PETA was threatened with being listed as a terrorist organization in Canada after one of its members assaulted Canada's Oceans and Fisheries Minister Gail Shea. During a press conference a PETA activist hit Shea in the face with a pie. The group was upset with Shea after she supported a traditional seal hunt. If PETA is listed as a terrorist group it would be illegal to donate to the organization and it would be extremely difficult for its members to travel across borders between Canada and the U.S. For more from the CBC click here.
To protest animals being used in Barnum and Bailey's Circus, PETA protested in the streets of New York and Cincinnati under the slogan: "Whips and Chains Belong in the Bedroom, Not the Circus." Activists dressed up in dominatrix apparel and wielded whips, whacking away at a fake cow. The display undoubtedly frightened more people than it inspired. Photo: Miel Van Opstal
To convince more people to convert to vegetarianism, PETA hosted a fake human barbecue in Nashville, Tenn. Activists built a grill-like platform complete with fake flames and "barbecued" a naked woman. Spectators could use spray-paint to paint the woman black, orange or red in order to symbolize cooking flesh. Photo: Ashley Good
PETA launched a campaign comparing the Ku Klux Klan to the American Kennel Club because PETA disliked that the kennel club favors pure-blood canines over mutts. "Never Breed or Buy. Always Adopt," says PETA. Needless to say, the campaign offended a lot of people (including dog breeders and the folks who just think its wrong to make light of racism). Photo: AKC
PETA is taking on McDonald's with its McCruelty campaign. Here's what PETA says about the fast food company: "In the slaughterhouses of McDonald's U.S. and Canadian chicken suppliers, birds are dumped out of their transport crates and hung upside down in metal shackles, which can result in broken bones, extreme bruising, and hemorrhaging." Photo: Andrew Hanelly
PETA wrote an official letter to Ben and Jerry's ice cream company asking them to use human breast milk for its ice cream instead of milk from cows. PETA said switching to human breast milk would help lessen the suffering of dairy cows. Ben and Jerry's respectfully declined the request. Photo: Collin Anderson
In hopes of persuading more people to become vegetarians, PETA launched its Naughty Veggie campaign. One of the group's commercials showed scantily clad women doing explicit gestures with vegetables. The advertisement was supposed to run during the Superbowl in 2009, but better judgment prevailed and the commercial was pulled. Photo: Karen
PETA has always opposed fast foot chain KFC, and they didn't stop when founder Colonel Harland Sanders died. The group made a headstone and put it by the late Colonel Sanders' gravesite that mocked him stating: "KFC Tortures Birds." Once officials found out about the stunt, the headstone was removed. Photo: Bob
But PETA didn't stop at mocking the dead, it also made light of autism. When the group found a study that suggested milk might exacerbate autism, it posted a billboard that read "Got Autism?" alluding to the well-known "Got Milk" advertisements. The billboard implied a direct link between drinking milk and having autism, which is in no way factual. Once autism groups heard about the billboard, they rallied to have it taken down. Photo: Gavin's Journey
PETA is funding the advancement in making in vitro meat. What exactly is in vitro meat? It's animal flesh that has never been part of a living animal — it's cultured by scientists in a laboratory. (Trust me, you don't even what to know how they do this). Photo: Striatic
In one of the weirdest Mother's Day displays of all-time, PETA put a naked pregnant woman in a cage in London. The stunt was supposed to raise awareness about the suffering of caged pigs and encourage people to go vegetarian. But it was 40 degrees that day, and the only thing that most spectators became aware of was that PETA is reckless and possibly insane. Photo: Sneaker dog
Every year PETA activists streak naked down the streets of Pamplona, Spain to protest the Running of the Bulls. However a bunch of naked people running through the street has failed derail the centuries-old Running of the Bulls celebration.
To get fur off the street, PETA has been collecting fur coats in exchange for money or gift cards since the 1980s. The group then ships the coats to Iraq or gives them to homeless people. Here's what PETA president Ingrid Newkirk says about the program: "When the homeless are wearing fur, you know fur has hit rock bottom." Photo by : David Shankbone
Some PETA activists care so deeply about their cause that they have legally changed their names to PETA URLs. For example, an intern changed her name to cutoutdissections.com, which supports getting rid of animal dissections in schools. It is unclear what the intern's last name is. Photo: Postdlf
PETA wants anglers to become Sea Kitten hunters, well at least kind of. The group petitioned to have the word fish changed to "sea kitten." The logic behind the petition was that if fish were named sea kittens, no one would want to eat them. I'm guessing that PETA officials have never eaten home-cooked catfish before.
