWP also reported that taxpayer money was used to fund beagle experiments in China, which drew widespread condemnation, including a call from PETA to end taxpayer-funded animal experiments globally.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dinan |first=Stephen |date=September 25, 2024 |title=U.S. taxpayers funded Chinese labs that carried out grisly experiments on beagle puppies |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/sep/25/us-taxpayers-funded-grisly-chinese-experiments-tha/ |website=The Washington Times}}</ref>

== Controversies ==

===High euthanasia rates===

PETA's ] practices 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.<ref name="hp.shelter">{{cite news |last=Greenwood |first=Arin |date=March 26, 2015 |title=Animal Advocates Cheer As Bill Aimed At High-Kill PETA Shelter Is Signed Into Law |work=] |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/peta-shelter-virginia-bill-sb-1381_n_6942866 |access-date=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name="wp.shelter">{{cite news |last=Weiner |first=Rachel |date=February 23, 2015 |title=Virginia measure could put PETA out of the animal shelter business |newspaper=The Washington Post |location=Washington DC |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/animal-bill-could-put-peta-out-of-the-shelter-business/2015/02/23/2f4f05b6-bb6a-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=February 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150224022901/http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/animal-bill-could-put-peta-out-of-the-shelter-business/2015/02/23/2f4f05b6-bb6a-11e4-b274-e5209a3bc9a9_story.html |archive-date=February 24, 2015}}</ref>

In 2008, ] lobby group the ] (CCF) said in a news release that "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.<ref name="CCFshelters">{{cite web |date=January 17, 2008 |title=Consumer Group Asks Virginia Government to Reclassify PETA as a Slaughterhouse |url=http://www.consumerfreedom.com/2008/01/224-consumer-group-asks-virginia-government-to-reclassify-peta-as-a-slaughterhouse/ |access-date=October 16, 2012 |publisher=]}}</ref> In 2012, the ] said 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."<ref name="usa.euth">{{cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Janice |date=March 4, 2012 |title=PETA Says 'Exploiters Raise Euthanasia Issue |url=http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/pets/story/2012-03-01/PETA-says-exploiters-raise-euthanasia-issue/53315476/1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304103715/http://yourlife.usatoday.com/parenting-family/pets/story/2012-03-01/PETA-says-exploiters-raise-euthanasia-issue/53315476/1 |archive-date=March 4, 2012 |work=]}}</ref> PETA acknowledged that it euthanized 95% of the animals at its shelter in 2011.<ref name="usa.euth" />

PETA calls their shelter in ] a "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".<ref name="wp.euth">{{Cite news |last=Markoe |first=Lauren |date=March 12, 2015 |title=At PETA's shelter, most animals are put down. PETA calls them mercy killings. |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/at-petas-shelter-most-animals-are-put-down-peta-calls-them-mercy-killings/2015/03/12/e84e9af2-c8fa-11e4-bea5-b893e7ac3fb3_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622200041/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/at-petas-shelter-most-animals-are-put-down-peta-calls-them-mercy-killings/2015/03/12/e84e9af2-c8fa-11e4-bea5-b893e7ac3fb3_story.html |archive-date=June 22, 2020}}</ref><ref name="vdacs2014">{{Cite web |title=Animal Custody Records (2014) |url=https://arr.va-vdacs.com/PublicReports/ViewReport?SysFacNo=157&Calendar_Year=2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806070722/https://arr.va-vdacs.com/PublicReports/ViewReport?SysFacNo=157&Calendar_Year=2014 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |access-date=July 31, 2020 |publisher=]}}</ref>

Fueled by public outrage from a 2014 incident where PETA workers took a pet ] from 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, the ] passed 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."<ref name="hp.shelter" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=LIS > Bill Tracking > SB1381 > 2015 session |url=https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?151+sum+SB1381 |website=lis.virginia.gov}}</ref>

Though risking their legal access to euthanasia drugs, PETA has continued their practices.<ref name="hp.shelter" /><ref name="wp.shelter" /> In the chihuahua case, PETA paid a fine and settled a civil claim with the family three years later.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Horton |first=Helena |date=August 17, 2017 |title=Peta pays family $50,000 after taking and euthanising their pet chihuahua |newspaper=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/17/peta-pays-family-50000-taking-euthanising-pet-chihuahua/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818013533/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/17/peta-pays-family-50000-taking-euthanising-pet-chihuahua/ |archive-date=August 18, 2017}}</ref>

=== 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",<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 20, 2007 |title=Mommy Kills Animals, Take 2 |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/mommy-kills-animals-take-2/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref> both warning children from letting their "addicted to killing" parents have contact with their pets. The pamphlet was criticized by the ], 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."<ref>{{cite web |date=November 25, 2005 |title=PETA Tells Kids to Run From Daddy |website=] |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/peta-tells-kids-to-run-from-daddy |access-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414170619/https://www.foxnews.com/story/peta-tells-kids-to-run-from-daddy |url-status=live }}</ref>

