ETHOS: How well do you build credibility, trust, and likeability with a wide audience?
-I think I built my credibility pretty good by finding credible sources.
Do you cite and quote your sources appropriately? Do you introduce their credibility before citing evidence and claims from them?
-I cited and quoted my sources very well and introduced them to the best of my ability
Are all of your sources credible?
-My sources were credible and provided accurate data and information
Do you present how you are connected to the issue/any background you have in relation to it?
-I believe I stated how I am connected to my argument and the background knowledge I had.
Have you conducted enough research that your audience feels you are knowledgeable about your subject?
-I conducted a wide range of research from PETA’s accomplishments when they were first formed to their flawed logic and statistics of their animal euthanasia rates.
Do you appeal to a wide audience? Do you address and concede to at least one opposing view or reasonable conclusion that differs from your own?
-I feel I appealed to not only neutral audience, but my hostile audience as well.
Are you empathetic, understanding, and respectful in your language to the community that the issue most negatively effects?
-I was respectful in my language towards my argument by not saying how I truly feel on the subject
Is your solution ethical?
-I feel my solution is ethical in that disbanding PETA would help keep healthy, perfectly adoptable pets alive to find their forever homes.

LOGOS: How well does your message appeal to logic, reason, and (plenty of) evidence and support?
– My message appeals to reason by the evidence I provided on PETA’s illegal activity and how they overuse shock value to force people to go vegan.
Are all of your claims backed with enough evidence to persuade a critical audience?
– I feel I provided accurate claims with loads of evidence to show how the corruption going on in PETA. This evidence includes an FBI report on two eco-terrorist groups they support and give aide to
Do you avoid fallacies and contradictions?
-I am confident I avoided fallacies and contradictions because of the evidence I read and used to help support my argument

PATHOS: How well do you appeal to your audience’s emotions in an ethical way? How well do you inspire your audiences to take positive action for the well-being of the broader community?
– I feel I appealed to my audience’s emotions by expressing facts about PETA’s euthanasia statistics and quotes from the president of PETA Ingrid Newkirk.
Do you show empathy and respect for your audiences?
-I showed empathy towards the animals lives lost and I hope audience feels the same way.
Are you caring and passionate about your issue? Have you made an effort for this to be evident in your language?
– I am very passionate about my issue because this organization is government funded, but uses those funds to “humanly kill” adoptable animals and helps eco-terrorist’s, who blow up labs, go free out into the world.

I hope I did this right……hopefully

Karyn Clark

Janel Spencer

Writing 101S

10 December 2019

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: PETA

            Is PETA a real shelter? Should PETA continue to get government funding every year? Why does PETA throw their employees under the bus when the company is face with scrutiny?

“Ingrid [President of PETA] said that an effort to adopt out an animal was a waste of PETA’s money and effort. As stated previously, I was specifically told by my supervisors at PETA to tell people that we would find good homes for the dogs and cats, even though we knew the animals would be euthanized.” (Quote 19 and 20 from the affidavit)

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a worldwide organization that has been around since 1980. When they were first founded, they fought for the rights of animals by proving that labs and farms were abusing and mistreating the animals they experimented on. In 1981, they were the first organization to give evidence of animal mistreatment that led to a police raid on a Maryland research facility. However, PETA has forgotten what they stand for over the years. In this essay, evidence of PETA mismanagement, mistreatment, and illegal activities will be shown, as well as a solution to dismantle and allocate government funding to no kill shelters, while also eliminating eco-terrorist groups that PETA associates with.

PETA, in recent years, has decided to employ shock value in their commercials and demonstrations. An example of the shock value being used; is when some of their supporters in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2015, dressed semi-nude in the meat department of a grocery store to try and convince consumers to go vegetarian for Christmas. Two young women laid nude under a plastic sheet with fake blood around them, this also included a parody price tag that had phrases on it like: “Flesh is Flesh” and “Millions of animals are abused and violently killed because you eat meat.” This type of demonstration tried to use shock value as a tactic to argue against the meat industry. PETA Campaign Coordinator, Marie Claire Macintosh, stated in the demonstration video “It’s important to show compassion by turning vegetarian, because by eating meat, whether you are aware of or not; it’s cruelty to animals.” PETA relies on the shock value to gain supporters and express an extreme opinion on an industry people can chose to be a part of.  

