Okay so yes, I’m vegan and I don’t love PETAs tactics and some of their practices are not the same choices I would make. I’m going to leave it at that, I will not debate carnists about PETA. Just like I try not to criticise leftist movements in non-leftist spaces and will focus on specific elements and not write them off entirely.
I do think a variety of tactics is important, just like in leftist movements. It takes a lot of different approaches to tackle these huge systemic problems. No one is making me do street theater. I can choose not to like it or think it’s effective. But it doesn’t mean it never reaches anyone or that people don’t enjoy that outlet.
Edit: I should probably explain how that connects lol - so even if I don’t like it and people think it gives vegans a bad image, I don’t think the meme is literally true. People will take issue with even the mildest perceived criticism. I am very careful to not discuss it in some circumstances but if someone asks for dietary restraints and I answer sometimes even that makes them defensive. You can’t win.
Someone once pointed out to me that if non-vegans’ critiques of how PETA operates actually worked to further PETA’s goals, those making the critiques wouldn’t be non-vegans
That sounds like a textbook example of confirmation bias 😅 It also ignores the idea that it takes a lot of different tactics to reach different people.
I do know people who were swayed by PETA and I think those are the folks who end up taking that approach themselves. They might not immediately jump into it, but they do it because it worked on them.
Conversely, that’s why I focus on antispeciesm and that it isn’t some giant sacrifice.
The vast majority of commonly spouted anti-PETA information is pure meat industry propaganda. They have spent so much money to paint PETA as cartoonishly evil, and people just bought it hook, line, and sinker. Yes, they have pulled some abrasive and controversial publicity stunts. No, they are not, as an organization, kidnapping and euthanizing healthy animals. They’re just passionate animal lovers, and just like within any large organization, people make mistakes. The difference is if someone makes a mistake in most charitable organizations it’s treated as such, where any mistake made by someone even peripherally related to PETA is attributed to the organization as a whole as a deliberate, malicious act.
Wasn’t one of the main anti-PETA websites run by that crazy Tiger King guy because they called out his animal abuse?
When I was 11/12 and first going vegetarian I was pretty disturbed by the material PETA included in their informational packet. Why would anyone want a poster or a sticker of an animal at slaughter let alone multiple image options for both formats? I was scared my parents would find it and think I was into some kind of cult.
(I don’t think they’re an industry plant though, they just don’t have the most effective tactics).
Yes, but not because they’re trying to divert attention away from quiet, polite, easily ignored vegans, but as an alternative to orgs like ELF/ALB that do direct action against slaughterhouses, offices, spike trees, stuff that threatens to make these companies non-viable.
I think people are already predisposed to dismiss vegans or make fun of them for various psychological reasons. I only mention my veganism when I have to and even then I get all the weird comments about protein, etc. One cousin asked me if I would eat a chicken if they paid me 1 million dollars or some shit. I live in Morocco and people who make these comments don’t know PETA
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
never attrbute to stupidity what can be adequately be explained by malice.
???
PETA is sus as freak. (They euthanize completely fine or treatable animals, and they even took a little gal’s dog)
I don’t have a problem with animal rights stuff and veganism, I have a problem with PETA.
Completely fine and treatable animals.
They do sometimes euthanize healthy animals, just like your local Humane Society does. The thing is, there are no-kill shelters in Norfolk, VA. When they turn away animals because they’re at capacity, those animals either end up at kill shelters, or on the street where they’re likely to kill other animals and die a worse death.
The employees who took Maya the Chihuahua were tasked with collecting stray dogs from that neighborhood who were harassing local livestock. One of those dogs was an unattended brown female chihuahua with no tags, and they accidentally picked up the wrong unattended brown female chihuahua with no tags. You know what happened to the employees who did that? They were fired, because they didn’t follow PETA’s own guidelines about keeping animals for a certain amount of time before euthanizing them.
Sidenote, maybe you should question why that family let this chihuahua out on the street in a neighborhood where there were stray dogs attacking livestock, and also why PETA didn’t kidnap their other dogs, who were safely contained in their yard at the time.
Some further reading. Please don’t disregard it just because it comes from PETA’s website. If you disagree with anything they say, you should be able to verbalize that disagreement
Pardon me while I go on a tangent. I worked at a no-kill shelter for 10 years, so I think I’m pretty fucking qualified to say that kill shelters like PETA’s are necessary. There were cats and dogs at our shelter that we got as puppies and kittens who lived there until their teens. It feels nice to know that we’re not going to euthanize an animal just because it hasn’t been adopted, until you think about the fact that we have a limited amount of space for animals.
A dog takes up a whole dog run. A cat takes up a whole cat kennel. There is limited space for animals at shelters, and they’re always at capacity. How many perfectly healthy and adoptable animals did we turn away to be dumped on the street or sent to a kill shelter so that we could keep a chronically ill or otherwise unadoptable animal alive for years and years and years? You save one life, and condemn dozens of others to death. A no-kill shelter is just a deferred kill shelter.
…sus as freak…
Jesus fucking christ…
That’s not what they are saying. They are saying PETA is just a bunch of morons, not calculating meat people.
I’m like 90% sure if you look up whatever make you think PETA is going around stealing and euthanizing pets, you’ll find an industry plant.
Named Nathan Winograd. Dude would condemn any number of wild animals to a grizzly and painful death to maintain his superiority complex about euthanizing companion animals. It’s obviously so much better to let disease spread, create more feral companion animals, and condemn more tens of thousands of prey animals to death than it is to euthanize one (1) cat.