As part of its 1999 "McCruelty" campaign, PETA attempted to distribute "Unhappy Meals" to young audiences: a parody of ] ]. When describing the box, they explained that "PETA's spoof of a McDonald's chicken sandwich box features the image of a knife-wielding ], 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 bloody ], and a "Chicken McCruelty" T-shirt wrapped up like a sandwich."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inside PETA's Unhappy Meal {{!}} McCruelty.com |url=https://www.mccruelty.com/unhappymeal.php |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=www.mccruelty.com}}</ref> The violent imagery was decried by parents who stated "I don't want my son to be around something like this."<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 25, 2015 |title=PETA's Bloody 'Unhappy Meals' Making Parents Angry |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/petas-bloody-unhappy-meals-making-parents-angry |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref> As part of the same campaign, PETA attempted to place a large statue of a crippled, scalded chicken in front of a McDonalds's in ], but were denied,<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 9, 2011 |title=Little Rock Tries to Silence PETA |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/little-rock-tries-silence-peta/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref> and released a short comic book titled Ronald McDonald Kills Animals, in which Ronald McDonald, ], and the ] unite to kill ] parents, feed them to her unknowingly, then eat her as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Ronald Kills Birdie' Comic |url=https://www.mccruelty.com/ronaldkillsbirdiecomic.php |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=www.mccruelty.com}}</ref>

A similar "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" campaign occurred in 2004, when PETA criticized ] and 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 bloody ]; and a cardboard caricature of a blood-spattered ] holding a butcher knife toward a terrified-looking chicken.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PETA Educates Dublin Schoolchildren With Kfc 'Bloody Buckets' - Media Centre |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/media/news-releases/peta-educates-dublin-schoolchildren-with-kfc-bloody-buckets/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 25, 2015 |title=PETA Targets KFC With 'Buckets of Blood' |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/peta-targets-kfc-with-buckets-of-blood |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=Associated Press |language=en-US}}</ref>

A 2013 ad titled Traditional ] from your Family Butcher,<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 8, 2013 |title=PETA ad targets children and Thanksgiving |url=https://www.abc6.com/peta-ad-targets-children-and-thanksgiving/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=ABC6 |language=en-US}}</ref> was developed using ] technology to show parents a benign ] promo, but show their children a mother stabbing a live turkey while her children look on in shock.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mullins |first=Alisa |date=November 7, 2013 |title=High-Tech Ad Contains Secret Thanksgiving Message Only Kids Can See |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/secret-thanksgiving-message/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=November 7, 2013 |title=New PETA Ad Shows Parents One Thanksgiving Image, Kids Quite Another |url=https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/new-peta-ad-shows-parents-one-thanksgiving-image-kids-quite-another/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Naylor |first=Donita |title=PETA plans ads with one image for adults, another bloody one for children/ Poll |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/lifestyle/food/2013/11/07/20131107-peta-plans-ads-with-one-image-for-adults-another-bloody-one-for-children-ece/35220253007/ |access-date=September 4, 2023 |website=The Providence Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== "It's Still Going On" campaign ===
PETA's "It's Still Going On" campaign features newspaper ads comparing widely publicized murder-] cases 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 killer ],<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 6, 2022 |title=Who Were the First Victims of Jeffrey Dahmer? |url=https://www.peta.org/features/dahmer-bundy-and-other-killers-who-hurt-animals/ |access-date=May 16, 2023 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref> in 2002 describing the deaths of the victims of serial killer ],<ref> CBC News (November 13, 2002).

* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604183836/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1037244664212_30/|date=June 4, 2009}} CTV News (November 14, 2002)</ref> and in 2008 describing the ].<ref>, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, August 6, 2008.
* , ''National Post'', August 6, 2008.
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822144609/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080806/Peta_beheading_0800806/20080806|date=August 22, 2009}}, ''CTV News'', August 6, 2008.
* For the PETA blog posts, see {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808134127/http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/08/cannibalistic_a.php|date=August 8, 2008}}, PETA, August 6, 2008, and {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081021030333/http://blog.peta.org/archives/tim_mclean/|date=October 21, 2008}}, PETA, August 7, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2010.</ref> In several cases, newspapers have refused to run the ads.

=== "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign ===
In 2003 PETA composed the "]" exhibition—eight {{convert|60|sqft|m2|adj=on}} panels juxtaposing images of ] and ] victims with scenes of ], ]s, 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. The ] sofa and handbag are the moral equivalent of the ]"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Wesley |title=PETA to Cannibals: Don't Let Them Eat Steak |date=December 21, 2003 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/peta-to-cannibals-don-t-let-them-eat-steak-2507963.php}}</ref>

The exhibition was quickly criticized by ]<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=German Court Orders PETA to Halt Campaign – DW – 03/20/2004 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-court-orders-peta-to-halt-campaign/a-1146851 |access-date=August 31, 2023 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref> and the ], 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 "ather than deepen our revulsion against what the ] did to the ], the project will undermine the struggle to understand the Holocaust and to find a way to make sure such catastrophes never happen again." ] had made similar comparisons in the past, but criticized PETA's use as "careless and reckless" and impersonal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Isaacs |first=Anna |date=October 2, 2015 |title=Q&A: Animal Rights Activist and Holocaust Survivor Alex Hershaft |url=https://momentmag.com/qa-animal-rights-activist-and-holocaust-survivor-alex-hershaft/ |access-date=August 31, 2023 |website=Moment Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> ] was 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."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Famed survivor says PETA ads trivialize Holocaust |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2003/03/09/famed-survivor-says-peta-ads-trivialize-holocaust/ |access-date=September 1, 2023 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref> Other detractors included the ]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Willoughby |first=Brian |title=PETA Turns Holocaust into Pig Pen |work=Tolerance.org |url=http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_hate.jsp?id=724 |access-date=September 1, 2023 |archive-date=August 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820194715/http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_hate.jsp?id=724 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 6, 2005 |title=PETA's Non-Apology Apology |url=https://www.discovery.org/a/2555/ |access-date=September 1, 2023 |website=Discovery Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

