I can't tell ...,,,...

[whyalloveragain]

Is PETA bad? I hear that they go to far, but I think you need to, to get your point across.
I always thought PETA was fighting in a good way.
What do you think?

Comments

[susilou1]

i had a love-hate relationship with PETA for a long time--personally, i dont like the way they exploit womyn, even 'for the animals', yet, at the same time, i've always credited them as getting their name out there, and converting lots of folks to veg'nism.

HOWEVER: after they built their new (and embarrassingly huge) headquarters on WETLANDS, i lost all respect for any good they might possibley do.

a lot of folks really, really love PETA, but, well, i have zero respect for the organization

[prettygolucky]

after they built their new (and embarrassingly huge) headquarters on WETLANDS

WOAH. This is the first time I've heard of this. I'll have to get word out about that.

[cheerjess]

Very awesome icon!

[prettygolucky]

Thanks! sandy_s made it.

[silver_elephant]

I think they are great, but they get a lot of bad publicity when protests go too far. But they do good work

[joe_fisher]

I'm pretty harsh on peta. I think they do more harm them good. As a vegan, nearly everything they do that garners negative press is an embarassment to me and be-littles my life style. They might have created quiet a few new veggies, but at the same time, they also created a wall so high between themselves and even moderates that they'll never be able to appeal to the 'bigger' crowd, the one that really needs targeted, 'Everyone

[annomalley]

Heh, thank you for that. This is a bit off-topic, but it was nice to read the last part of this comment after comments on a post of mine the other day from a vegan telling me she didn't understand why I found switching from vegetarian to vegan difficult.

[faerycake]

Thanks for that - it was really well expressed :)

I really do think the best way of going about things is to lead by example. If you're extreme people will inevitably react against you rather than listen to what you've got to say. The fact such a high profile organisation uses these tactics has such a negative effect on how people perceive vegans, it's really frustrating.

I can see that it's a difficult balance to strike between raising awareness and being offensive...but if you're not making people aware in a positive way, then you're just shooting yourself in the foot.

[rocktits]

Well said. I went vegan because of PETA (they were handing out pamphlets at a Cure concert I went to) and I had a friend who considered going vegan as well. Unfortunately, she heard from everyone right away how radical PETA is and promptly dismissed the stuff she heard as overexaggerations/lies. Luckily, I had the mind to look up the stuff I had learned at numerous other sites and so I was able to find that the stuff PETA said, although at times seeming sensationalized, were actually happening. Sadly, my friend didn't do the same, and is still one of "them." : P I just think PETA needs to be a little more careful about how they go about things.

[vgnwtch]

I'm sure they have the best of intentions, and they do provide some good information and support. Some of their campaigns are creative and clever

[faerycake]

I find myself having to combat the stereotypes people come away with from them.

Yeah...a lot of the time I'm in the same position. I just try to be as non confrontational about it as possible and usually that makes people ask me questions and listen to what I've got to say, which I don't think would happen if I dictated to people what they should do.

I also make lots of vegan cake for people, that usually makes a good impression too :P

[rocktits]

YES! the Burger thing was ridiculous. All they were doing was wasting resources and time that could have been better suited to trying to change situations that actually MATTERED. Thanks for mentioning that.

[vgnwtch]

Though changing the language can be a positive contribution towards changing the culture. It's all about walking that tightrope.

[vgnwtch]

I agree; and yet, multipronged approaches appeal to me more than focusing purely on one thing at a time :) I think it's good to have a range of attitudes towards this sort of thing :)