Maybe you love PETA. Maybe you hate PETA. Maybe you have no opinion! Whatever the case may be, you’ll definitely find something in this story to be mad about!
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has been a lightning rod of controversy since it was founded in 1980. PETA might love animals, but it definitely has a knack for getting on humans’ nerves, whether it’s the in-your-face tactics, or just a failure to live up to its own ideals. Just to name one example, in 2017 the Center for Consumer Freedom investigated a PETA-run animal shelter in Norfolk, Virginia, and found that the shelter had euthanized over 1,000 animals.
But while the issues with PETA are fairly well known, they haven’t all been assembled in one place quite so…angrily before. Until vlogger Calum McSwiggan wrote a lengthy Twitter rant laying out his complaints with the organization.
Photo Credit: Rearfront
To kick off his anti-PETA manifesto, Swiggan brought up the animal shelter issue. Turns out the Norfolk incident is just the tip of the iceberg:
Here’s a thread about why you shouldn’t donate money to @PETA and why you should instead fund animal charities who deserve your support ?
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
While wasting thousands on absurd PR campaigns, they kill 97% of the animals they “rescue” because they “can’t afford” to take care of them.
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
In the past decade alone PETA have killed over 30,000 healthy cats and dogs brought into their care because it’s the “kind thing to do.”
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
What does PETA do instead of helping those euthanized animals? According to McSwiggan, they blow money on shock-value messaging that’s often absurd. And of course he provided examples:
Some of the absurd ways they spend their money includes developing a mock video game to criticise Pokémon for encouraging cruelty to animals pic.twitter.com/raCmuRQbqB
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
They even tried to claim that super mario was supporting the fur industry and further criticised him for supposedly being cruel to turtles. pic.twitter.com/uvaN1Vsexn
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
Then, McSwiggan took aim at the way PETA will often insert itself into a news story, seemingly just to rile people up. You might remember these incidents from years past:
And remember the guy the internet celebrated for saving his dog from that kangaroo? PETA tried to have him prosecuted for animal cruelty… pic.twitter.com/NJWP827lk2
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
And they’re currently financially ruining a photographer by claiming the copyright of his famous monkey selfie belongs to the monkey ??♂️ pic.twitter.com/oXSCu1pBCV
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
They even attacked everyone’s favourite ice cream dads @benandjerrys and tried to get them to replace their dairy products with human milk ?
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
Finally, McSwiggan brings up the most sensitive subject of all: vegetarianism. Or, specifically, the way PETA pushes that lifestyle (as well as veganism.)
Even their work in trying to convert people to veganism is undermined by their insistence on trying to guilt people into giving up meat.
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
Even their work in trying to convert people to veganism is undermined by their insistence on trying to guilt people into giving up meat.
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
Instead of gently encouraging people to try a vegan diet, they instead fill our social feeds with videos of animals being tortured & killed.
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
They advocate for people feeding their cats a vegetarian diet despite knowing full well that it is essential for cats to eat meat to survive
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) July 14, 2017
Now, this thread got a LOT of attention–those likes and retweets are mighty impressive–and as you can imagine, people voiced opinions from all sides of the issue. Plenty of people agreed with McSwiggan.
Thank you so much for this thread! More people need to understand how twisted and vile they truly are, while pretending to be such saints!!❤
— Richelle Rene Hurley (@richelle_rene) September 19, 2017
But others felt that PETA’s shock tactics are necessary to cut through the noise.
Photo Credit: Twitter
Look, wherever you land on this issue, it’s probably fair to say that both PETA and Calum McSwiggan pull stunts solely for attention. And we, the public, give it to them.
And if we can accomplish that, what can’t we accomplish?
h/t: Rearfront