As a response to critics of the UK campaign asking for a ban or some form of censorship, PETA accused them of ] to further imply Nazi mentality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PETA'S 'Holocaust On Your Plate' Exhibit Banned In Manchester - Media Centre |url=https://www.peta.org.uk/media/news-releases/petas-holocaust-on-your-plate-exhibit-banned-in-manchester/ |access-date=September 1, 2023 |website=PETA UK |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2004 a complaint was made by ] and the ], asking the German court to order PETA to halt the campaign and threatening to sue.<ref name=":4" /> In July 2009, the ] ruled that PETA's campaign was not protected by free speech laws and banned it within Germany as an offense against human dignity,<ref>{{cite news |date=July 8, 2010 |title=Germany rules animal rights group's Holocaust ad offensive |newspaper=Haaretz |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/2.209/germany-rules-animal-rights-group-s-holocaust-ad-offensive-1.272963 |access-date=August 20, 2010}}</ref> before later upholding the ban in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EU court rejects PETA appeal on Holocaust ad |url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/eu-court-rejects-peta-appeal-on-holocaust-ad |access-date=September 1, 2023 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |date=November 8, 2012 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The exhibit had been funded by an anonymous Jewish philanthropist<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Teather |first=David |date=March 3, 2003 |title='Holocaust on a plate' angers US Jews |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/mar/03/advertising.marketingandpr |access-date=August 31, 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and 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."<ref name=":5" /> In addition, PETA claimed a direct influence by the prominent Jewish author ],<ref>Patterson, Charles. ''Eternal Treblinka'', Lantern Books, 2002.</ref> 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 philosopher ].<ref name=":4" /> ] and ] both voiced their support of the exhibition.

=== "Are Animals the New Slaves?" exhibit ===
In 2005, the ] criticized 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 of ], 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?"<ref>{{cite web |date=October 5, 2005 |title=PETA exhibit provokes anger from blacks |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2005/10/05/peta-exhibit-provokes-anger-from-blacks/ |website=] |access-date=April 14, 2024 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414175356/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2005/10/05/peta-exhibit-provokes-anger-from-blacks/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Vakiya Courtney, then executive director of ], was outraged; images from the exhibit included one taken at the site of the attempted lynching of the museum founder ], and the ]. "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."<ref>{{cite web |date=August 15, 2005 |title=PETA Rethinks 'Slavery' Exhibit |url=http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1266 |website=] |access-date=April 14, 2024 |archive-date=April 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430171639/http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=1266}}</ref>

==="Got Autism?" campaign===
In 2008 and in 2014, PETA conducted an ] linking milk with ]. Their "Got Autism?" campaign, a play on words ] the milk industry's ] 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 to ], ], and other diseases.<ref name="sciencebasedmedicine1">{{cite web |last1=Novella |first1=Steven |date=May 28, 2014 |title=PETA Embraces Autism Pseudoscience |url=http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/peta-embraces-autism-pseudoscience/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721213254/https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/peta-embraces-autism-pseudoscience/ |archive-date=July 21, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020 |website=]}}</ref><ref name="autism2">{{Cite magazine |last=Kluger |first=Jeffrey |date=May 30, 2014 |title="Got Autism?" PETA's Phony Milk Claims |url=https://time.com/2798480/peta-autism-got-milk/ |url-status=live |magazine=] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617145608/https://time.com/2798480/peta-autism-got-milk/ |archive-date=June 17, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref name="autism2" /> Despite having been corrected, in 2014, PETA's Executive Vice President confirmed their position, and additionally stated that dairy consumption contributes to ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="John 2014">{{cite journal |last1=John |first1=Arit |date=May 28, 2014 |title=The Bad Science Behind PETA's Claim That Milk Might Cause Autism |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/05/the-bad-science-behind-petas-claim-that-milk-might-cause-autism/371751/ |journal=The Atlantic}}</ref>

], a ] and ] at ], wrote "This is clearly, in my opinion, a campaign of ] based upon a gross distortion of the ]. The purpose is to advocate for a ], which fits ] agenda. They are likely aware that it is easier to spread fears than to reassure with a careful analysis of the scientific evidence."<ref name="sciencebasedmedicine1" />

