Archived Version: December, 2015
| Status | Exploratory |
| Primary Work Area | General Animal Advocacy Industrial Agriculture Animal Testing and Vivisection Entertainment |
| Website | People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) |
| Review Published | December, 2015 |
| Type | Archived Review |
| Current Version | December, 2015 |
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believes that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way.” PETA works in many areas to free animals from human use and abuse, but focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: factory farms, the clothing trade, laboratories, and the entertainment industry. They primarily focus on creating social change through public education, cruelty investigations, research, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns, but also handle reports of animal cruelty and provide direct care for companion animals.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believes that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way.” PETA works in many areas to free animals from human use and abuse, but focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: factory farms, the clothing trade, laboratories, and the entertainment industry. They primarily focus on creating social change through public education, cruelty investigations, research, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns, but also handle reports of animal cruelty and provide direct care for companion animals.
Impact Evaluation:
Broad reach
PETA is perhaps most well-known for their undercover investigations, online and social media presence, corporate negotiations, and public demonstrations that call attention to animal issues. These can reach people who are not yet animal advocates by capturing substantial media attention. For example, PETA launched one of the first major animal advocacy campaigns against a food company—its McCruelty campaign against McDonald’s—which garnered public attention in 1999 and 2000. After PETA’s campaign that included more than 400 demonstrations at McDonald’s restaurants in more than 23 countries, as well as advertising and celebrity involvement, McDonald’s becomes the first fast-food company to agree to make basic animal-welfare improvements for farmed animals.
PETA investigations of the food industry have led to: the closing of slaughterhouses, the first-ever convictions of factory-farm employees for abusing pigs, the first-ever felony cruelty-to-animals charges for abusing birds, the stiffest penalty ever imposed for cruelty to any farmed animal, and the largest seizure of animals in history.
Varying and uncertain impact
Across this variety of issues, PETA employs a variety of tactics. Some of these strategies, like undercover investigations and some vegan advocacy, we consider potentially high-impact. Others we consider less effective, like direct companion animal care. PETA states that their diverse membership expects them to work on issues such as the tragic homeless companion animal crisis, as well as promoting vegan living.
Their use of public stunts is sometimes criticized for giving the public a negative impression of animal activism and appearing insensitive to other oppressed groups. Critics believe these stunts like the “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign, which used images of naked female models and celebrities, unfairly characterized animal rights as opposing other progressive social movements. We have not yet thoroughly vetted these criticisms, but note them as a source of concern. PETA responds to these criticisms that as an organization staffed and led largely by feminist women (6 of 8 PETA Vice Presidents are women), they would not do something that they felt contributed to the very serious problems that women face.
