Posted on 08/27/2007 6:35:57 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Who's Killed More Animals?
Vick Case Ignites Battle Over Animal Rights
PETA Defends Euthanasia for Sick, Dying Pets: 'A Tragic Kindness'
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Aug. 27, 2007
The fur is flying in an increasingly acrimonious fight over animal rights between two nonprofit groups after revelations that NFL star Michael Vick ran a dogfighting ring.
The Center for Consumer Freedom took a full-page ad in The New York Times today, citing the Vick case and accusing rival organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) of hypocrisy and animal euthanasia.
"Who's Killed More Animals," the ad asked Michael Vick (8) or PETA (14,400)?
The Center for Consumer Freedom bought the ad for more than $181,000, the most expensive category of "political" display advertising in the prime "A" section, the Times told ABCNEWS.com.
"PETA loves to point the finger at others when they should be looking at their own record of killing more than 90 percent of the animals left in their care," according to the ad.
The group cited records from the Virginia state veterinarian and court documents on what it called PETA's "roving death van" that "killed dozens of dogs and cats, tossing them into a trash Dumpster."
By the end of today, PETA had faced off against its critics on "Your World" with Fox's Neil Cavuto.
PETA countered that it upholds its motto: "Animals are not ours to eat, wear or experiment on." They said that the numbers cited in the ad are incorrect and that the only way to avoid destroying animals is to spay and neuter pets.
Hidden Agenda
PETA put The Center for Consumer Freedom in its sights, which it says has a hidden agenda.
"This is typical of an organization that is basically opposed to everything that is good for Americans," said Daphna Nachminovitch, director of PETA's domestic animal department.
"We've struggled hard against the overpopulation crisis in the nation's 6 [million] to 8 million animals in shelters each year," she said. "Half are put to death and it's the fault of breeders and pet stores. It's a tragic necessity."
In other campaign ads, the center has defended food, alcohol and tobacco interests.
Some of its recent news releases include "Deep Fried Hysteria," "Banning Junk Food Isn't the Answer to Curbing Obesity," "Bird Flu Epidemic Not Likely" and "Vegetarian Diet and Cancer."
The Center for Consumer Freedom told ABCNEWS.com its agenda is simply educational and PETA had "a nasty track record."
"We are very open about the fact that we are funded by the food companies, as well as getting a lot of money from individual donors," said Sarah Longwell, communications director. "We simply educate about the other side the people wearing the white hats."
Longwell said the organization had a "dramatic" response from the ad and didn't mean to suggest that it approved of Vick's behavior.
"PETA is trying to exploit the issue for their own gain," she said. "They are not morally superior and they are not as credible as their name would suggest."
"They go around trying to judge people all the time for eating meat and wearing fur," Longwell said. "They do this under the guise of protecting animals."
Nachminovitch said the ad's claim that 96 percent of PETA's animals were euthanized was misleading.
Destroying Animals
The organization has euthanized 45,000 animals since 2001, primarily in poor areas of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia where animals are abandoned, often left abused, sick or dying. None of them, she said, were "adoptable."
"Many of the animals that we take in for euthanasia are from the pounds where they are gassing them and shooting them," she said.
"This ad is not surprising," John Stauber, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, told ABCNEWS.com. "They've been getting millions of dollars to go after PETA. It's an ongoing saga."
The man behind the ads is Richard B. "Rick" Berman, a former labor management lawyer and restaurant industry executive, who, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, works as a lobbyist for those industries. As the sole owner of Berman & Co., he "fronts" groups that defend his clients' corporate interests.
According to a July 31, 2006, profile of Berman in USA Today, his company has 28 employees and takes in $10 million a year, an unknown amount of which goes to Berman and his bookkeeper wife.
Under various groups, Berman has gone after secondhand smoke, mercury in fish, mad cow disease and obesity.
"He primarily operates as a 501-c3 [IRS-declared nonprofit organization] and it's easy to hide whose giving him money," said Stauber. "Now he's taking advantage of all the public attention given to Vick to elevate the attack in a more visible way."
Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons' quarterback, pleaded guilty today to supplying most of the gambling money for fights on his southeastern Virginia property and endorsing the killing of poorly performing dogs.
Past Ties
Some of the industries who have funded Berman are the livestock trade, fast food industry and restaurants like Hooters. During the national secondhand smoke debate, Philip Morris was one of his clients, according to the Center for Democracy and Media.
"He sets up front groups with industry funding and then attacks the industries' critics," said Stauber, "but he keeps his funders out of the press."
The Center for Consumer Freedom must reveal its donors to the Internal Revenue Service, but not to the public. "People think nonprofits are quite transparent, but it's a great way of hiding your contributors," said Stauber.
PETA stands by its work for animals, despite the ad claims.
And what about the "death van" that The Center for Consumer Freedom claimed had whisked away scores of animals for death?
PETA says the men were acquitted on animal abuse charges, a fact the ad does not mention.
"The case was highly dramatic," she said. "One of the shelters was using a windowless, rusty gas box to kill animals en masse. Dozens of cats were killed in the box. Animals were sick with parvo [deadly virus] and drowned. One puppy was found eating a kitten."
Said Nachminovitch, "We were performing a kindness by giving them a good death."
Who's killed more animals? Vick (8) or PETA (14,400): People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) loves to point the finger at others, when they should be looking at their own record of killing more than 90% of the animals left in their care. According to government records PETA has killed more than 14,400 animals since 1998.
Killed? Or, eaten??
I was lifting weights a week or so ago and Golds Gym keeps tvs on the wall tuned to sports networks and they were interviewing two of the Redskins, Portis and Samuels, and the two honestly did not understand what the fuss was about; they told the reporter they could take him to a dogfight any time he felt like it.
The reason animal rights activists are more passionate about fur than leather is because it's safer to harrass rich women than bikers...
This reminds me of a huge fight I had with my wife when I said that no-kill shelters were just dodging the tough moral decisions by refusing to intake the animals that are normally euthanized by traditional shelters. So basically they are offloading the killing onto other regional shelters while patting themselves on the back for their good work. I don’t have a problem with this attitude, but it is worth considering what would happen to sick, severely compromised, or hyper aggressive animals if all shelters and veterinarians started behaving this way.
I’m not defending Vick or PETA, but your analogy is a bit skewed.
How many members does PETA have?
1 man (Vick) killed 8 dogs.
So unless PETA has 1,800 members or less, the ‘kill ratio’ leans heavily in Michael Vick’s camp.
It doesn’t matter. Vick is a sadistic punk with a fat wallet. His apology is insincere and rehearsed. His only reason for an apology to to try and shorten his jail time. PETA has killed far more animals through gassing and lethal injections, and they really need chastizing for it.
Vick did it for sadistic pleasure and to enjoy watching an animal in pain.
Hey, it’s a black thing. You wouldn’t understand.
I think it was just two, Peta workers, that had killed hundred in North Carolina. So your reasoning is a bit skewed since members are those fools that send them money. And Peta volunteers and employees do the killing.
Obviously, PETA is more guilty.
But, I don’t think they tortured the animals. It seems to me electrocution and drowning are tortuous.
Point well taken.
Both Vick and PETA are, IMHO, cruel and heartless.
Vick’s killed more than 8 I am sure. Didn’t they find the remains of a bunch more on his property?
Anyway, both are evil. I’d have a hard time deciding.
lol
I would just respond by any vandalism of my fur by saying “OH good now I can go buy a new one!”
“Vick did it for sadistic pleasure and to enjoy watching an animal in pain.”
Amen to that!! What a freakin Liar he is that he denied anything to do with it initially. Moreover it was HE who bankrolled the operation buying the property, funding the kennel for gambling and punking around. That he should suddenly SAY he found Jesus is obnoxious. He’s a sadistic punk and his apology falls short in so many ways and mostly to those poor dogs he tortured. I hope he never plays football again. I can’t stand looking at his lying face. UGH!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.