PETA's campaign has received backlash from the ]. A 2008 PETA ] was taken down by the ]. In 2017, British food writer, journalist and ] activist ], 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 the ] in the campaign image negatively ]s autistic people.<ref name="autism3">{{Cite web |last=Lupica |first=Diana |date=October 11, 2017 |title=Old PETA Advert Associating Milk With Autism Causes Outrage |url=https://www.plantbasednews.org/news/old-peta-advert-associating-milk-with-autism-has-caused-outrage |website=Vegan News, Plant Based Living, Food, Health & more |access-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803133927/https://www.plantbasednews.org/news/old-peta-advert-associating-milk-with-autism-has-caused-outrage |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==="KKK or AKC?" controversy===
In 2009, PETA members dressed up in ] robes and protested at the ] where they passed out brochures<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 6, 2009 |title=AKC and KKK: BFFs in Some Ways? |url=https://www.peta.org/blog/akc-kkk-bffs-ways/ |access-date=September 25, 2022 |website=PETA |language=en-US}}</ref> implying the Klan and ] have the same goal of "pure bloodlines".<ref>{{cite web |last=Farris |first=Gene |date=February 10, 2009 |access-date=April 14, 2024 |title=PETA dresses in KKK garb outside Westminster Dog Show |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/2009-02-09-peta-westminster-kkk-protest_N.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304013225/https://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-02-09-peta-westminster-kkk-protest_N.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |website=]}}</ref> This protest was continued in the PETA video game ''KKK or AKC? Spot the Difference.''<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2010 |title=Take the KKK or AKC Quiz! Spot the Difference |url=https://www.peta.org/features/kkk-akc-spot-difference/ |access-date=September 25, 2022 |website=PETA |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813152502/https://www.peta.org/features/kkk-akc-spot-difference/ |archive-date=August 13, 2022}}</ref>

===Criticism of Steve Irwin===
]]]
PETA has been critical of Australian wildlife expert and zookeeper ]. In 2006, ], PETA Vice President ] said Irwin had made a career out of antagonizing frightened wild animals.<ref name="Walls">{{Cite web |last=Walls |first=Jeannette |date=September 11, 2006 |title=PETA sheds no crocodile tears for Steve Irwin |url=http://www.today.com/popculture/peta-sheds-no-crocodile-tears-steve-irwin-wbna14626178 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430014504/https://www.today.com/popculture/peta-sheds-no-crocodile-tears-steve-irwin-wbna14626178 |archive-date=April 30, 2017 |website=TODAY.com}}</ref> Australian Member of Parliament ] was 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 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."<ref>{{cite web |date=September 15, 2006 |title=PETA renews attack on Irwin |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20416291-5008780,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501090920/https://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20416291-5008780,00.html |archive-date=May 1, 2008 |publisher=]}}</ref>

In 2019, PETA criticized Google for creating a slideshow ] of Steve Irwin posthumously honoring his 57th birthday.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/steve-irwins-57th-birthday/ |title=Steve Irwin's 57th Birthday |date=February 22, 2019 |publisher=Google}}</ref> PETA started a ] campaign 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.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Ryan |date=February 23, 2019 |title=Twitter rips PETA for criticizing Steve Irwin's Google doodle on the late conservationist's birthday |work=] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/23/peta-steve-irwin-tweet-group-faces-fire-conservationists-birthday/2962313002/ |url-status=live |access-date=February 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224055328/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/23/peta-steve-irwin-tweet-group-faces-fire-conservationists-birthday/2962313002/ |archive-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref> A '']'' editor wrote "PETA can add 'insulting a deceased cultural icon' to its infamous repertoire."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ellison |first=Briana R |date=February 26, 2019 |title=PETA needs to keep its thoughts about Steve Irwin in-house |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/2019/02/26/trending-peta-needs-keep-its-thoughts-about-steve-irwin-in-house/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226122544/https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/2019/02/26/trending-peta-needs-keep-its-thoughts-about-steve-irwin-in-house/ |archive-date=February 26, 2019}}</ref>

=== Anti-carnivore sex strike ===
In 2022, PETA's German division called for a ] in 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.<ref name="peta.de">{{Cite web |title=PETA fordert Sexverbot für alle fleischessenden Männer – Speiseplan von Männern verursacht 41 Prozent mehr Treibhausgase als der von Frauen |url=https://www.peta.de/presse/peta-fordert-sexverbot-fuer-alle-fleischessenden-maenner-speiseplan-von-maennern-verursacht-41-prozent-mehr-treibhausgase-als-der-von-frauen/ |access-date=September 25, 2022 |website=PETA Deutschland e.V. |date=September 20, 2022 |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Crisp |first=James |date=September 21, 2022 |title=Peta calls for sex strike against meat-eating men 'to save the world' |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/09/21/peta-calls-sex-strike-against-meat-eating-men-save-world/ |access-date=September 25, 2022 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Palmada |first1=Belinda |last2=News.com.au |date=September 24, 2022 |title=PETA calls for women to go on sex strike against men who eat meat |url=https://nypost.com/2022/09/24/peta-calls-for-women-to-go-on-sex-strike-against-men-who-eat-meat/ |access-date=September 25, 2022 |website=New York Post |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="youtube.com">{{Citation |title=PETA has 'outdone themselves' after calling for 'sex strike' |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNl3d4SkOUo |language=en |access-date=September 25, 2022}}</ref> The company did not reverse its position that meat consumption was a form of ], harmful to the environment, increased ], and should be ] at an additional 41%.<ref name="peta.de"/><ref name="youtube.com"/>

=== Human barbecue stunt protest ===
{{See also|Lent#Abstinence from meat and animal produce}}
During ], a PETA Asia member stripped down to her underwear and laid down on a grill to depict a "human barbecue" in front of ] in ], calling Filipinos to abstain from eating meat even when not abstaining from meat during ]. The stunt protest drew attention and controversy from churchgoers, and a complaint was filed by the church with the ]. No formal complaint was made, and as such, the members involved were eventually released.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Batallones |first=Jeck |date=March 26, 2024 |title=PETA asks Catholics to stop eating meat even after Lent |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2024/3/26/peta-asks-catholics-to-stop-eating-meat-even-after-lent-1514 |access-date=April 24, 2024 |work=]}}</ref>

