Research question: Is PETA an extremist organization? What are the policies of PETA, and do they live up to what they say their values are?
Methodology: I will use Questia, among other sources, to find scholarly articles related to PETA’s behavior, as recent as I can find them. I will also make sure to mention noteworthy events in PETA’s history, regardless of whether they paint PETA in a positive or negative light.
Abstract: PETA, also known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is the most well-known animal charity to date. PETA is an organization of the stance that animals should not be used for farming, entertainment, experimenting on, or killing for clothing items. Some sources say that less than 1% of PETA’s funding goes to animals. PETA has made a lot of bold campaign choices, which some people find highly distasteful and a waste of donated money. Additionally, although PETA’s aim is to help animals, they still euthanize a lot of animals, some going as far to say that they kill more animals than regular animal shelters. Some of their most offensive ad campaigns include: comparing pregnant women to fattened sows, a person dressed as a giant vanilla condom, comparing animal use to the death of millions of jews in the holocaust, urging Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to use human milk instead of cow milk, etc.
Potential conclusions: PETA, as an organization, makes radically offensive and inaccurate ad campaigns, and a majority of the money risen from PETA doesn’t even go to funding measures against animal cruelty. PETA is definitely an extremist organization, but not the best organization to donate to in an attempt to prevent animal cruelty.
Sources:
https://greatnonprofits.org/org/people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-animals basic information on peta’s stances
https://speakingofresearch.com/2011/01/18/where-do-petas-donation-dollars-go/ bold campaign choices
https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/peta-people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-animals/ Less than 1% goes to animals
https://zoos.media/media-echo/peta-shelter-2021-death-rate-increases-significantly/?lang=en euthanization rates
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