I don't know about any of you, but I found this documentary extremely hard to watch...but worth every minute of it....

http://www.peta.org/feat/HBO_I_Am_an_Animal/index.asp

Blessings Bright and Dark,

Painting her as a saint right?  Only telling you the nice pretty stuff?  the truth about PETA would make a true animal lover sick.  Here is a video of Penn and teller exposing the unknown side of PETA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMJVnTYxHVc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf-_wgTRgGc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfP8qtJLxJ0&feature=related

This episode was divided into 3 parts to be put on youtube.  if you want to support animal right support the SPCA

And I will freely admit I use to support PETA. until I watched this episode of Bullshit.

Dude, that was scary. Why is it that causes that start out with a simple innocent message get warped into something horrible?  The simplest way to stop so many animals from being homeless is to get yours fixed or be able to take care of the possible babies that could come about.  At least that's the way it seems to me.

That is why Ben would not allow Kimiko out until we had her fixed.  Not sure she'd have been a good mama anyway, to unstable.  I love her but the cat is bipolar.  Of course it could be because life started out kind of rough for her.  Ben found her under the house when she was just a little bitty thing.  She was old enough to eat cat food but far to young to be alone.

I have heard of a great program being done by animal shelters and nonprofit organizations where they will trap feral cats that can not be tamed and spay or neuter them, give them shots, then return them to where they came from.  Not a perfect solution but it helps to reduce the unwanted animal population.

Hey that's better than screaming at people and not listening to all sides of an issue

i agree bramble the best course of action is to get your pet fixed.
as for other animals i think they taste great mmmmm.
one thing that wasn't mentioned that should have been is those companies that do slaughter the animals also use every single part of the animal. nothing is waisted even the blood is put to use.
i also hunt and use every part of the animals i take. i do support orginizations like the the humanie society and the aspca. i have never agreed with PETA .

One of my best friend's little sister is a supporter of PETA. She's a very intelligent, responsible young lady. So, looking on the bright side here, there could be a few sane ones in the organization.  They are just very rare. I've watched quite a few of the PETA videos and as disterbing as they are. They give no info beside how badly the animals are being treated. Also it's always the same videos over and over, probably filled with images back before everything was as regulated as it is now. I'm not downing PETA, the original idea is a good one, but if you're going to try and get new members and fight for a certain cause, make sure any information you have is up to date. Oh as a side note, why is it that most organizations that support a certain thing, be it animals, abortion, or orange soda, always give you just one side instead of both side so you can make an informed choice?

I like lobbying and fighting for safe and responsible and caring treat ment of animals, I have no problem with that.  fighting for animal liberation however just seems wrong.  dogs and cats have evolved for centuries to fit better into our homes.  If we turned them  loose, several of their natural instincts would have died, and many I don't believe would survive.  
Personally, I have an issue with factory farms and the way that many slaughter houses are run.  I don't have a problem with meat, just want to know exactly what's on my plate, and know that it had the best possible life under the circumstances.  for that reason, we buy half a cow every year from a family friend with a small hobby farm.  when it's butchering day, if I can make it, I come over and watch every step, and more often than not end up up to my elbows in entrails helping and learning about butchering.  they've taught me to take a chicken all the way from sqwaking and pecking the ground to a lovely roasting chicken ready for the oven on my own.  If I can't buy from them, I tend to eat kosher meat, because they have laws saying that the animal must be killed in the most pain free way way possible, and they spend more time sharpening their knives to the point where it's virtually painfree than they do killing with those knives. I also hunt.  I would say that the majority of the meat I eat, is meat that I've killed.  again, until I got to it, it lived a free, happy life.  I spend hours at the range, and naturally have great aim, so it's VERY rare that I don't kill with the first shot, and if I do injure an animal, I rush IMMEDIETLY to finish it.  I don't often hunt deer because I don't agree with the common practice of shooting it, it runs in pain, and you track it until it finally drops dead.  
So yes, I like my meat, a lot.  And yes, I do agree that it's natural for us to want meat, but we can choose to do so in a way that is more humane.  
.... ok, I'm sorry, off my soapbox now...
Kathartica

I'm having visions of farm animals mooing, clucking and wandering all over downtown Houston.  I don't think it would work somehow.  The first time some Donkey sat on the hood of some guy's Beamer, you know it would be an all out war.  beat a dead horse

you know in most slaughter houses they use a pressurize (gun) to kill the animal i know with cows they put them in a holding corral lock down the head and line up the air gun that shoots a peace of cotton into the brain causing instant brain death. the critter doesn't even moo. so atleast in my veiw that is pretty humaine.
when i hunt i use a bow a stalk my prey. i use old style armor pearcing arrow heads to. i don't like guns i know how to use them and am a good shot but just don't like to use them.

PETA started out as a few people who really cared.  What often happens when organisations  get so big, their message and missions get warped, and the bigwigs inside all have different agenda's.  Corruption is rife, after all, there is a lot of money to be gained through animal rights funding, with many large donations from often anonymous sources.  

My reaction to this is to do my bit, and report anyone who I think is being cruel.  Not that I'm in any way snitty, but I wont think twice about reporting cruelty, and have done so in the past.

Im a strict veggie, my choice and I dont push it down peoples throats (pardon the pun)...I respect all forms of llife where I can in my life....if we all did that, there wouldnt be a problem.  I respect the carnivors among us, but good condtions and humane treatment are a must, whether animals are being bred for the food chain or kept as pets.

As with many things in the human realm, greed and monetary gain are the driving forces behind many of these organisations...

Nuff said

i tried to go veggie once the two weeks of being sick was enof for me. my body requires meat and i don't mind it so much because when i realized that plants have feelings and can hurt too there was no differance whether it was vegtable or animal.
i agree with cromots if they want something to do instead of throwing fake blood they should work to protect animals in nature and make it public about what they are doing wareness on the situations is what is truely needed.
not a bunch of idiots running around having a water fights with fake blood. and in that documentry thing if she wouldn't have done what she did she wouldn't have been put in that french jail in the first place. it was her own fault as my mom told me if you can't accept the consiquences of your actions you shouldn't have done it.
well there is my two bits

Torrvald/Cromotos,

Nowt as strange as the human body, if I eat meat - eugh sluggish, bloated and no energy!  

I didnt realist that until I tried the veggie thing....many moons ago now!

Enjoying this thread makes an interesting read

innerstrength
being a veggie is good for you but not for others statisicly speaking there is only 25% of the worlds population that require meat. i am one of those that do. with out meat i get headaces, dizzy, throwup, have no energy and am generaly sick.
i was even taking all the suploments i was sopose to. So good for you on being veggie. I'll be enjoying a big fat juicy chunk of animal meat and be happy