Dissident Dan said:
activistcash.com is put together by the smear group Center for Consumer Freedom which has the agenda of attacking any group which tries to discourage or prohibit any sort of currently legal transaction. They even attack Mothers Against Drunk Driving: http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/17
Okay, so sure, they have an agenda of their own, but as far as I can tell, they aren't presenting inaccurate information. It seems nearly impossible to find any sites that present a balanced view of pros and cons regarding PETA. They are either completely pro animal rights or completely anti-PETA. I did locate a site that had PETAs IRS records, the ones that are available to the public because they are a non-profit organization, and it did show donations to ALF itemized. However, I'm not going to post it because I will concede I can't verify the forms weren't doctored. If they are real, very little of their money was going toward actually helping any animals. Most was paying for offices, brochures, advertising.
I was able to confirm that the FBI considers ALF a domestic terrorism threat:
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress04/lewis051804.htm
But the connection between PETA and ALF seems pretty circumstantial from what I can locate.
Anyway, my biggest concern with PETA is that they don't help the animals they say they are helping. If you want to help animals, donate food and blankets to your local animal shelter. There are no kill shelters, ones that won't euthanize any animal coming in unless it is too sick for keeping it alive to be humane...donate to those.
I just want to clarify something that seems to have gotten confused...I'm not in any way claiming those chickens were not abused. I saw the video, and those two men in the video definitely should be carted off in hand-cuffs. The reason I raised doubts about PETA was not to suggest those animals were not abused, or to suggest it was somehow excusable, but instead, I will wait to pass judgement on the entire corporation running that farm until the case is properly investigated and they get their day in court. It serves PETA's agenda to suggest this is a widespread problem throughout the entire industry, and while that's possible and should be addressed if it is, it is also possible this is a very isolated incident. Again, I'd like to know if the person witnessing this behavior reported it to a supervisor before videotaping it and putting it on the news. If a supervisor was aware of it and allowed it to continue, then they are equally to blame. However, if nobody brought it to the supervisor's attention and didn't give them an opportunity to correct the problem, then isn't the person witnessing (i.e., videotaping) these acts who did nothing to stop it also an accessory to the crime?
One very real problem is insufficient oversight of these producers. USDA is charged with inspecting these farms and ensuring they are meeting acceptable standards for treatment of the animals as well as cleanliness and safety. However, USDA is very underfunded and understaffed. They just don't have enough inspectors to get around to all these farms in a timely manner. This is a flaw in one of the things PETA lobbies for. They want USDA to add oversight of all laboratory rats and mice to their responsibilities (oversight of these species are already covered by the lab animal welfare act and NIH as well as at an institutional level). If USDA had to add that to their responsibilities, their inspectors would be spread even thinner, which would likely have a more detrimental effect on animal welfare by allowing those who break the rules to go longer without being caught. Now, if they simultaneously lobbied to increase USDA's budget to include more inspectors, it wouldn't be such a bad thing, although redundant.