==Domain name disputes==
{{main|People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. Doughney}}
In February 1995, a parody website calling itself "People Eating Tasty Animals" registered the ] "peta.org". PETA sued, claiming trademark violation, and won the suit in 2001; the domain is currently owned by PETA.<ref>The site contained links to other sites advocating the consumption of meat, the use of leather and animal furs, and promoting the benefits of animal experimentation in medical research. {{cite news | last = Tennant | first = Diane | title = PETA Finds Satiric Web Site to be Tasteless | page= E1 | newspaper = ] | date = March 12, 1996}}
* {{cite web | title = PETA v Doughney | publisher = ] | url = http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/getcase/4th/case/001918Pv4&exact=1 | access-date = May 12, 2022 | archive-date = March 3, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231208/http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/getcase/4th/case/001918Pv4%26exact%3D1 | url-status = dead }}
* A PETA spokesperson said that "the people who are doing this are the lowest of the low. We can't help but be amused that we are so threatening to people like this that they would go to so much trouble as to steal away our name." Krigel, Beth Lipton. , CNET News.com, April 24, 1998.</ref> While still engaged in legal proceedings over "peta.org", PETA themselves registered the domains "ringlingbrothers.com" and "voguemagazine.com", using the sites to accuse ] and ] of animal cruelty. PETA later surrendered the domains under threat of similar legal action over trademark infringement.<ref name=Richtel>Richtel, Matt. , ''The New York Times'', May 28, 1998.</ref><ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090714013413/http://www.legaltechnology.com/ezine/1998/ildn29.htm |date=July 14, 2009 }}, ''Legal Technology Insider'', March 23, 1999.</ref>

==Position within the animal rights movement==

]

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".<ref name="Rosenberg" /><ref name=Phelps242>{{cite book|last=Phelps|first=Norm|author-link=Norm Phelps|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrncZO5bmAgC&pg=PA242|title=The longest struggle: animal advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA|publisher=]|date=2007|page=242|isbn=978-1590561270}}</ref>

] of the University of Leicester has written that PETA has shaken up the animal rights movement, setting up new groups and radicalizing old ones.<ref name=Garner70>{{cite book|last=Garner|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Garner|title=Animals, politics, and morality|publisher=]|date=1993|edition=2004|page=70|isbn=0719066204}}</ref> According to reviews at ], "PETA paved the way for other national organizations to delve into what used to be controversial issues and are now more mainstream concerns."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.myphilanthropedia.org/top-nonprofits/national/animal-welfare-rights-protection/2011/peta-people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-animals#strength_buckets|title=PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)|access-date=October 20, 2015|page="Expert Reviews" tab|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111024318/http://www.myphilanthropedia.org/top-nonprofits/national/animal-welfare-rights-protection/2011/peta-people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-animals|archive-date=January 11, 2013}}</ref> ] considers PETA to be the radical that helps the more mainstream message to succeed.{{efn|"It has been argued many times that in any social movement there has to be somebody radical enough to alienate the mainstream—and to permit more moderate influences to prevail. For every Malcolm X there is a Martin Luther King Jr., and for every Andrea Dworkin there is a Gloria Steinem. Newkirk and PETA provide a similar dynamic for groups like the Humane Society of the United States, which is the biggest animal-welfare organization in the country and far more moderate than PETA. When I asked Newkirk why she didn't enter political campaigns for animal action and lobby more vigorously on Capitol Hill for her positions, she laughed: "Are you kidding? Dear boy, we are the kiss of death. If we are involved, the legislation is automatically dead. We have members yelling at us, 'Why are you not working on these issues?' But activists just beg us to stay the hell out.""<ref name=Specter />}}

Because of PETA's euthanasia rates at their "shelter of last resort", attorney ], advocate for the ], calls Newkirk of PETA "The Butcher of Norfolk".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nathanwinograd.com/the-butcher-of-norfolk-6th-edition/|title=The Butcher of Norfolk (6th Edition)|date=February 23, 2012|first=Nathan J|last=Winograd|author-link=Nathan Winograd}}</ref>

], professor of law at ] and a proponent of ], 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.<ref name="thunder">{{cite book|last=Francione|first=Gary|author-link=Gary Francione|date=2007|title=Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement|publisher=]|pages=67–77|isbn=978-1566394604}}</ref> "Their campaigns are selected more for media image than content."<ref name="Rosenberg" /> 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 a ], which not only consolidated decision-making power, but centralized donations. Now, local animal rights donations go to PETA, rather than to a local group.<ref name="thunder"/>


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
{{Wikinews|Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of PETA, on animal rights and the film about her life}}
*] * ]
* ]
*]
*] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}} {{Reflist}}


==Further reading== ==Further reading==
* Pence, Gregory. ''Classic Cases in Medical Ethics: Accounts of Cases That Have Shaped Medical Ethics''. McGraw-Hill, 2007. {{ISBN?}}
{{Refbegin|2}}
* Workman, Dave P. ''Peta Files: The Dark Side of the Animal Rights Movement'', Merril Press, 2003. {{ISBN?}}
{{Commonscat}}
*, accessed July 2, 2010.
*McCartney, Stella. , PETAtv.com, accessed July 2, 2010.
*Morrison, A.R. , ''The Physiologist'', Volume 44, Number 1, February 2001.
*Pence, Gregory. . McGraw-Hill, 2007.
*PETA. , a film about the egg and meat industries, narrated by ], accessed July 2, 2010.
*''The Huffington Post''. a slideshow, accessed July 2, 2010.
*Workman, Dave P. , Merril Press, 2003.
{{Refend}}
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Latest revision as of 04:02, 18 December 2024

American animal rights organization "PETA" redirects here. For other uses, see PETA (disambiguation).

