# Why do YOU hate PETA?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 22, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367 "2010-03-22T18:26:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/81 "2010-03-23T20:45:40Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#):
>
> :eek: Of all the ignorance mentioned in this thread, I think this takes the prize.
Actually, the irritating roommate had a point. Beekeepers want the **hive** to survive, but inevitably bees are killed in the production of honey, and there’s no profit in preventing a small number of deaths. One beekeeper’s memoir I read described how her summer assistants would work themselves up to ten stings a day, deliberately administered (thus killing 10 bees a day), to inure themselves to the pain of the sting. If you start from the admittedly dubious position that a bee’s life is something worth serious protection, then avoiding honey is wise.
As for PETA’s taking the [peta.org](http://peta.org) domain, that was wholly reasonable and within any sort of traditional trademark realm. The dude that registered [generalmotors.com](http://generalmotors.com) also had to give it up.
I agree with **Gangster** : PETA’s trolling distracts people from serious animal welfare issues, and even from serious animal rights arguments (such as those put forth by Tom Reagan). They’re an incredibly annoying organization, not least because people fall for their trolling so consistently.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/82 "2010-03-23T21:19:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> Actually, the irritating roommate had a point. Beekeepers want the **hive** to survive, but inevitably bees are killed in the production of honey, and there’s no profit in preventing a small number of deaths. One beekeeper’s memoir I read described how her summer assistants would work themselves up to ten stings a day, deliberately administered (thus killing 10 bees a day), to inure themselves to the pain of the sting. If you start from the admittedly dubious position that a bee’s life is something worth serious protection, then avoiding honey is wise.
As a beekeeper, I think the roommate is a moron (well, obviously). I, personally, want all my bees to survive and I try to manage my hives so they do. I, and all the other apiarists I know, avoid getting stung whenever possible. I feel bad every time I crush a bee (which happens pretty often) and try to avoid it at all costs.
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### Author:  [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/83 "2010-03-23T21:43:14Z")
In addition to all of the above, I also object to how they treat women like a piece of meat\*.
\*joke not original to me
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/84 "2010-03-23T21:48:54Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#):
>
> As a beekeeper, I think the roommate is a moron (well, obviously). I, personally, want all my bees to survive and I try to manage my hives so they do. I, and all the other apiarists I know, avoid getting stung whenever possible. I feel bad every time I crush a bee (which happens pretty often) and try to avoid it at all costs.
Seriously? That’s interesting to me. How much inconvenience are you willing to go to to prevent the death of a single bee? My comments about deliberate stingings are based on Sue Hubbell’s [A Book of Bees](http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780395883242-1). Is her approach unusual, then?
I’m not saying the roommate was right to weep for the deaths of bees; I’m just saying that the production of honey does, as far as I know, require the death of a certain number of bees. I don’t weep for those bees when I eat honey.
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### Author:  [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/85 "2010-03-23T22:55:25Z")
> [@Risha](#):
>
> In addition to all of the above, I also object to how they treat women like a piece of meat.
Would you rather they treat a piece of meat like a woman? 'cause I don’t want to know what happens in _that_ kitchen.
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### Author:  [@Dostoyevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dostoyevsky)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/86 "2010-03-23T23:06:57Z")
I hate PETA for only complaining when \*some \*animals eat meat. Consistency is a virtue.
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### Author:  [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/87 "2010-03-23T23:42:36Z")
> [@Dostoyevsky](#):
>
> I hate PETA for only complaining when \*some \*animals eat meat. Consistency is a virtue.
I have a modest proposal.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/88 "2010-03-24T00:25:54Z")
> [@Dostoyevsky](#):
>
> I hate PETA for only complaining when \*some \*animals eat meat. Consistency is a virtue.
That’s nonsense. I might fairly object to the morals of a man who kills a baby, without objecting to the morals of a tiger who kills a baby, or to the morals of a baby who somehow causes the death of another baby.
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### Author:  [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/89 "2010-03-24T00:26:00Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#):
>
> I’ve never seen anything to support that assertion. Even their [positions on animal welfare/rights](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humane_Society_of_the_United_States#Position) differ greatly. They support a lot of animal research (but with some reductions), they are in favor of responsible pet ownership, they oppose cruelty in raising of food animals but are not against eating animals, etc. They’re against hunting for any reason other than wildlife population management or food.
> [@DianaG](#):
>
> This is impressively ignorant, even for you. :dubious:
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> There’s a one-many lobbying team who runs some websites like [activistcash.com](http://activistcash.com) and some others. He’s hired by the restaurant industry to try to discredit people who might increase restaurant costs or litigation. His two main focuses are animal welfare issues and MADD. If you hear someone claiming HSUS is like PETA, they probably have been taken in by this guy.
[This](http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/h/4062-unpacking-the-hsus-gra) is the first site I came across regarding what the HSUS really does. There are lots more, all you have to do is look for them. Those of us who are involved with animals have been aware for many years that the HSUS is as “concerned” for animals as PETA is.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/90 "2010-03-24T00:41:39Z")
> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> [This](http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/h/4062-unpacking-the-hsus-gra) is the first site I came across regarding what the HSUS really does. There are lots more, all you have to do is look for them. Those of us who are involved with animals have been aware for many years that the HSUS is as “concerned” for animals as PETA is.
As I said, [you’ve been duped](http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ActivistCash.com).
> [@](#):
>
> [ActivistCash.com](http://ActivistCash.com) is a web site affiliated with the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries. [ActivistCash.com](http://ActivistCash.com) was launched in November 2001.
>
> [ActivistCash.com](http://ActivistCash.com) was created by Berman & Co., a public affairs firm owned by lobbyist Rick Berman. Based in Washington, DC, Berman & Co. represents the tobacco industry as well as hotels, beer distributors, taverns, and restaurant chains.