PETA is not the no-kill shelter that they claim to be. There have been cases of PETA taking animals out of people’s yards, euthanizing them within the hour of being taken, and disposing their bodies in unhygienic fashion such as; a wash, or in one case, a grocery store’s trash bin. In June 2005, two PETA employees Adria J. Hinkle and Andrew B. Cook, were caught and arrested for dumping animals they euthanized in their van, into the trash behind a grocery store, saying, “They stank.” Hinkle, one of the employees of PETA charged with animal cruelty, denied in her testimony that she “Promised overwhelmed animal shelters in northeastern North Carolina that the animals taken by her group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, would not be euthanized.” Her company obtained these animals under false pretenses. Both Hinkle and Cook were charged with 21 counts of animal cruelty, but while Hinkle was on administrative leave, Cook continued to work at PETA. In the same case, one veterinarian came forth to say that PETA came to their shelter and told them they were taking the animals to a no-kill shelter, but sadly that was not the case and these animals never got the chance to find their forever home. PETA is one of the largest organizations in the world, but they would rather “humanely euthanize” the animals they take in than try to find these animals their forever homes.

In an official FBI Report, there was an operation called “Blackeye” where it is said that PETA provided aid and comfort to known ecoterrorist groups such as Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF). In the FBI report it states:

“During the past several years, however, special interest extremism, as characterized by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), and related extremists, has emerged as a serious domestic terrorist threat. Special interest terrorism differs from traditional right-wing and left-wing terrorism in that extremist special interest groups seek to resolve specific issues, rather than effect widespread political change. Such extremists conduct acts of politically motivated violence to force segments of society, including the general public, to change attitudes about issues considered important to the extremists’ causes.”

To know that PETA supports a group like this shows that they will go to any length to force the world to push their extremist agenda. Lisa Lange admitted on a FOX News broadcast, “We did it, we did it. We gave $1,500 to the ELF for a specific program”; people had tried to ask PETA what Lisa meant by “specific program” but there was no explanation.

No kill shelters are better than PETA because they only euthanize if the animal is severely sick or, in the rare case, too aggressive to be rehomed or rehabilitated. I know there are shelters in the world that lie about being “no kill”, but it’s the shelters that no one sees in the media that save 90% or more of the animals they take in. A non-profit shelter in Tucson called Pima Animal Care Center, is a fantastic shelter that takes animals in, finds them homes or finds their owners, offer cheap spay and neuter services, and they help in animal abuse cases. In their 2018 annual report they saved 90% of the 53,948 animals they took in. Another shelter called Best Friends, is another nonprofit organization who is dedicated to saving 90% of the animals they take in. These types of shelters host events to encourage citizens to adopt or donate. These shelters are usually the ones you don’t hear on the news and they do the most for the community by offering services, like spay and neutering along with microchipping, to low-income neighborhoods.

An article posted by Consumer Freedom talked about an affidavit about PETA from 2000 and a former employee named Harper-Troje, who was part of PETA’s Community Animal Project, that admitted that PETA is obsessed with death. In the affidavit Heather was only employed at PETA for less than a year. There are thirty-nine sworn statements from Heather about Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, being in-charge of the Community Animal Project, how being at PETA felt like an indoctrination, she was told there were too many dogs and cats without homes so killing them was the best option, she was also told that she had to lie to former owners that she will find them homes but she was euthanizing them that day. Heather regrets doing these heinous acts to perfectly healthy puppies, kittens, grown dogs, and grown cats.

While, PETA may seem to have all sorts of negative light today, there have been good things they have done for the benefit of animals. They’ve done things like expose animal test facilities and call out high profile companies, like Coco-Cola, for animal testing as well. PETA played in iconic role in 1984 by exposing a Texas slaughterhouse for mistreating about 30,000 horses. PETA has helped change the minds of so many individuals. They have helped changed laws so that animal cruelty is a felony instead of a misdemeanor. PETA is very much against SeaWorld using Killer Whales and Dolphins for entertainment which is good because SeaWorld doesn’t provide adequate room for any of their species.