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Logo used since 1980
FoundedMarch 22, 1980; 44 years ago (1980-03-22)
Founders
Type501(c)(3)
FocusAnimal rights
Location
PresidentIngrid Newkirk
Senior VP, CampaignsDan Mathews
RevenueUS$66.3 million (2020)
Websitewww.peta.org Edit this at Wikidata

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; /ˈpiːtə/) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president.

Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights activist Alex Pacheco, the organization first gained attention in the summer of 1981 during what became known as the Silver Spring monkeys case. The organization opposes factory 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 for their disruptive nature. 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 Newkirk was born in England in 1949, and raised in Hertfordshire and 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 for Montgomery County, Maryland, and then the District 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 at George Washington University. He volunteered at the shelter where she worked, and they fell in love and began living together. Newkirk read Peter 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 the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.

Silver Spring monkeys

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

The group first came to public attention in 1981 during the Silver Spring monkeys case, a dispute about experiments conducted by researcher Edward Taub on 17 macaque monkeys inside 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 cutting sensory ganglia that 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 of neuroplasticity and a new therapy for stroke victims called constraint-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's ILAR Journal called "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 Phelps writes that the case followed the highly publicized campaign of Henry Spira in 1976 against experiments on cats being performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Spira's subsequent campaign in April 1980 against the Draize 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 by The Washington Post as 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 in Mumbai, India.

PETA and the NGO Animal Rahat, authorized by the Animal 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 event Eid al-Adha where 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 clerics wanted to take down the billboards, saying that it was hurtful to their religious sentiments.

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

Locations

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

Philosophy and activism

Two young women from PETA, body painted to look like foxes, protesting against the fur trade next to the Three Smiths Statue in Helsinki, Finland on March 25, 2010.

Profile

PETA is an animal rights organization that opposes speciesism, 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 what The New Yorker calls 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's modus operandi includes 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 Yorker writes 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 MP Gerry Byrne compared them to terrorists for throwing a tofu cream pie at Canada's fishery minister Gail Shea in protest of the seal slaughter, a comment Newkirk called a silly chest-beating exercise. "The thing is, we make them gawk" she told Satya magazine, "maybe like a traffic accident that you have to look at."

PETA has also objected to the practice of mulesing (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 prevents flystrike, 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 sued SeaWorld over the animals' captivity, seeking their protection under the Thirteenth 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 to spy on PETA. Following an investigation by an outside law firm, SeaWorld's Board of Directors directed management to end the practice.

PETA supporters campaign against Burberry in an anti-fur protest in 2007

In 2011, Patricia de Leon was 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 leader Yasser Arafat asking him to keep animals out of the conflict, after a donkey was blown up during an attack in Jerusalem.

To reduce milk consumption, it created the "Got Beer?" campaign, a parody of the dairy industry's series of Got 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 Driving and 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 a soft pornography website in the .xxx domain. PETA spokesperson Lindsay Rajt told the Huffington 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 the Super 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, including Fishkill, New York in 1996, Hamburg, New York in 2003, and Commerce City, Colorado in 2007.

PETA sometimes issues isolated statements or press releases, commenting on current events. After Lady Gaga wore a dress made of meat in 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 killed Cecil the lion in 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 the Animal Liberation Front during a break-in at the University of Pennsylvania's head injury clinic. The footage showed experiments on the baboons with a hydraulic device intended to simulate whiplash. 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 of Carolina Biological, where they took pictures and video footage inside the company, alleging that cats were being mistreated. Following the release of PETA's tapes, the USDA conducted its own inspection and subsequently charged the company with seven violations of the Animal 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 punching orangutans in 1989.
  • In 1997, PETA made a film from footage obtained by PETA member Michele Rokke, who went undercover to report on UK company Huntingdon 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 a hog farm after 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 Virginia slaughterhouse that supplies chicken to the fast food industry. The recordings showed workers stomping on live chickens and 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 inside a facility in Virginia operated by Covance (now Fortrea). Alleging that the footage showed primates being choked, hit, and denied medical attention, PETA sent the video and a 253-page complaint to the United States Department of Agriculture. The department investigated and the company was fined $8,720. In June 2005, the company filed a lawsuit in the United States against PETA and the investigator for fraud, breach of employee contract, and conspiracy. PETA agreed to hand over all video footage and written notes to the company, and agreed to a ban on conducting any infiltration of the company for five years.
  • In 2006, PETA filmed a trainer at Carson & Barnes Circus instructing others to beat the elephants to make them obey. A company spokesman said they stopped using electrical prods on animals after the video was released.
  • In 2007, the owners of a chinchilla ranch 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 singer Alaska collaborated with PETA in a joint campaign with AnimaNaturalis, posing nude in a picture to raise awareness for what she considers cruel activity, bullfighting.

