Fuck PETA

[PWD]

Not for the usual reasons.

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/pressRelease_detail.cfm/release/224

Snippet:

An 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. During that year, the well-known animal rights group managed to find adoptive homes for just 12 animals. Not counting pets brought to PETA for spaying or neutering, the organization killed 2,981 of the 3,061 “companion animals” it took in. According to VDACS, the average euthanasia rate for humane societies in Virginia was 34.7 percent in 2006. PETA's "kill rate" was 97.4 percent.

[Varaj]

Not for the usual reasons.

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/pressRelease_detail.cfm/release/224

Snippet:

PETA is all about hypocrisy. They protest shelters that kill animals, sometimes in violent fashions, and run kill shelters themselves.

If I was a cynic, which I am, I would say it is about money. Close all the competition so people only spend money at PETA approved shelters.

[shiningbrow]

That seems a bit bizarre to me, so I decided to investigate the source of the information. Hmmmm....

http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom

Check out the officers and the main supporters of this Center for Consumer Freedom. Sort of raises questions about the reliability of the "information" they are advancing. No?

I wish I could get Perdue and Tyson foods to give me thousands of dollars!

[Varaj]

That seems a bit bizarre to me, so I decided to investigate the source of the information. Hmmmm....

http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom

Check out the officers and the main supporters of this Center for Consumer Freedom. Sort of raises questions about the reliability of the "information" they are advancing. No?

I wish I could get Perdue and Tyson foods to give me thousands of dollars!

PETA doesn't deny the numbers.
Gruesome photos warning (It is a PETA site after all)
http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/03/why_we_euthaniz.php

The majority of adoptable dogs are never brought through our doors (we refer them to local adoption groups and walk-in animal shelters). Most of the animals we house, rescue, find homes for, or put out of their misery come from miserable conditions .

I find that explanation questionable.

[shiningbrow]

Good lord. Do you really think that the animals in those photos have the opportunity to be placed in loving adoptive homes? You may have located information about their euthanasia policies, but it still does not dispel the distorted context in which the original posting presented the information. There is plenty wrong with the way we treat animals raised for food in this country, and to rely on a PR group dedicated to whitewashing the industrial food industry for reliable information about one of their opponents is like asking Rush Limbaugh to provide a character reference for Wanda Sykes!

[Name Lips]

PETA's PR is 100% against all forms of killing animals, even mercy killings. They're all about hypocrisy.

[Ancalagon]

You know they release lab animals right... lab animals that can't survive in the wild.

[Ancalagon]

PETA doesn't deny the numbers.
Gruesome photos warning (It is a PETA site after all)
http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/03/why_we_euthaniz.php



I find that explanation questionable.

So do I - I mean, if their number was simply "higher" than the SPCA, I would believe it... but god damn it, it's above 95%!

[AZRogue]

PETA's PR is 100% against all forms of killing animals, even mercy killings. They're all about hypocrisy.

Yep. They're hypocritical shock-jockey asshole douchebags and have been for some time. If I was trying to reform aspects of the food industry, I certainly wouldn't want them on my side; it would be like Bin Laden endorsing a Moderate Muslim Awareness organization.

[shiningbrow]

PETA's PR is 100% against all forms of killing animals, even mercy killings. They're all about hypocrisy.

That's inaccurate:
Here's PETA's position on Euthanasia. I have no real feelings for this organization, it's just that I'm allergic to bandwagons built by people with an axe to grind and dedicated to smearing others in the process.
http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=39
Media Center > Factsheets

Euthanasia: The Compassionate Option

Approximately 6 to 8 million animals are handled by animal shelters in the United States each year. Even though some are reclaimed or adopted, nearly 4 million unwanted dogs and cats are left with nowhere to go.(1) Shelters cannot humanely house and support all these animals until their natural deaths—they would be forced to live in cramped cages or kennels for years, lonely and stressed, and other animals would have to be turned away because there would not be room for them.

Turning unwanted animals loose to roam the streets is not a humane option. If they don’t starve, freeze, get hit by a car, or die of disease, they may be tormented and possibly killed by cruel juveniles or picked up by dealers who obtain animals to sell to laboratories.

