The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals remains a controversial topic for any pet owner. PETA appears in the news a lot and most people do not understand their true intentions. I am choosing to write about this topic because I want to inform the public that has never known much about PETA the truth about what they do on a daily basis. I also want to learn more about this topic myself and fully understand why PETA partakes in euthanasia and deceives the public. I am a breeder, and PETA affects that everyday by attempting to give responsible dog breeders a bad name. They believe all animals should be spayed or neutered but if that were to happen, all the healthy pets would be gone. When adopting a pet from the shelter, you never know what kind of genetic diseases they could have and I have to argue this on a daily basis to people who believe in what PETA is preaching. I am qualified to write about this topic because I have seen first hand the effects of PETA employees and I want to better educate myself and others about the truth.

Although PETA stands for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a person working for PETA admitted that they kill more animals than they are able to save. Statistics show that PETA does not use no-kill shelters and when unable to find homes for the animals, they are euthanized. This remains unfortunate because these animals (cats and dogs mostly) are healthy and ready to be adopted, but instead euthanized because the shelters used don't have enough room. PETA prides itself on it's image of protecting and loving animals, but the euthanasia statistics don't agree. A PETA employee admits to killing these animals, and even provides the official Virginia state document proving that they kill hundreds of animals in Virginia eat year. The author, James McWilliams, is a professor at Texas State University where he has a history of reporting and investigating on agriculture. I believe he is biased in that he does not like PETA, he gives multiple statistics that make PETA look bad and writes his article in a tone that shows he is against what PETA does.

PETA has an 89% euthanasia rate between both cats and dogs and firmly believes what they are doing is acceptable. PETA doesn't just euthanize pets that are unadoptable, but also pets whose owners can't afford it. Although the SPCA doesn't believe in euthanasia, the excess animals have no where else to go and the SPCA understands that euthanasia will never end. PETA does the dirty work of euthanasia as no-kill shelters and the SPCA do not want to be in the killing business. The SPCA and no-kill shelters stand firm in that they believe animals should have every chance they can at being adopted. Author Julie Scheidegger writes many articles on having your pets' best interests in mind. From Vet clinics to how your pet should ride in the car, this author writes to insure every pet will be well taken care of. This author's biased towards wanting animals to live and not believing in PETA's euthanasia methods when she writes mainly on the best ways to care for animals.

PETA is suing the California Milk Advisory board because of their Happy Cows ad. PETA claims that the ad portrays an ideal dairy farm that does not exist in real life. Dairy cattle produce up to 10 gallons of milk per day in less than ideal conditions, they are also bred multiple times in their lifetime in order to maintain cash flow at the dairy. PETA believes the 'Happy cows' ad about "great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows come from California" is a lie the California Milk Advisory Board is telling the public. The American Association of bovine Practitioners Animal Welfare Committee however believes that the award winning ad is just an ad and not portraying every dairy farm in California. The author, Elizabeth Weise, wrote this article for the USA Today in 2002. This article is credible because it would not have been published if the editor and everyone who reviews these articles did not believe it was a credible article. This author did not have any bias, she wrote about both sides of the law suit and sited sources from both.


This research question is arguable because although it is controversial, it is not too controversial to convince someone that my bias and argument could be correct. My first two sources seem to agree that PETA euthanizes animals more than trying to get them adopted. However, the second source believes PETA is just doing the job that no one else wants to do, where as the first source out right criticizes PETA for their choices to euthanize so many animals. I understand where my second source is coming from, no-kill shelters and the SPCA were not founded on the idea of killing animals and do not want to be a part of it, this forces PETA to euthanize all the sick and dying animals that the other guys wouldn't. I might need to adjust my research question to broaden my research and sources.

