Dear animal lovers, I have some bad news for you. The most well-known and supported animal rights United States-based organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), isn’t an organization you want to be giving money too. Though they appear to help animals from the outside, they’ve been known to systematically murder them and degrade human rights campaigns with their own.

Ninety percent of all animals PETA takes in are euthanized within the first twenty four hours, despite PETA’s claims that that euthanasia is a “sad reality caused by people who abandon animals, refuse to sterilize their animals, and patronize pet shops and breeders instead of adopting stray animals or animals from animal shelters.” According to this distressing report from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, only six percent of all the animals PETA takes in are found proper homes. This report caused so much controversy that the Center for Consumer Freedom petitioned for this particular PETA facility to change their classification from adoption facility to slaughterhouse.

Here are the 2011 statistics for how many dogs and cats PETA “rescued”, versus how many made it out of their facilities alive. Of 760 dogs that PETA took in, 713 were euthanized. For cats, 1,211 were taken in and 1,198 were killed.

PETA also has skewed logic. They believe in total animal liberation – which advertises that humans should stop not only eating meat and dairy, but stop using dogs as seeing-eye animals or police assistants. They are also against any and all animal testing. Makes sense, right? No animals should be harmed in making products. However, PETA also advocates against using animals in medical labs, where they won’t be harmed, and where they had help achieve scientific breakthroughs in curing diseases like AIDS and cancer. They give money (money that was donated by good people who legitimately want the best for animals) to criminals. They support groups such as the North American Earth Liberation Front, which was deemed a domestic terror group by the FBI for many cases of arson and destruction of property.

PETA also claims that milk causes autism in a desperate attempt to stop people from consuming dairy products. They prey on scared parents and reference outdated studies to support their claims that have been disproven time and time again. They’ve also been scorned for using advertisements like this bloodied sheep, claiming that shearing sheep for wool hurts them, when in actuality, sheep need their wool to be sheared to stop it from getting too heavy and hot. Another misinformed ad. They continue to use awful advertisements to gain support.

Speaking about awful advertisements, PETA has plenty. This article outlines some of the most controversial PETA ads that have been put out in public – warning, the link contains graphic images and nudity. PETA is famous for using religion as a marketing tool, and their ads sexualize women for the sake of “shock value”. They use graphic (and photo shopped!) images of beaten animals. But that’s not all. PETA has put out numerous advertisements comparing animal abuse to the Holocaust, using disturbing imagery to make money off of the most horrific genocide in human history.

Still not convinced? In 2009, PETA protested against the Westminster Dog Show by dressing up in white robes with pointed hoods. That’s right – they were once again using “shock value” to compare the American Kennel Club to the Ku Klux Klan.

So, please, please, don’t give your support to PETA. It endangers more animals then it can save (and this website has a more indepth study of PETA’s injustices) and isn’t worth anyone’s time or money. Instead, support your local "no-kill" animal shelter. Rethink where you’re putting your money and instead research areas near you that are truly for animal rights.