Good and Bad Solutions
Because of the high number of unwanted companion animals and the lack of good homes, sometimes the most humane thing that a shelter worker can do is give an animal a peaceful release from a world in which dogs and cats are often considered “surplus” and unwanted. PETA, The American Veterinary Medical Association, and The Humane Society of the United States concur that an intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital administered by a trained professional is the kindest, most compassionate method of euthanizing animals. The American Humane Association considers this to be the only acceptable method of euthanasia for cats and dogs in animal shelters.

Injections into the hearts of conscious animals are not acceptable. Inhalants, decompression, drowning, electrocution, shooting, and other methods are also unacceptable because they rarely provide an instant death and cause suffering before death occurs.

Some drugs can cause discomfort if injected too quickly or at too high a dose, and some, such as strychnine, can cause animals to experience violent convulsions, muscle contractions, or cardiac arrest.

Nitrous oxide, halothane, and carbon monoxide gases can be expensive and unreliable and can cause irritation or excitability in animals. Carbon monoxide poisoning causes animals to suffer horribly while they are slowly suffocated. They often scream and go into convulsions while struggling for air. Carbon monoxide poisoning has been outlawed in California, Tennessee, Maryland, and Rhode Island but is still used in many animal shelters throughout the U.S.(2,3)

The physical methods used to kill animals in shelters include shooting, electrocution, and decompression. The obvious problem with shooting is the potential for extreme pain if the person handling the gun is not competent, if the animal is struggling, or if the bullet is deflected and the animal survives. Electrocution can be extremely painful and traumatic and doesn’t always work.

Decompression chambers simulate an ascent to thousands of feet above sea level in a matter of minutes. At many shelters that use this method, decompression occurs at speeds up to 15 times faster than the recommended rate. At this speed, the gases in animals’ sinuses, middle ears, and intestines expand quickly, causing considerable discomfort or severe pain.(4) Accidental recompression can occur when equipment malfunctions, when there is a personnel error, or when small animals become trapped in air pockets. They must then be put through the procedure all over again.

Until dog and cat overpopulation is brought under control through spaying and neutering, we must prevent the suffering of unwanted animals in the most responsible and humane way possible. Euthanasia, performed properly, is often the most compassionate option.

A Compassionate Goodbye
When animal companions become very sick and are suffering with no hope of recovery, and they seem incapable of truly enjoying life, it may be time to provide them with a peaceful death through euthanasia. Ask your veterinarian to talk frankly with you, and consider getting a second opinion if you are in doubt. Be sure that you are not prolonging your animal friend’s suffering because of your own fear of letting go. The tendency is to wait too long, at the expense of the animal you love.

If your animal companion is very nervous, you may want to obtain a dose of tranquilizer from your veterinarian and administer it two hours before the appointed time for euthanasia. The veterinarian will be able to give the injection more easily to a relaxed patient. You will also be calmer when your animal companion is at ease. It is important to try to be cheerful and soothing with your animal friend until after he or she has lost consciousness.

Some veterinarians will come to your home to administer the shot, which can ease the stress of animals who are in pain or fearful of cars or of the veterinarian’s office. Otherwise, go to the animal hospital, perhaps taking along a member of your family or a friend to give you moral support and drive you home. If necessary, ask hospital personnel to help you carry your companion animal inside. If you plan to bury the body, rather than leave it at the hospital, or if your animal companion is in a great deal of pain or is very fearful, you may want to arrange to have the doctor come to the car to give the injection.

Staying with your animal companion while he or she is gently “put to sleep” with an injection of sodium pentobarbital into a vein in the leg can be a great comfort to the animal. If you are extremely upset or nervous, however, you may convey those feelings to your animal friend; it is important to remain calm and speak in a soothing voice. While your animal companion’s brain will “go to sleep” immediately, his or her heart may beat a few minutes longer because circulation may be slowed from the tranquilizer and/or old age. A careful veterinarian will monitor the heart until its last beat. You will never doubt that your friend had a peaceful departure from this life if you are there to say goodbye until the very end.

Finally, remember that it is normal to feel deep grief and a great sense of loss about the death of your animal friend. Please see our factsheet “The Loss of a Companion Animal” for assistance and resources for dealing with this difficult time. Some hospitals and private grief counseling services now recognize the need to help people adjust to the loss of close friends and family members who don’t happen to be human. Take comfort in knowing that you did all that you could to make your animal companion’s passing as painless and peaceful as possible.