2010s

  • In 2013, PETA investigated angora rabbit farms in China and released video footage showing farmers ripping out the wool from live rabbits while they screamed. In 2015, Inditex announced they would discontinue their use of angora and donated their existing inventory to Syrian refugees. Seventy other retailers had also stopped selling angora wool since the release of PETA's graphic video footage.
  • Between 2012 and 2014, PETA investigated sheep shearing sheds in the wool industry in Australia and the US. PETA sent reports and film footage to local authorities alleging that shearers had kicked and beat sheep, 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 the horse-racing industry, filming seven hours of footage that, as The New York Times reported, "showed mistreatment of the horses to be widespread and cavalier." Noted trainer Steve Asmussen and 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 their jockeys use 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 the New 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, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which also received PETA's allegations, found that Asmussen did not violate any of its rules. Asmussen remains under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegedly violating the Fair 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, as The Washington Post reported, PETA investigated Sweet Stem Farm, a pig farm that supplies meat to Whole Foods. The resulting video footage "featured images of pigs, 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 Post notes that "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 on crocodile and alligator farms in Texas and Zimbabwe, a monkey breeding facility in Florida, pigeon racing in Taiwan, ostrich slaughterhouses and tanneries in South Africa.
  • CBS News reported in November 2016 that PETA had captured footage from restaurants that serve live octopus, 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, a Koreatown sushi 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 at Texas A&M University's dog laboratory, which deliberately breeds dogs to contract muscular 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." The Houston Press noted 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-conscious pigeons, injecting live crayfish with latex and claiming that they sometimes would freeze turtles to death." PETA brought 25 charges of cruelty to animals against the company. Drowning is not considered an acceptable form of euthanasia, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, and its standards of humane euthanasia must be followed by companies certified by the United States Department of Agriculture such 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 a PetSmart store in Tennessee, after receiving video footage from PETA. Police confiscated six animals: a guinea pig, mice, and hamsters. 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 the mohair industry that led more than 80 retailers, including UNIQLO and Zappos, to drop products made with mohair. The video evidence "depicts goats being thrown around wood floors, dunked in poisonous cleaning solution or having their ears mutilated with pliers. ... mployees are shown cutting goats' throats, breaking their necks, electrically shocking them and beheading them."

Ag-gag laws

Various U.S. states have passed ag-gag laws 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, citing First Amendment protections for free speech.

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 in Ahoskie, 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 been euthanized after being removed from shelters in Northampton and Bertie counties. A Bertie County Deputy Sheriff stated that the two employees assured the Bertie Animal Shelter that "they were picking up the dogs to 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 of Accomack County, Virginia, produced video evidence that two workers in a van marked with a PETA logo had entered his property in a trailer park and taken his dog, who was then euthanized. He reported the incident to the police, who identified and charged two PETA workers, but the charges were later dropped by the commonwealth attorney on the grounds that it was not possible to prove criminal 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 the Chihuahua, 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," the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued 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 in US court as a next friend for a wild macaque monkey, whom they named Naruto. PETA argued that the monkey was entitled to the copyright of a selfie it had taken while handling Slater's camera, and naming themselves to be the administrator of any copyright revenue. The monkey selfie copyright dispute was originally dismissed by Judge Orrick who wrote there is no indication that the Copyright Act extends to animals and a monkey could not own a copyright. PETA appealed, but the Court of Appeals found in favor of Slater saying that "PETA's real motivation in this case was to advance its own interests, not Naruto's." The decision cited Cetacean v. Bush (2004) that says animals cannot sue unless Congress makes it clear in the statute that 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 created a number of satirical video games with such names as How Green Is My Diet? and KKK 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 to Nintendo about their video game 1-2-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 game Animal 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 of Method 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) and Ellen 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 of his role in a copyright case).
  • 2018: California Wildfire Heroes.
  • 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

PETA UK

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 PETA Cruelty free logo
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 of direct 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 the no-kill movement, and rather than adoption programs, PETA prefers to aim for zero births through spaying and neutering. They recommend not breeding pit 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 supports hearing dog programs when animals are sourced from shelters and placed in homes, but opposes seeing-eye-dog programs "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 opposes animal testing—whether toxicity testing, basic or applied research, or for education and training—on both moral and practical grounds. Newkirk told the Vogue magazine 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, including embryonic stem cell research and in vitro cell research.

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

The White Coat Waste Project (WCWP), a group of activists that hold that taxpayers should not have to pay $20 billion every year for experiments on animals, said that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases provided $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 the National Institute of Health resign effective immediately and that there is a "need to find a new NIH director to replace the outgoing Francis Collins who will shut down research that violates the dignity of nonhuman animals." In 2019, the WCWP discovered a USDA funded lab in Beltsville, Maryland which conducted toxoplasmosis experiments on kittens resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 kittens over 36 years. This discovery led to the USDA banning all taxpayer funded kitten experiments. In 2024, the WCWP also reported that taxpayer money was used to fund beagle experiments in China, which drew widespread condemnation, including a call from PETA to end taxpayer-funded animal experiments globally.

Controversies

High euthanasia rates

PETA's euthanasia practices 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 industry lobby group the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) said in a news release that "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, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said 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 in Norfolk, Virginia a "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 pet chihuahua from 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, the Virginia General Assembly passed 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 the Center 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 of McDonald's Happy Meal. When describing the box, they explained that "PETA's spoof of a McDonald's chicken sandwich box features the image of a knife-wielding Ronald 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 bloody plastic 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 in Little Rock, but were denied, and released a short comic book titled Ronald McDonald Kills Animals, in which Ronald McDonald, Grimace, and the Hamburglar unite to kill Birdie's parents, feed them to her unknowingly, then eat her as well.

