I must respond to the posts going up about this article, mostly because my boss--PETA's president--is the biggest car nut on the planet. (In her free time, she runs a site called www.NameThatDriver.com and gives away bumper stickers reading "Free the Daytona 500" and "Support the 25 Hour Le Mans - because there are never enough hours in a day." I think that will make more sense to some of you than to me.)


Folks, you've all heard the expression "going straight to the top." PETA is aware that the actual presenting sponsor of the Iditarod is Anchorage Chrysler Dodge, a local dealership. We also know that Chrysler headquarters has the power to mandate and/or pressure the local dealership to stop sponsoring the event. And they should.


In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to run more than 100 miles per day, with few, and brief, intervals of rest. They are subjected to freezing winds, snowstorms, sub-zero temperatures, and falls through ice into frigid water. Their feet become bruised, bloodied, cut by ice, and just plain worn out because of the vast distances they cover. Many dogs pull muscles, incur stress fractures, or become sick with diarrhea, dehydration, intestinal viruses, or bleeding stomach ulcers. Dogs have been strangled by tow lines, trampled by moose, and hit by snowmobiles and sleds.


PETA's Tactics:


PETA is an activist organization working to educate the public about the horrors of animal suffering through totally peaceful means; we do not engage in activities in which anyone, human or other-than-human, is injured. For more information about our work, please visit http://www.PETA.org/about


Our work in North Carolina:


We regret that the two PETA staff members were convicted of littering for disposing of animal bodies in a Dumpster. PETA's policy requires that euthanized animals be cremated, not disposed of in this way.


The two PETA staff members were cleared of all other charges, including cruelty to animals. Since these charges were first made in June 2005, PETA has maintained that they were politically motivated by anti-animal groups with connections to local dogfighting, dog-breeding, animal agriculture, and hunting interests. Among these is an organization described in The New York Times as a "front-group" for wealthy industries that are threatened by PETA's success in bringing about animal welfare reform. Please learn more about this group at the following Web sites:


http://www.ConsumerDeception.com
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=20200

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you left out the part where you were horribly wrong and didn't do your research.

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Although many of these unfortunate incidents have occured in the past every precaution is now taken to insure the well being of the dogs. With inspections by vets at every checkpoint, and each individual dog having his or her feet, inspected, medicated to prevent damage to the pads from snow and ice and a fresh pair of boots applied every four hours during a rest stop the dogs are kept in good health. Mushers will also not run a dog who is in poor health as that slows down the team, hence the dog will be flown to Anchorage for proper care and recouperation. In regards to moose attacks, most racers carry firearms to protect their teams and are frequently succesful. The dogs also are extremely well prepared for the Alaskan cold as they have been bred for centuries in this climate and as such are quite comfortable in what we would consider poor weather. Finally in reference to abuse my mushers in such cases as strangulation by to lines or simmilar cases, any musher who has commited an act of cruelty to a dog during the race will recieve a life time ban from the Iditarod and as such all other major races. Precautions have gone so far as to ban use of tow lines and if caught a musher will be disqualified. So please lay off the the Iditarod

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PETA is evil, and two faced.

Anyone see Penn & Teller's Bullsh*t! on the subject? It was great. Everyone should watch it.

Once again:
Peta = Evil morons.

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Jennifur --

I GET IT!!
Animals are defenseless and cannot resort to terrorist tactics (well, many several thousand species can, but we like to think the cuddly ones would not)--- therefore, any ridiculous thing you guys do is OK.
Did your bos tell everyone not to buy a Mercedes because of leather seats? NO-- cows aint so cuddly. And I am sure it hurts the trees to cut them down for the anachonistic wooden trim.
My point -- our relationships with animals are all part of human nature, human history, and of Nature itself. Elite snobs pick on the parts they want to.

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Ms. O'Connor:

I understand that you are responding in behalf of your employer, and therefore must answer these comments in a manner that puts your employer in the best light. However, I take issue with your comments in that they unfairly skew the facts and offer speculative-at-best evidence of politically-based persecution.

Though your organization does state that it does not directly engage in activities in which anyone is injured, it fails to state that it does directly engage in activities in which animals are killed. In fact, your boss, Ingrid Newkirk, has been quoted as saying, "Our service is to provide a peaceful and painless death to animals who no one wants." In fact, according to records, an average of approximately one-quarter of the animals taken in by PETA are euthanized.

On the same point, the organization also fails to recognize its ongoing financial and moral support for groups such as the Animal Liberation Front. The Animal Liberation Front itself is considered a "terroristic threat" by the United States government. These groups have members who have been accused and convicted of terrorist activities and do condone the injury of humans if it means that even one animal can be "saved". These members accept monetary contributions from PETA's annual budget, along with public praise from PETA's employees and executives.

You also mention that it is PETA's stance that the charges brought against its employees in North Carolina were politically motivated by "anti-animal" groups. This is purely hearsay, and a highly defensive position to charges that were very severe. Rather than denounce the illegal activities, you have chosen to redirect the attention to those who brought the charges upon the convicted. This might be taken as a silent condoning of the illegal activities the employees were charged with. Someone with an active imagination may think that these are standard practices among PETA's employ.

I think it behooves you to address these issues, as there appear to be many readers of Autoblog who take issue with your organization even when not presented with the correct information.

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Mr. Flanagan, you said "an average of approximately one-quarter of the animals taken in by PETA are euthanized."

In 2005, PeTA euthanized OVER 90% of the animals they took in. (Those that were reported, that is. Since testimony during the Hinkle/Cook trial tells us that nobody noticed the white van was coming back empty, I think it is safe to assume that those animals were never reported to VDACS)

In 2004, PeTA's euthanasia rate was around 85%.

These figures come from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services itself, not any third party source. (VDACS is the government agency to which every shelter, rescue, and humane society must report annually by law.)

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