PETA attempted to run a campaign arguing that animals are the new slaves. It posted photos of black slaves and child workers alongside photos of chained elephants and cows. The NAACP stepped in and convinced PETA to end the campaign. Photo: Theyoungone
In an attempt at persuading naive college kids, PETA launched a strategy to convince college kids to replace their milk with beer. The campaign didn't get too far once Mothers Against Drunk Driving heard about it. What PETA didn't know is that college students have already been trading their milk for beer for years. Photo: Michael
PETA President, Ingrid Newkirk, wants her body donated to her group once she dies. Her will states that she wants the meat from her body to be used for a human barbecue to show that all meat is the same and should not be eaten. It's unknown if this sort of thing is even legal, hopefully it's not. Photo: David Shankbone
In 2003 PETA ran an exhibit comparing concentration camps from the Holocaust to factory farms and slaughterhouses. The exhibit showed photos of Jewish prisoners alongside photos of penned-up farm animals and PETA named it Holocaust on your plate. This understandably caused such an uproar among groups that fight anti-Semitism that PETA eventually issued an apology for the exhibit. Photo: Brookford farm
From the start, PETA has always opposed wearing fur, which has evolved into their not so subtle slogan of "I'd rather go naked than wear fur." The group has gotten various well-respected celebrities (like Pamela Anderson, Dennis Rodman and Steve-O) to pose nude in support of this cause. Photo: Miel Van Opstal
PETA created a graphic comic book and preceded to hand it out to kids. The comic started like this: "Do you have a puppy you take for walks or play ball with? Or a kitty who likes to chase string? Everyone knows that it's fun to love and play with our animal friends. But how would you feel if someone took away your kitty or puppy, stomped on their head, and ripped their skin off their bodies? … One of those terrible people is your mommy." After handing out the comic books PETA went on to say: ""We would never use shock tactics with children; it wouldn't be right," according to the Center for Consumer Freedom.
PETA attempted to construct a billboard, in Greenville, South Carolina showing an overweight teenager eating a hamburger that stated: "Feeding kids meat is child abuse." For more click here.
PETA protested an attempt to break the world record number of people participating in the chicken dance in 2009 at the Talladega Speedway. They protested the event because it was sponsored by KFC. If protesting the chicken dance sounds ridiculous, well, that's because it is.
During a televised interview with CNBC, President Barack Obama swatted a fly and said: "That was pretty impressive, wasn't it? I got the sucker." PETA did not take too kindly to the president's fly murdering. "In a nutshell, our position is this: He isn't the Buddha, he's a human being, and human beings have a long way to go before they think before they act. If all this has you wondering how you can be a bigger person (figuratively, as well as literally) in your dealings with exoskeletal beings, check out our handy-dandy bug catcher–one of which we are sending to President Obama for future insect incidents," PETA says on its website. Photo: Ari Levison
Each year the Child and Family Resources agency holds a lobster boil fundraiser. In 2009 PETA stepped in, arguing that boiling lobsters is cruel, and donated a CrustaStun, which electrocutes lobsters and kills them instantly. But PETA's plans were foiled when the CrustaStun didn't arrive in time and Child and Family Resources boiled the lobsters. Photo: justmathew
Being an intern for an organization like PETA can be tough, and some cases potentially dangerous. To celebrate World Vegetarian Week, PETA took two of its interns, shrink-wrapped them and put them on display in 80-degree heat on a sidewalk in Memphis (don't worry, the blood is fake). The display was supposed to represent how horrible butchered meat is. Eventually police arrived to make sure that the two interns would not overheat or dehydrate and the display was short lived. To read more click here.
PETA wrote a letter to the president of the University of Notre Dame asking him to ban the school's fishing club. "Fishing is a blood sport that causes immense physical and psychological suffering: Fish have particularly sensitive mouths and lips that they use in much the same way that we use our hands," PETA wrote in its letter. Luckily, the fishing club is still available on Notre Dame's student activities website. Photo: tedmosbey
To protest fox hunting by the British Royal family, an "artist" named Mark McGowan ate a corgi (the dog reportedly died of natural causes). The stunt was a direct shot at the royal family, which is known for loving corgis. PETA's take on the stunt: "This little stunt was, in my opinion, absolutely inspired," as spokesperson for PETA told the BBC. For more click here. Photo: Mikael Grizzly
They criticized the president for killing a fly, they run naked through the streets and they want to ban hunting and fishing. Yes, we’re talking about the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and no, we’re not making this stuff up.