If you’ve ever done any research regarding animal cruelty, you’ve probably heard of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). On the surface, they seem like a great organization that is fighting against animal abuse. Unfortunately, PETA has done more bad than good.

According to a study in 2020, 2,595 dogs and cats were received by PETA but only 1.2% of them were adopted. The rest were euthanized, all of which were perfectly healthy animals that could have been adopted.

If this isn’t bad enough, PETA has compared the abuse of animals to the Holocaust on multiple occasions. Not only is this an extreme way for PETA to express their views, but it is also horribly offensive.

On Feb. 22, 2019, Steve Irwin's birthday anniversary, PETA responded to Google’s tweet about their Google Doodle featuring the “Crocodile Hunter,” accusing the beloved wildlife advocate of harassing and abusing animals. Anyone who has heard of Steve Irwin knows that he was dedicated to fairly treating all animals as well as learning and teaching about them.

On the surface, PETA seems like a trustworthy organization that should be donated to and supported. After all, who doesn’t want to see animals being treated fairly?

However, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that sheds light on what PETA truly does and believes. The unfortunate thing is that many people don’t know about the horrible things this organization has said and done.

I am all for putting an end to animal abuse, but PETA takes their opinions to the extreme, claiming that shearing sheep hurts the animals, Seeing Eye dogs are “servants” to blind people and more ridiculous claims that simply aren’t true.

As a final piece of evidence exposing PETA for the organization they truly are, they are supporters of Joe Arpaio, a white supremacist, all because he cut meat out of prisoner’s diets. However, he did this simply because it was too expensive and thus saved the country from spending $200,000 per year.

In a 2011 report made by Phoenix New Times, Joe Arpaio “oversaw the worst pattern of racial profiling by a law enforcement agency in U.S. history…” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The fact that PETA supports a person like this goes to show that PETA is not who many people think they are.

Nobody likes to see animals being abused or mistreated, and many people fight for better laws to prevent people from getting away with animal abuse. However, PETA is clearly not the organization that should be supported and praised for its work. While it is good that they rescue animals, a majority of them are euthanized to “alleviate their suffering” despite the animals being in perfect health.

By making the truth about PETA more widely known, I believe that we can help bring an end to animal cruelty in a much better way than PETA has for the past 41 years.