Everyone wants to save the animals right?  There are thousands of animal activist groups in the world, ready to save all the animals. One group that I would like to focus on is PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).  PETA seems like a great organization from beginning.  But digging deeper into what PETA really is, reveals that they are not as good as they seem.  PETA spreads false information, wants unworthy happenings, as well as being very uneducated in what they are teaching others.

PETA uses tear-jerking videos and ads.  By watching and believing these videos, you are being victimized by the organization to be brainwashed by them.  Whenever you share one of those depressing videos, you are not only helping PETA gain supporters, but you are also spreading false information.  I’m not saying that we should not care for our animals, because we should, but PETA is getting those videos from unreliable sources.  Growing up on a farm myself, I know the care and effort put into each and every being.  I’ve been through blood, sweat, and tears, just to save one calf.  The animals are not abused, rather receiving tremendous care, up to the day they are humanely slaughtered.  Let me emphasize the word “humane.”  The animals are not beaten and put through multiple layers of abuse, rather quickly sent off, preventing suffering.  As well as having sad videos, they have heart-wrenching ads.  One ad in particular was a spinoff of the “got milk?” ad, in which they put “got autism?”  They used this ad to blame parents for causing their child’s autism by feeding them animal milk.  In an article posted by Rawstory, they brought up the idea of this ad with “But really, this ad is irresponsible on another level entirely. I’ll be blunt: The graphic design is clearly meant to instill a sense that dairy products cause autism,” showing the carelessness of PETA (Marcotte).  The ad shows how cruel PETA is to the human world, just to gain few supporters and get what they want.

Now you may be asking yourself, just what does PETA want?  Well, PETA wants a lot in an unreasonable manner.  PETA wants to end animal suffering, which sounds great at first, until further looking into how they plan to go about ending it.  First and foremost, enclosured animals would be released.  They believe that companion animals are fine to keep, as long as they are in good care.  Lucky for you, that means you get to keep your cats and dogs.  But, other animals such as cattle, swine, and goats would either be adopted out or released into the wild.  I don’t know about you, but who has the space or money to keep a cow as a pet?  They require hundreds of dollars in feed a month, speaking from experience, as I raise cattle.  Keep in mind, most of these animals are herd animals, which means you can’t only have one.  Imagine trying to keep 2 or 3 cows in your backyard, it’s not going to work, is it?  The animals that aren’t so ‘lucky’ to get adopted out, are to be sent out into the wild.  These domesticated farm animals have no idea how to fend for themselves after growing up in fenced in areas, protected from the outside creatures, food handed over to them, and shelter at their calling beckon.  Sending them out into the wild would be cruel to them, which backfires back at PETA and its belief to end animal suffering.

Being uninformed on how a process happens, and making accusations about that process, causes an organization to lose their credibility.  PETA is an organization that has lost its credibility due to their accusation that shearing a sheep is cruel and abusive.  Straight from their website, they are teaching people that shearing sheep is abuse.  In the article The Wool Industry,  PETA states that “Strips of skin—and even teats, tails, and ears—are often cut or ripped off during shearing,” which is inaccurate (PETA).  Although on the occasion, abrasions can happen, it is not an ‘often’ occurrence for teats, tails (which are not even present since they are docked for HEALTH reasons), and ears to be cut off.  In the case of sheep, only pertaining to wool breeds, if that wool is not shorn, it will overheat, be unable to carry the extra weight, and suffocate from the excess wool.  Wool does not shed on most breeds, although some breeds do.  Shearing a sheep is for its own good, and why not make use out of something that would just be thrown out otherwise?  If PETA was truly for the animals, it would support the humane shearing of sheep; it’s only in the best interest of the animal, unless of course you want to ultimately lead it to death.

From first glance, PETA seems like a helpful organization, that is really looking out for the welfare of the animals.  After digging deeper, and reading in between the lines, PETA is not all it’s cracked out to be.  They spread false information, want unattainable goals, and are uninformed about their own beliefs.  PETA must be put to an end and shut down for their own lack of knowledge and unreliability.