The one conspiracy theory I believe is that, generally speaking, conspiracy theories are psychological operations to distract from class consciousness.
I think at this point we’ve all realized PETA is a trash organization, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re funded by the meat industry; I’m not going to forget that while the Gaza genocide was going on, the only thing they had to say was that they wanted to rescue donkeys out of Gaza; Not the people of Gaza, but the donkeys; I hear all the time that humans are animals too, but apparently you’re less than that if you’re a person from the global South being genocided by a Western government. They’re either zionists, or just your average white liberal.
I feel like PETA can get pretty misanthropic, so I do have to wonder if it’s racism or just not giving a shit about people. Wouldn’t be surprised at all by both, though.
I don’t think vegans care about their image. They care that you stop putting money in this industry
Am vegan, can confirm.
Occam’s Razor says otherwise
Either way, I’m still going to eat chicken and eggs.
Vegans: -exist-
People like you: DON’T MIND ME LOUDLY MENTION I LOVE MEAT
Honey please, don’t pretend vegans aren’t out here constantly demonizing and berating people for living natural lives and eating natural diets the only way they can. The old joke, how can you tell someone is vegan? Don’t worry, they will tell you.
It is always baffling how persons who chose to live alternative lifestyles feel the need to tell everyone to conform to their objectively unnatural diet/lifestyle.
The idea that vegans just announce themselves constantly isn’t true for the vast majority of vegans. Sometimes you do need to mention it, like when picking a restaurant in a social group with people who don’t yet know you’re a vegan. I do the same as a vegetarian, and I did the same when I was a vegan. You know who was very loud though? Annoying people who interrogated me on how dared I not eat meat (and this was a whole lot more common when I was a vegan).
Just stfu.
objectively unnatural
The least you could do, if you’re not a complete psychopath, is just admit that you’re going to eat meat, no matter how wrong it is. This psuedo-rationalist stuff just doesnt hold up to any scrutiny.
You’re a hypocrite. It’s ok, we all are on some level.
Is it definitively wrong to eat meat? All animals die, should their flesh be wasted? Since you will eventually die is it wrong that you were born? Isn’t it wrong to deny that cow a few years of munching on grass in the sun lit fields? If it wasn’t bred for food consumption, it would never have existed.
Is it definitively wrong to eat meat?
You’re not sitting around waiting until animals die to eat them. The meat industry is not waiting until an animal dies of old age, disease, or a freak accident.
According to the definition of veganism that would technically be vegan.
The Vegan Society defines veganism as: Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose
It’s not exploitative or cruel to eat flesh which died for natural reasons. It is exploitative and cruel to prop up an industry which treats animals like objects to be slaughtered painfully at your convenience.
Since you eventually die, is it wrong that you were born?
This is a non-sequitor that implies that it’s okay to kill animals because they eventually die. Ethically, there’s a huge difference between killing someone and someone dying a natural death.
Isn’t it wrong to deny that cow a few years of munching on grass in the sun lit fields?
You don’t only eat grass-fed beef if you ever go out to eat at restaurants. Most cows aren’t grass-fed because we literally don’t have enough grass on this planet to feed them all. Also, grass-fed cows produce more methane, which is a massive contributor to climate change.
Beef cows are slaughtered at 18 months old, and dairy cows are slaughtered at 4-6 years old when their milk production drops. Cows can live 15-20 years naturally, with the oldest cow being 48 years old. Doing the math, that’s like if I killed you when you were 18.
Stop pretending what we do to animals is nice. Just admit you don’t really care about what they go through and would rather eat a burger.
If it wasn’t bred for food consumption, it would’ve never existed.
That’s an argument for existence having moral weight. By this logic, all humans would have as many babies as possible because we’re depriving potential babies of their existence.
Or are saying that it’s okay to do whatever we want to someone, as long as they “owe us” for being the cause of their existence? In that case, I beg you not to have kids.
People with any “restricted diet” (I don’t think animal bodies are valid food, so I don’t consider it a restriction) have to remind people of their diet rather frequently—people eat food a lot, and veganism is rare.
Also, veganism is prefectly natural. The massive amounts of caged animals? That’s the unnatural thing. This is just appeal to nature (a logical fallacy), anyways.
But which will you eat first?
Yeah I enjoy eating a hamburger in front of a cow.
Look at me! I’m masculine! I’m eating meat! I’m not doing it because I was brainwashed into wanting such a thing and being told how to achieve it by the people selling it! I’m just fuckin EDGY at these soy losers!
Guitar riff! Skateboard! Backwards baseball cap! Crossed arms! Don’t mess with me, buster!
That’s… disturbing.
Cows are probably not going to last long given everything that’s happening. They take up too much spave and resources. Pretty much anyone responsible with a backyard can have 2-4 chickens.
Problem is that dairy production results in more cows (because you can only milk during/after pregnancy). So, unless dairy consumption goes way down, we’ll always have excess cows kicking about, which makes them very cheap for the meat industry.
Crows have proven themselves to be exceptionally intelligent and resourceful. They may well outlast us.
I believe they said cows?
Oops.
Domesticated cows are cooked.
I have a medium-sized garden in my house with a few chickens and a tree.
That’s how I oppose chicken factory farms.
Cows are so affectionate though!
