Ethical -or- Unethical

17/08/2015 20:46

I'm not a big fan of many of PETA's activities for all the well publicized reasons. But there is one thing you can't take away from them... they have, more than any other organization, put animal rights on the map and been the driving force behind exposing and ending a variety of animal atrocities around the world.

In my opinion PETA has a lot to be ashamed of and in so many ways they appear to have lost their way since their early days. I remember feeling so proud to be a part of their volunteer team back in the early 80's. Prior to PETA coming on the scene the only organized animal rights causes had been charities such as local SPCA's or Humane Societies - and their hands are severely tied by legislation.

Enter PETA... Ingrid Newkirk & Alex Pacheco! I felt for sure that animal cruelty would be ended by the turn of the millennium! I was young and starry-eyed about what could be done - I also had no real grasp of just how global and how severe animal cruelty truly was, and still is.

Ingrid Newman continues with PETA but Alex Pacheco has since left and, among other things, heads up a company dedicated to finding a sterilization solution for companion animals to end the uncontrolled breeding and constant killing in the shelters. https://600milliondogs.org/

But the facts remain, they have been responsible for so many victories for animals around the world, many of these I remember at the time they happened - https://www.peta.org/about-peta/milestones/ and they continue to fight on https://www.peta.org/investigations/  in the face of growing adversity to their organization.

So what has happened to PETA? Their current record of euthanizing companion animals is atrocious. I never have and never will support them in this. But too often No-Kill Shelters have ended up being shut down due to animal abuse and hoarding. Their intentions may have been pure at the start but all too soon they become overwhelmed and the animals suffer. They are not the solution. Both sides of this coin are unacceptable, there has to be a 3rd solution.

Those of us who feel so passionately opposed to their euthanasia program need to offer a solution that works, not just gripe from the sidelines, or in Facebook posts.

No organization is going to please all the people all the time and PETA's place in the Animal Rights movement remains critical to the world, not just historically but in the here and now.

As I see it PETA need to be kept in check by Animal Rights Activists - their success seems to be more along the line of worldwide exposures and injustices, not local companion animals or domestic individual abuse cases. They will fight on but we must continue to monitor their actions and all us us, PETA included, MUST continue the fight, this war on animals.

Just my Opinion...