If you have other animal companions in your family, take their feelings into consideration, too. If they have been closely bonded with the animal who has died, it can be very helpful to them to have the opportunity to see and smell the deceased companion’s body so that they know what has happened and don’t wait endlessly at the door for their missing companion to return. Animals often have deep feelings of grief and loss, too, when their dog or cat friends die. Be sensitive to their feelings and try to help them through their grief by giving them extra attention and activities, even as you work through your own.

What You Can Do
If your local pound or animal shelter is using any euthanasia method other than an intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital, protest to local authorities and demand that humane methods be implemented. Check state and local laws for prescribed methods of euthanasia and insist that your local shelter comply with these requirements. Euthanasia should always be performed by well-trained, caring staff members, and animals should never be euthanized in view of other animals.

References
1) “HSUS Pet Overpopulation Estimates,” The Humane Society of the United States, 7 July 2008.
2) Bill Baskervill, “Many Abandoned Animals Die in Taxpayer-Funded Gas Chambers,” Associated Press, 17 June 2002.
3) State of Rhode Island General Assembly, State of Rhode Island General Laws Section 4-19-12, 2007.
4) American Veterinary Medical Association, AVMA Guidelines on Euthansia (formerly, Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia), June 2007.

[Trainz]

I have no real feelings for this organization, it's just that I'm allergic to bandwagons built by people with an axe to grind and dedicated to smearing others in the process.

Allow me to bring you up to speed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAt1z_TgPQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqlF2rvcYIs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsMjgnLxFRw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgZ0dSiTGdI

[shiningbrow]

Trainz, those self righteous people make my skin crawl. I'm not so sure that Penn and Teller are in any danger of obtaining an Oscar in the Documentary category, though...

[Trainz]

Trainz, those self righteous people make my skin crawl. I'm not so sure that Penn and Teller are in any danger of obtaining an Oscar in the Documentary category, though...

Penn and Teller are to documentaries as John Stewart is to nightly news... they're both comedy shows, that often hit the nail on the head more often than mainstream documentaries and news.

[Janos]

I'm not so sure that Penn and Teller are in any danger of obtaining an Oscar in the Documentary category, though...

Don't mistake Bullshit! for a documentary. It's not, nor is it intended to be. It's infotainment and a soap box for Penn.

[shiningbrow]

So much for my feeble attempts at elliptical humor. ;)

[Janos]

So much for my feeble attempts at elliptical humor. ;)

:o

My bad. People often take Penn far too seriously, and Bullshit! is a great example of that.

[shiningbrow]

I thought he was a comedian. A curious one, that does all kinds of whacko physical stuff, but a comedian first and foremost. At any rate, I live in bleeding heart liberal central, and while I usually find groups like PETA tiresome, I am also no friend of corporations who value profits over public health and the environment. When I see an organization going after PETA and they publish distorted stuff and are bankrolled to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars by corporate food producers, it suggests to me that there is something rotten in Denmark.

[Freedom Canadian]

:o

My bad. People often take Penn far too seriously, and Bullshit! is a great example of that.

Yeah. The title of that show is as much about the information they are conveying as it is about their subject matters.

[Janos]

Yeah. The title of that show is as much about the information they are conveying as it is about their subject matters.

Heh, I'll quote Penn on that: "I love that Showtime pays me to call people fuckheads."

[Hatter]

I thought he was a comedian. A curious one, that does all kinds of whacko physical stuff, but a comedian first and foremost.

I always thought of him as a conman first and foremost. A wonderfully entertaining conman, but I'm always looking for the angle.

[AZRogue]

I thought he was a comedian. A curious one, that does all kinds of whacko physical stuff, but a comedian first and foremost. At any rate, I live in bleeding heart liberal central, and while I usually find groups like PETA tiresome, I am also no friend of corporations who value profits over public health and the environment. When I see an organization going after PETA and they publish distorted stuff and are bankrolled to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars by corporate food producers, it suggests to me that there is something rotten in Denmark.

It's true that there are a lot of people with a hate-on for PETA, but it's not because the food industry is behind it all. It's just that, much like Scientology, PETA deserves it.




And before anyone gets mad, I was just making a quick analogy, not trying to claim that Scientology and PETA are the same or linked in any way, which would be untrue and unfair; Scientology helps the occasional person now and again.

[Dacke]

I thought he was a comedian. A curious one, that does all kit suggests to me that there is something rotten in Denmark.
Well, of course there is. It's full of Danish people, for one thing.