A similar "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" campaign occurred in 2004, when PETA criticized KFC and 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 bloody plastic chicken; and a cardboard caricature of a blood-spattered Colonel Sanders holding a butcher knife toward a terrified-looking chicken.

A 2013 ad titled Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner from your Family Butcher, was developed using lenticular technology to show parents a benign Thanksgiving promo, 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-cannibalization cases 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 killer Jeffrey Dahmer, in 2002 describing the deaths of the victims of serial killer Robert William Pickton, and in 2008 describing the killing 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 m) panels juxtaposing images of Holocaust and concentration camp victims with scenes of factory 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. The leather sofa and handbag are the moral equivalent of the lampshades made from the skins of people killed in the death camps."

The exhibition was quickly criticized by Abraham Foxman and the Anti-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 "ather than deepen our revulsion against what the Nazis did to the Jews, the project will undermine the struggle to understand the Holocaust and to find a way to make sure such catastrophes never happen again." Alex Herschaft had made similar comparisons in the past, but criticized PETA's use as "careless and reckless" and impersonal. Elie Wiesel was 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 the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Wesley Smith.

As a response to critics of the UK campaign asking for a ban or some form of censorship, PETA accused them of book burning to further imply Nazi mentality. In 2004 a complaint was made by Paul Spiegel and the Central Council of Jews in Germany, asking the German court to order PETA to halt the campaign and threatening to sue. In July 2009, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled 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 philanthropist and 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 author Isaac 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 philosopher Theodor Adorno. Karen Davis and Gary Yourofsky both voiced their support of the exhibition.

"Are Animals the New Slaves?" exhibit

In 2005, the NAACP criticized 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 of Friends 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 of America's Black Holocaust Museum, was outraged; images from the exhibit included one taken at the site of the attempted lynching of the museum founder James Cameron, and the successful 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 an advertising campaign linking milk with autism. Their "Got Autism?" campaign, a play on words mocking the milk industry's Got 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 to cancer, 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 to asthma, chronic ear infection, constipation, iron deficiency, anemia, and cancer.

Steven Novella, a clinical neurologist and assistant professor at Yale University School of Medicine, wrote "This is clearly, in my opinion, a campaign of fear mongering based upon a gross distortion of the scientific evidence. The purpose is to advocate for a vegan diet, which fits ideological agenda. 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 the autism community. A 2008 PETA billboard was taken down by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. In 2017, British food writer, journalist and hunger relief activist Jack 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 the frowny face in the campaign image negatively stereotypes autistic people.

"KKK or AKC?" controversy

In 2009, PETA members dressed up in Ku Klux Klan robes and protested at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show where they passed out brochures implying the Klan and American Kennel Club have the same goal of "pure bloodlines". This protest was continued in the PETA video game KKK or AKC? Spot the Difference.

Criticism of Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin at Australia Zoo

PETA has been critical of Australian wildlife expert and zookeeper Steve Irwin. In 2006, when Irwin died, PETA Vice President Dan Mathews said Irwin had made a career out of antagonizing frightened wild animals. Australian Member of Parliament Bruce Scott was 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 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 slideshow Google Doodle of Steve Irwin posthumously honoring his 57th birthday. PETA started a Twitter campaign 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. A Washington Post editor 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 a sex strike in 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 of toxic masculinity, harmful to the environment, increased male impotency, and should be sin-taxed at an additional 41%.

Human barbecue stunt protest

See also: Lent § Abstinence from meat and animal produce

During Holy 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 of Quiapo Church in Quiapo, Manila, calling Filipinos to abstain from eating meat even when not abstaining from meat during Lent. The stunt protest drew attention and controversy from churchgoers, and a complaint was filed by the church with the Manila 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 the domain 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.com" and "voguemagazine.com", using the sites to accuse Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Vogue of 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 Garner of 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 at Philanthropedia, "PETA paved the way for other national organizations to delve into what used to be controversial issues and are now more mainstream concerns." Michael Specter considers 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", attorney Nathan Winograd, advocate for the No Kill movement, calls Newkirk of PETA "The Butcher of Norfolk".

Gary L. Francione, professor of law at Rutgers Law School and a proponent of abolitionism, 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 a top-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

Notes

  1. Some of the examples include eating meat, fishing, the killing of animals regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, cock fighting, dog fighting, beekeeping, hunting, animal testing, cruelty to pets, guide dogs, zoos, and bullfighting.
  2. "It has been argued many times that in any social movement there has to be somebody radical enough to alienate the mainstream—and to permit more moderate influences to prevail. For every Malcolm X there is a Martin Luther King Jr., and for every Andrea Dworkin there is a Gloria Steinem. Newkirk and PETA provide a similar dynamic for groups like the Humane Society of the United States, which is the biggest animal-welfare organization in the country and far more moderate than PETA. When I asked Newkirk why she didn't enter political campaigns for animal action and lobby more vigorously on Capitol Hill for her positions, she laughed: "Are you kidding? Dear boy, we are the kiss of death. If we are involved, the legislation is automatically dead. We have members yelling at us, 'Why are you not working on these issues?' But activists just beg us to stay the hell out.""

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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.

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