People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

• IDENTIFICATION: Organization devoted to establishing and defending the rights of animals
• DATE: Established in 1980

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has grown to be one of the most powerful and effective animal rights organizations in the world, despite the fact that the organization’s activities are often the subject of controversy.

Alex Pacheco, who founded People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) with Ingrid Ward Newkirk in 1980, received initial notoriety for exposing cruelty to monkeys in a Silver Spring, Maryland, research laboratory. Although PETA began its campaign with only two people during the 1980s, by the mid-2020s it had a worldwide membership and network of supporters of more than nine million people and had expenditures of nearly $83 million. PETA’s brand of radicalism and sophisticated use of the media are often the topics of national debate. During the 1980s, PETA’s major protest activities were centered on vivisection, factory farming, hunting, fishing, zoos, and circuses. Over time, the organization’s concerns widened to include the fur industry and the use of animals in product testing, agricultural production, and biomedical research. Notably, PETA’s campaign against the fur industry convinced designers such as Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein, as well as supermodels such as Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington not to design or model clothing made of or incorporating fur.

The general principle upon which PETA was founded is simple but potent: animals are not on earth for humans to eat, wear, abuse, or use for entertainment or experimentation. PETA asserts that advances in technology have enabled humans to make incredibly diverse substitutes for animals in all such uses. In advocating the end of all animal abuse, PETA maintains that violating animal rights is similar to violating human rights. In fact, it suggests the former is worse because animals cannot speak for themselves.

One tactic that PETA uses in attempting to stop individuals, organizations, or companies that violate animal rights is the undercover investigation. Many of PETA’s investigations have revealed patterns of cruelty that have appalled the public and resulted in widespread public support for change, as well as generous contributions of money to the organization. One of PETA’s major goals is public education, which it accomplishes through the use of graphic visual images, expert testimony, media events, seminars, workshops, and lectures. PETA also conducts grassroots activities at colleges and universities.

PETA has been criticized for ecoterrorism and monkeywrenching, examples of which include illegal entry, vandalism, and theft of laboratory animals and equipment. Critics contend that PETA’s philosophical stance is based on sentimentalism and narrow-minded dogmatism and that many of the organization’s practices are akin to terrorism. They charge that PETA manipulates young people’s emotions through misinformation disguised as education. Despite active opposition from industry and research communities, however, PETA has proven to be one of the most effective animal rights groups in the world. It has gained mainstream support from the public and from many powerful people involved in government, the entertainment industry, and humanitarian organizations.

Other animal rights activists have been critical of PETA on occasion, however. One point of contention is what critics see as PETA's hypocrisy for its stance against no-kill animal shelters in favor of what it views as compassionate euthanasia carried out via an intravenous sodium pentobarbital injection administered by a trained professional. PETA maintains that animals kept at no-kill shelters are sometimes kept caged for years and suffer adverse effects from such long-term confinement including depression, aggressive behavior, and exposure to disease, which results in the animals becoming less likely to be adoptable as time goes on.

Feminist critics of PETA have decried its antifur "Naked" campaign, featuring models who would "rather go naked than wear fur." Though the models, including many celebrities, are both male and female, and were not coerced into posing, critics contend that the campaign relies on degrading depictions of women that perpetuate sexism. PETA defends the campaign, arguing that such controversial advertising tactics are necessary because the organization relies on free media coverage to get its message across.

PETA made headlines in 2017 with the so-called monkey selfie lawsuit. The group had filed a suit on behalf of an Indonesian monkey who had taken a photograph of itself in 2011 and subsequently became an internet sensation, arguing that the animal deserved ownership of the image. Though a federal court in California first ruled against PETA and the monkey, in 2017 a settlement was reached in which the owner of the camera agreed to pay 25 percent of any revenues from the images taken by the monkey to charities working to protect habitats in Indonesia.

PETA continued its work into the 2020s, when the organization maintained its focus on key issues such as ending animal testing, exposing the inhumane conditions of factory farms and slaughterhouses, and ending the use of animals in entertainment. Specifically, the group supported animal rescue efforts in Ukraine following the Russian invasion, which left thousands of animals homeless; research efforts in Santorini, Greece, to protect donkeys extorted for tourism; and the exposure of inhumane practices in Colombia, where monkeys were subjected to experiments; among other animal abuses.

Bibliography

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Atkins-Sayre, Wendy. "Articulating Identity: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Animal/Human Divide." Western Jour. of Communication, vol. 74, no. 3, 2015, pp. 309–28. doi.org/10.1080/10570311003767183. Accessed 21 Mar. 2023.

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