My solution to this problem is to disband PETA as a global organization, along with all the programs and groups they support, have the government stop funding them, and have the government use those funds to support and help the shelters that are no kill shelters. Why support an organization that is know for supporting eco-terrorists when there are plenty of no kill shelters who could use the help. No kill shelters are non-profit organizations who deserve to be heard and who deserve to be supported the most. Going to your local no kill shelter and volunteering will help tremendously and motivate you to do better in your own community. Donating to your local animal shelter will provide the animals with comfort and yummy treats every day.

Works Cited

“35 Things That Aren’t Happening Today Because of PETA.” PETA, 24 Sept. 2015, http://www.peta.org/features/35-years-of-peta/.

Animal Custody Records, arr.va-vdacs.com/PublicReports/ViewReport?SysFacNo=157&Calendar_Year=2018.

Animal Custody Records, arr.va-vdacs.com/Reports06/BuildPublicReport?vCategory=All&vReportYear=2018.

“Animal Rights Extremism and Ecoterrorism.” FBI, FBI, 18 May 2004, archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/animal-rights-extremism-and-ecoterrorism.

“Annual Statistics.” Annual Statistics – Pima County, webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=258040.

“Former PETA Employee: PETA ‘Routinely Euthanized Healthy Puppies and Kittens.’” Center for Consumer Freedom, http://www.consumerfreedom.com/press-releases/former-peta-employee-peta-routinely-euthanized-healthy-puppies-and-kittens/.

Newkirk, Ingrid. “Why We Euthanize.” PETA, 1 Feb. 2018, http://www.peta.org/blog/euthanize/.

“No-Kill Initiatives.” Best Friends Animal Society, 27 Sept. 2019, bestfriends.org/our-work/no-kill-initiatives.

“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): Funding Sources, Staff Profiles, and Political Agenda: Activist FactsActivist Facts.” Activist Facts, http://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/21-people-for-the-ethical-treatment-of-animals/.

“PETA Worker Apologizes for Animal Carcasses.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 2 Feb. 2007, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16930039/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/peta-worker-apologizes-animal-carcasses/#.Xd6N0VdKhPY.

Simpson, John M., et al. Animal Law Developments, 8 Feb. 2019, blogs.duanemorris.com/animallawdevelopments/2019/02/08/peta-animal-shelter-continues-to-show-high-rate-of-euthanization/.

“The Stories Behind the Statistics.” PETA, 1 Feb. 2011, http://www.peta.org/blog/stories-behind-statistics/.“Why Does PETA Use Controversial Tactics?” PETA, 7 July 2010, http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/why-does-peta-use-controversial-tactics/.

Topic: Local no-kill shelters vs. PETA
Introductory Paragraph
1. What is the difference between local no-kill shelters and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)?
– No-kill shelters, for example PACC in Tucson, believe that every animal should have the chance to find a loving home.
– PETA has claimed to be a “no-kill” shelter, but on their website they give reasons as to why they euthanize.
–

Thesis: PETA is a global organization that has killed more animals than all the shelters in America. Instead of funding an organization who is known to kill we should be funding no-kill shelters who save 90% or more of the animals they take in.
Claim:
1. PETA says they love the animals they bring in, but they only like to euthanize them.
Evidence:
1. PETA’s blog has an article on why they euthanize. “even if the best we can offer them is a painless release from a world that doesn’t have enough room for them in its heart or homes.”
Claim:
2. PETA wants owners to sterilize their pets or if they want to breed their pets to have a breeding permit.
Evidence:
2. From their blog site they state, “Require dogs and cats to be sterilized unless their owners purchased an annual breeding permit.”

Who is better, PETA or local shelters?

            My use of rhetoric:

Pathos: PETA is the worst organization in the world. They kill animals they claim the care about. They dispatch vans who take animals from their own homes, euthanizes them (illegally), and dumps their bodies in washes or grocery stores. \

Logos: Their logic is flawed by having two separate articles saying how good no kill shelters are then later have an article on “deadly consequences” of no kill shelters. If they post a legit article they only source themselves and no other creditable source. They have an article on why they euthanize their animals and that it is necessary.  

My solution:

My solution to this problem is to disband PETA as a global organization, along with all the programs and groups they support, have the government use those funds to support and help out the shelters that are actual no kill shelters.

            No-kill shelters use of rhetoric:

Pathos- Usually for commercials or on their website they will show you pictures of animals they have helped over the years and they usually give a background story on how the animal to be in their care. Seeing the animals that got re-homed evokes a feeling of happiness in an audience because you know that animal now has a forever home.

