Another action group has set its sights on the auto industry, this time its People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA has the Chrysler Group in its crosshairs for a loose connection it maintains with the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race held in Alask, which officially starts this Sunday. Clearly PETA has a problem with using sled dogs as an engine for ground-based transportation over snow. We get that. What we don't get is why the organization is attacking the Chrysler Group.
Automotive News reports that Dodge actually sponsored the Iditarod for three years in the early '90s. Dodge backed off, however, in 1993 when Alaska's Dodge dealers group took over primary sponsorship of the event. The dealers dropped the sponsorship in 2003, and ever since Ron Udd, owner of Anchorage Chrysler-Dodge (a single dealership) has paid $300,000 a year to be the official sponsor.
PETA claims on its website that DaimlerChrysler is a sponsor of the 2007 Iditarod, which obviously is not the case, and invites its members to contact who it refers to as "DaimlerChrysler Corporation CEO" Tom LaSorda (Uh, that would be Dieter Zetsche, did you mean to say Chrysler Group CEO?). The organization conveniently has a page set up with a letter all written, all you have to do is type in your name and hit send. When did protestors get so lazy?
Regardless of your feelings towards the plight of sled dogs, PETA could at least put in the leg work to get its facts straight before it aims its gun of righteousness at the wrong target.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
BREAKING: GM and Chrysler talking about merger
Spy Shots: Nissan 370Z again, with interior shots
2010 Mazda3 unveiled ahead of LA Auto Show
Spy Shots: Nissan 370Z caught undisguised
GM on Corvette ZR1 cancellation rumor: "Not true."
Knight Rider: The Liveblog -- Season 1, Episode 3
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Mazda RX-8 R3, return of the "hummer"
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Chevy Corvette Z06
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
Paris 2008: Le Day 1 Wrapup
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
jgp @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:35PM
It is a known fact that PETA funds and supports terrorist groups and arsonists.
I don't see why the opinion of a group of people who belong in Gitmo matters.
Jay @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:36PM
>PETA could at least put in the leg work to get its
>facts straight before it aims its gun of
>righteousness at the wrong target.
Why start now?
Reg Kirby @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:45PM
PETA is a bunch of idiots with to much time on their hands. They generally use misinformation to solicit funds for their "causes". I hope Daimler sues their butts off to shut them up.
Mike Jenkins @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:52PM
Having a prefabricated letter to send out makes it that much easier for Tom LaSorda to set his spam filter to block all of them.
david @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:20PM
strange how peta has no e-mail address so we can tell them what a bunch of ass-holes they are.
s0crates82 @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:46PM
Registrant Name:Dan Constantineau
Registrant Organization:PETA Foundation
Registrant Street1:501 Front St
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Norfolk
Registrant State/Province:Virginia
Registrant Postal Code:23510
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.7576227382
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:dan_c@fsap.org
Whois lookup data. Publicly available, so I don't feel bad providing it.
Also, provided by peta, on their webpage:
http://www.peta.org/about/contact2.asp
PETA
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-622-PETA (7382)
757-622-0457 (fax)
info@peta.org
Mike @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:53PM
Just what Chrysler needs; more bad publicity, right or wrong it doesn't matter. Bad publicity is bad publicity, why let the facts get in the way?
Bob @ Mar 2nd 2007 8:33PM
Good thing these weren't sucidal robotic sled dogs. Then it would really hit the fan.
Somebody wake me when common sense makes a come back.
far jr @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:00PM
I saw a jacked up 4x4 with gun racks and hunting dog boxes in the bed. Oddly it displayed a P.E.T.A. sticker on the bumper. I was curious so I investigated the smaller letters around the P.E.T.A... It said P.eople E.ating T.asty A.nimals... Funny indeed.
Simon Ritchie @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:01PM
I'm not sure what all the aggression aimed at PETA is all about, but I hope that Chrysler puts some pressure on the Anchorage dealer to stop sponsoring that crap. I should rightly be prosecuted for animal cruelty if I ever put MY dogs through that kind of nonsense. Good for PETA for standing up against that stupid dog race.
lzaffuto @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:50PM
I don't want to hear anything about the "ethical treatment of animals" from an organization that euthanizes thousands of healthy and adoptable dogs per day and throws them in trashbags simply because they think people shouldn't keep them as pets.
far jr @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:55PM
Technically, PETA is likely against peanut butter unless it is organically grown. Any crop that is sprayed to increase productivity could kill those poor little insects that feast on the crop. That is how extreme PETA is. They are so extreme they are funny.
They don't want you to drink milk or eat cheese, yogurt, or ice cream because those poor cows shouldn't need to be milked for your benefit.
They argued that the grub worms and rodents eaten on "Survivor" constituted cruelty.
Fishing should be outlawed because we all know how much Tuna fish suffer when caught.
THAT is the PETA I make fun of!
Talis @ Mar 2nd 2007 9:55PM
Bill Hancock, the sad part is Simon is not kidding. This is actually GOOD for the dogs, as this is what they were bred for. The dogs like doing this and the Iditarod race is supposed to foster good will for everyone.
Peta is just being what it always has been, I whack-o left-wing group dedicated to the destruction of human life. These are the same people who break into pet stores to "free" the pets, who then soon die because the pets do not know how to survive in the wild--many of them not being indigenous to the area they are sold.
In fact, there was a news report not too long about highlighting just how messed up peta is... they actually kill more animals than they help so they are report stats that are always in their favor, in that they are needed because I am a bastard for having a pet dog.
If that's not enough, pets claims that owning a Seeing Eye dog is cruel, and that the practice of helping people live a normal life should be stopped.
PETA must be stopped.
K Smith @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:20PM
Here ya go!
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/IHATEPETA
Joseff @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:09PM
PETA is right! Racing dogs in the Iditarod is just cruel. I propose we race hundreds of Hummers across Alaska instead. How's that?
Barney @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:14PM
Maybe some of the posters who have just written, will actualy go to the dog race and see first hand what these animals must go through. Rather then PETA pulling the sled, maybe the poster should at 30°F below . Actualy it's just another race for money but not man against the elements but man pitting the dogs against it. If the dealer represents the manufacturer, then he will be doing so as a sponsor. The money spent is to advertise the product he sells.
Barney @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:26PM
"This is actually GOOD for the dogs"
And how many have died in this goodness over the past five years, Talis?
William @ Mar 2nd 2007 11:55PM
Yeah, the Iditarod is horrible to dogs. Forcing them to run to exhaustion. A lot of dogs have died in this "race." I hope Chrysler gets some common sense and stops supporing the Iditarod.
JC3 @ Mar 3rd 2007 12:24AM
Most PETA activists are pro abortion.It's a sorry state of affairs When an unborn human life is worth less than an unborn animal life.Priorities.
innocent bysitter @ Mar 3rd 2007 1:09AM
Several dogs have died in the Iditarod. Are you saying it’s good for a dog to be run to death because he was "bred for it"? Or that the dogs who died "liked doing this"? It’s more like "good for us" than good for them. As such, you also lie as badly as PETA often does.
People die running marathons, heck, even climbing stairs. So, I guess we should all live in one-level houses and ride Segways.