I mentioned ActivistCash; you linked to their “umbrella” organization (in quotes because the operation’s really too tiny to talk about umbrella organization; it’s mostly just one dude who makes up a lot of different groups to throw people off the scent).
[Here’s the main group](http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom). In addition to their campaigns against HSUS, they have other charming campaigns mocking the CDC’s warnings about obesity or a scientific study about elevated mercury levels in pregnant women who eat swordfish. Their major funders include CocaCola, Outback Steak House, Wendy’s, and Monsanto.
You been duped.
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### Author:  [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/91 "2010-03-24T01:17:05Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#):
>
> Would you rather they treat a piece of meat like a woman? 'cause I don’t want to know what happens in _that_ kitchen.
I’m cool with that, as long as the meat is already dead and I don’t have to eat there.
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### Author:  [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/92 "2010-03-24T02:12:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> As I said, [you’ve been duped](http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ActivistCash.com).
No, I haven’t. As I said, that was the first thing I ran across, and since I have no ide why you think that a group that is “a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries” would lie about the HSUS, it doesn’t appear that my link wasn’t worthwhile.
And, as I said, all you have to do is look at bit to find out the links between the HSUS and PETA, such as [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLn_T-4iAWY) one, which also has many other links (the scam alert one was interesting as I didn’t know that the Humane Society of the US spent money abroad), or [this](http://eaglerock814.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=16) one, which isn’t all about HSUS but it does have several mentions.
Just spend some time looking, probably a lot less time than I would since I’m on dial-up. And I already know that the HSUS is no friend of animals, except occasionally by accident or to cover their tracks. The HSUS is no more a friend of animals than PETA is.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/93 "2010-03-24T02:21:42Z")
> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> Just spend some time looking, probably a lot less time than I would since I’m on dial-up. And I already know that the HSUS is no friend of animals, except occasionally by accident or to cover their tracks. The HSUS is no more a friend of animals than PETA is.
Damn, you’re a fuckin idiot. Because HSUS supports legislation calling for mandatory spay/neuter of animals brought for a second time to an animal shelter, they’re no friend of animals? That’s fuckin stupid, even for you.
And I needn’t spend time looking: when I worked for a local humane society for many years, I depended on the many resources HSUS made available to local unaffiliated groups. I’m very familiar with their positions and their attitudes, far more than you are.
I withdraw my earlier suggestion that you’d been duped. I shouldn’t have used the passive voice.
Edit: shit, I just watched your Youtube video. That “full page NYT ad” it touts? You’ll never guess what group paid for that ad! Other folks will, given my previous two posts, but you won’t. It all comes full circle.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/94 "2010-03-24T02:28:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> Edit: shit, I just watched your Youtube video. That “full page NYT ad” it touts? You’ll never guess what group paid for that ad! Other folks will, given my previous two posts, but you won’t. It all comes full circle.
[Link that I meant to add to the above](http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/full-page-new-york-times-ad-calls-humane-society-terrorists/774/), but missed the edit window.
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### Author:  [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/95 "2010-03-24T03:39:19Z")
Why do I hate PeTA?
Mostly because I had an asshole roommate while I was in the Navy who was very vocal about being in PeTA - but who also insisted on keeping a snake in our “no pets” apartment. And who took a positive glee in feeding live mice to it.
I just couldn’t take his position seriously, and his association with PeTA has colored my view of them ever since.
What’s worse, IMNSHO, is that I believe PeTA has done enough stuff on their own to confirm that original negative impression of their organization.
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/96 "2010-03-24T04:11:11Z")
> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> [This](http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/h/4062-unpacking-the-hsus-gra) is the first site I came across regarding what the HSUS really does. There are lots more, all you have to do is look for them. Those of us who are involved with animals have been aware for many years that the HSUS is as “concerned” for animals as PETA is.
Yeah, LHOD is right – for the record, each and every site associated with the “Center for Consumer Freedom” is purely an astroturf organization created to protect and expand commercial interests at the expense of citizens and without regard to factual accuracy.
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### Author:  [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/97 "2010-03-24T04:38:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> Damn, you’re a fuckin idiot. Because HSUS supports legislation calling for mandatory spay/neuter of animals brought for a second time to an animal shelter, they’re no friend of animals? That’s fuckin stupid, even for you.
>
> And I needn’t spend time looking: when I worked for a local humane society for many years, I depended on the many resources HSUS made available to local unaffiliated groups. I’m very familiar with their positions and their attitudes, far more than you are.
I’m not going to waste any time on you, particularly since you obviously have no desire to actually educate yourself. I will say that the fact that you worked for a local humane society has zero to do with the HSUS, since the HSUS has zero to do with your local shelters. I’ve been involved with animals for over 40 years, I understand the issues, like why legislation calling for the mandatory spay/neuter of _any_ animal is wrong. You obviously are the typical man on the street, who falls for the flash and the lies.
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### Author:  [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/98 "2010-03-24T05:48:55Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#):
>
> Anyone know a PETA member?
Yup.
In fact, I used to date this person. And oh, my, the meetings I used to get dragged to, so enamored was I by the cooze.
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### Author:  [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/99 "2010-03-24T06:06:47Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> The one girl I know who embraces PETA seems to do it because she likes to look at herself and post pictures of herself in various stages of undress on her MySpace.
Um, cite?
(Pretty please?)
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### Author:  [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-hate-peta/533367/100 "2010-03-24T10:46:21Z")
> [@curlcoat](#):
>
> I’ve been involved with animals for over 40 years
That’s what happens when people won’t have you.
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