Logos- Their logic is all animals are worth saving. They only euthanize on the rare case that the animal is too dangerous to rehabilitate in the community or there is an irremediable suffering going on in the animal

Ethos- No-kill shelters like “Best Friends” started the no-kill movement in 1984 and has inspired other shelters to care for all animals. Shelters who are no-kill end up saving and rehoming 90% of their animals every year.

Thesis:

            PETA is an organization who claims they are a no kill shelter, but statistics say they kill over 90% of the animals they take in, while local no kill shelters have saved 90% of the animals they receive (stats Animal Law Developments came out with).

Paragraph #1

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a worldwide organization that has been around since 1980. When they were first founded, they fought for the rights of animals by proving that labs and farms, around the time founded; were abusing and maltreating the animals they experimented on. In 1981, they were the first organization to give evidence of animal mistreatment that lead to a police raid on a Maryland research facility. PETA has forgotten what they stand for over the years. PETA, in recent years, has decided to employ shock value in their commercials and demonstrations. An example of the shock value being used; is when some of their supporters in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2015, dressed semi-nude in the meat department of a grocery store to try and convince consumers to go vegetarian for Christmas. Two young women laid nude under a plastic sheet with fake blood around them, this also included a parody price tag that had phrases on it like: “Flesh is Flesh” and “Millions of animals are abused and violently killed because you eat meat.” This type of demonstration tried to use shock value as a tactic to force a vegan way of living down a normal/non-vegan citizens’ throats. PETA Campaign Coordinator, Marie Claire Macintosh, stated in the demonstration video “It’s important to show compassion by turning vegetarian because by eating meat, whether you are aware of or not, it’s cruelty to animals.”

Paragraph #2

PETA is known for taking animals out of people’s yards, euthanizing them within the hour, and dumping their bodies in either washes or in one case a grocery store’s trash bin. June 2005 two PETA employees, Adria J. Hinkle and Andrew B. Cook, were caught and arrested for dumping animals they euthanized, in their van, in the trash behind a grocery store saying, “they stank.” Hinkle, one of the employees of PETA charged with animals cruelty, claimed in her testimony, “she had ever promised overwhelmed animal shelters in northeastern North Carolina that the animals taken by her group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, would not be euthanized.” Which is wrong to say because her company obtained these animals under false pretenses. Both Hinkle and Cook were charged with 21 counts of animal cruelty, while Hinkle was on administrative leave, Cook continued to work at PETA. One veterinarian came forth to say that PETA came to their shelter and told them they were taking the animals to a no kill shelter, but sadly that was not the case and these animals never got the chance to find their forever home.

Paragraph #3

In an official FBI Report, there was an operation called “Blackeye” where it is said that PETA provided aid and comfort to known Ecoterrorist Groups like Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Bruce Friedrich, PETA’s vegan campaign director and third-in-command, said at Animals Rights 2001 convention in Virginia, “blowing stuff up and smashing windows…a great way to bring about animal liberation.” How is blowing up buildings and potentially harming other humans a good way to bring about animal liberation? This support of these organizations is horrible, and PETA knows exactly who they are and what they do. Lisa Lange admitted on FOX News, “We did it, we did it. We gave $1,500 to the ELF for a specific program,” people had tried to ask PETA what Lisa meant by “specific program” but there was no explanation. Law enforcement came out to say that ELF is a criminal organization who “programs” are not legal.

PETA maybe one of the largest organizations in the world, but they would rather “humanly euthanize” the animals they take in than try to find these animals their forever homes.

Paragraph #4

No kill shelters are better than PETA because they only euthanize if the animal is severely sick or, on the rare case, too aggressive to be rehomed or rehabilitated. I know there are shelters in the world that lie about being “no kill”, but it’s the shelters that no one sees in the media that save 90% or more of the animals they take in. Heartland Animal Shelter, opened in 2002, has been saving more than 90% of their animals. They have stated on their website some of their statistics “Since 2007, we have saved at least 95% of the animals in our care each year. Now, we are saving 97.5-98.5% of animals annually, even with our increased focus on saving the most vulnerable populations of cats and dogs!”

