PETA - A Scary Look At Who They Really Are

A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to meet David Martosko of the Center for Consumer Freedom. I intended to write about it then, but as per normal, time got away from me. It was most certainly an eye-opening meeting. His job is basically to monitor groups like PETA and the Humane Society of the U.S. (or HSUS), with the goal of promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choice.

(Please note: the Humane Society of the United States is not the same thing as your local community humane society. For example, the Humane Society of Savannah / Chatham County, GA clearly states on their web site: We receive NO money from any other animal welfare organization including the Humane Society of the United States! For more info on how local societies distance themselves from this fringe organization, just check out this Google search.)

Mr. Martosko was speaking before a crowd consisting of mostly livestock producers. I'm not in that line of work, and was curious why he was chosen to address the group. Within 30 seconds, it made perfect sense. He held the audience captivated for an hour, explaining the threat those groups pose to American animal agriculture. That's the production of meat, by the way.

Through the use of video and audio clips and literature from PETA and HSUS, he exposed their dirty little secrets. They want to shut down the production of meat in this country. They want to forbid the owning of pets. They want to end all medical research involving animals. They want to legislate their bizarre, twisted sense of morality. PETA killed more than 19,000 animals between 1998 and 2007, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture.

Some of the more bizarre quotes to come out of these groups, as well as quotes from other folks about these groups, can be found at these links...

PETA

HSUS

Environmental Working Group

Greenpeace

My personal favorite quote comes from PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, in the September 1989 issue of Vogue Magazine...

"Even if animal tests produced a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it."

Well isn't that nice. The lives of lab rats are more important than human life. Wow.

I can't even begin to share all the things Mr. Martosko brought to light. Many can be found at the Center's web site (linked above). The one thing he said that hit home was this... His organization has made a tremendous number of claims, some certainly outrageous ones. But they freely present their evidence to back them up. More importantly, they've never been taken to court over any of their claims. If they were not true, why wouldn't these organizations sue? They don't sue, because they know the claims are based in truth.

I'd encourage all of you to check into it with an open mind.

As for me, I'm still a member of PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals.