PETA is well-versed in the use of the media to push home its point. On one NBC Today show, PETA had a man dressed in a lobster suit show up to protest the day after live lobsters were cooked in a television demonstration. PETA consist of approximately 100 paid staff who are all vegetarians and passionate about the cause. The activists often demonstrate at fashion shows by showing up wearing real furs that are smeared in blood. Where do the furs come from? They are given to the group by former owners who have been converted by the awareness campaigns of PETA. PETA, like many extreme activist groups, makes no apologies about its tactics or

PETA’s credibility is up a creek. Wisconsin State Journal. April 7, 1996, 3B.

PETA history. http://www.askjeeves.com/main/metaAnswer.asp?MetaEngine=Direct+Hit&logQID=478CA8FE59E6D31180BA0090277350E7&qCategory=BUS_&qSource=0&frames=yes&site_name=Jeeves&scope=web&r=x&MetaTopic=PETA+%3E%3E+People+for+the+Ethical+Treatment+of+Animals&MetaURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peta-online.org%2F&EngineOrdinal=3&ItemOrdinal=1&ask=PETA+metasearch&origin=0&MetaList=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peta-online.org%2F&x=18&y=7, Feb. 2000, 1-3.

Many argue that animals have no rights in reaction to PETA’s efforts. Somewhere in between the two extremes a balance must exist, but many still argue that PETA goes too far in its tactics, like pelting people with bologna at an anti-meat demonstration. Others feel that PETA goes way overboard in their efforts, like their recent attempts to stamp out sport fishing. One of their more melodramatic statements regarding sport fishing is “Just because fish don’t scream doesn’t mean they don’t suffer” (Credibility 3B). However, those with a less zealous fervor argue that PETA does not realize how much its extremism actually turns many people away from the animal rights movement. They also argue, that in the case of sport fishing where captured fish are returned to the water, more fish are saved than PETA could ever hope to rescue through efforts that turn off most people: