People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an animal rights organization with more than 6.5 million members and supporters. This activist group is focused on helping animals and being their voice. Keeping this in mind, why are so many people opposed to them? If they have such good intentions, wouldn’t they have more supporters than haters? Not exactly. Although PETA has made a huge impact on animal rights, they have also done things that have proven to animal activists that they are not so trustworthy and true to their word.

PETA has helped animals in many ways. They have gone through efforts to end animal captivity in Sea World and zoos, animal testing, encouraging veganism, and much more. Although they have had made a big positive impact on animal rights, they have also done a few questionable things that have gone against their word and have made animal activists both confused and angered.

According to Fox News, PETA’s shelter euthanized over 1,000 cats and dogs within the year of 2016. Virginia shelters killed an average of 16.9% of animals in their care, while PETA killed nearly 72%. These researchers claim that many of the animals they kill, for the most part, are in perfectly decent health. Not only that, but 90% of them are euthanized within the first 24 hours of them in their care. They are not even given a chance at a happy life, which is exactly what PETA supposedly supports. Ironic? Not only are animal activists angered over the fact that they are killing animals, but also how they are taking money from random supporters to do so.

Many people are also angered over the fact that PETA has ad campaigns that compares slaughterhouses and the Nazi Holocaust. Back in 2004, they launched a Holocaust on Your Plate (HOYP) traveling display, which displayed images of both animals in slaughterhouses/ factory farms and humans in Nazi concentration camps. This has caused a lot of debate among people, saying it is extremely offensive to compare this awful genocide that has caused a huge negative impact on millions of people, specifically Jews, all to make a point about animal rights. They argue that you should not compare the life of a human to the life of an animal. The counterargument to that is that animals deserve as much rights as humans have, which is why there were arguments over the ad display. In result, however, Germany’s high court found the ad offensive and banned PETA Germany’s holocaust display, which many, including animal activists, agreed that was the right thing to do.

PETA has many cons which seems to outweigh its pros. No matter how many animal lives they save, how many people they convince to go vegan, how many brands end their animal testing due to them, etc… people will always continue to be skeptical over this so called “activist” organization. They have done and continue to do many things that have caused animal activists to no longer trust them. PETA will continue to defend themselves and deny anything they are accused of so that they do not lose any money or supporters.