Essay #1 and #2 Grammar Errors
– Capitalization Rule: The first word of a direct quotation
Error: “it’s”
Corrected: “It’s”
Error: “congress”
Corrected: “Congress”
– Comma Splice Rule: Instead of comma insert a period after first independent clause
Can put semi-colon in between independent clauses
If you keep comma add conjunction-> “for”, “and”, “nor”, “but”, “or”, “yet”, “so”
Error: “family, we would laugh,”
Corrected: “family and we would laugh,”
– Comma Rule: Use commas to separate nouns of direct address from the rest of the sentence
Error: “high school graduation I really didn’t expect”
Corrected: ” high school graduation, I really didn’t expect”
Error: “most of all he is my dad”
Corrected: “most of all, he is my dad

Who is better PETA or local shelters?

            PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) use of rhetoric: Pathos (done)
Logos- Their logic is very flawed when in the last year they put down about 99.3% of the animals they claim they care so much about. Instead of linking creditable sources they link their own website.
Ethos- Claim they expose animal cruelty on farms and the entertainment industry. They have claimed in the past that they are a “no-kill” shelter.

            My use of rhetoric:
Pathos (PETA)- PETA claims that they want to help animals, but in many cases, they have admitted to giving money to ecoterrorist groups such as ELF and ALF. PETA is known to take animals out of people’s yards claiming the animal was a “stray”, euthanizing them the same day instead of waiting the required five days, and sometimes dumping the body on someone else’s property (June 15, 2005 North Carolina)
Pathos (No kill shelters)- No kill shelters take great care of their animals, all they ask is to give donations of either pet beds, food, and toys. Places like PACC (Pima Animal Care Center) hold events around the holidays that you can volunteer for to help find these animals homes.
Logos (PETA)- PETA’s logic is if you own an animal then that animal is better off dead than living in a human home.
Logos (no kill shelters) – When you get your pet from a no-kill shelter they are already up to date on vaccines, are spayed/neutered, and you get a free vet visit at any time.

            My solution:

My solution to this problem is to disband PETA as a global organization, have the government not fund this organization anymore, and use those funds to help real no kill animal shelters.

            No-kill shelters use of rhetoric:

Pathos- Usually for commercials or on their website they will show you pictures of animals they have helped over the years and they usually give a background story on how the animal to be in their care. Seeing the animals that got re-homed evokes a feeling of happiness in an audience because you know that animal now has a forever home.

Logos- Their logic is all animals are worth saving. They only euthanize on the rare case that the animal is too dangerous to rehabilitate in the community or there is an irremediable suffering going on in the animal

Ethos- No-kill shelters like “Best Friends” started the no-kill movement in 1984 and has inspired other shelters to care for all animals. Shelters who are no-kill end up saving and rehoming 90% of their animals every year.

Thesis:

            PETA is an organization who claims they are a no kill shelter, but statistics say they kill over 90% of the animals they take in, while local no kill shelters have saved 90% of the animals they receive.

Paragraph #1

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a worldwide organization that has been around since 1980. When they were first founded, they fought for the rights of animals by proving that labs and farms back then were abusing and maltreating the animals they experimented on. In 1981 they were the first organization to give evidence that lead to a police raid on a Maryland Research Facility. In today’s time their use of pathos is the shock value in their commercials and demonstrations. An example of this is when some of their supporters in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2015 dressed semi-nude in the meat department to try and convince onlookers to go vegetarian for the holidays. This demonstration might persuade some to go vegetarian for the holidays, but most of the time using this type of shock value has been known to traumatize not only children, but other adults.  

The opposing side paragraph:
For someone who supports PETA I would imagine seeing articles on the amount of animal cruelty would make me sad and angry. I would want to support a large organization that looks like they are doing something not only on the internet, but also in public about animal cruelty. Watching the videos PETA posts on their social media would bring emotions like sadness that cruelty still happens, but also anger that no one would want to help these poor animals. I would make donations to help out the shelters they claim to have in each state, maybe take a defenseless stray animal to one of these shelters.

What surprised me the most was educating some people on how PETA is bad. I encountered no hostile audience, but if I did I think they would try to argue on how PETA is a good organization who “put’s animals out of their misery” and support them as a “no-kill shelter”. From a neutral audience I would think they would have seen how “good” PETA is but also see the bad that they do and they don’t know which to believe. I encountered a sympathetic audience who agreed with my solution to disband PETA and use the funds for real no-kill shelters.