I must first address the misuse of the term "animal rights organisation" when referring to either PeTA or the HSUS. This is a common misconception of both organisations which commonly leads to the majority of debates, endless troubles and infinite disappointments.
In actuality, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are an animal advocacy group targeted toward consumerism.
In fact, I would actually go so far as to dub them a consumer advocacy group with focus on animal issues, but nothing more at this point in time.

In contrast, The Humane Society of the United States is not a consumer group at all, but an animal welfare and advocacy group, in place only to ensure the "proper" treatment of animals within legal confines. When something happens which involves animals, whether the animals happen to be farm animals, lab animals, companion animals, etc. HSUS is there to try and make the situation better for them.

I would secondly like to address this statement, "PETA is the most effective large-scale animal rights organization (which the animal rights movement needs if it wants to expand)" which is also wholly untrue as PeTA are actually unravelling the movement with their constant stream of ridiculous antics and ultimately creating a bad image for vegans and true grass-roots activists everywhere. They're not helping any of the grass-roots organisations at this point, and they're certainly not doing anything for animals directly. PeTA2 is even more of a joke, as they go around promoting burger joints such as Johnny Rockets who make their money in cattle blood from factory farms, yet offer one ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT so-called "vegan" option which isn't actually vegan since it's made by Kraft whose parent company engages in loads of cruel and unnecessary animal tests so that they can avoid lawsuits from stupid people who deliberately and consciously injure themselves anyway (cigarette smokers).

Finally, a statement that "They haven't sold out nearly as much as the Humane Society of the United States has," must also be met with yet another rebuttal.

Although I'm monumentally displeased at the HSUS for absorbing Cleveland Amory's Fund For Animals after his death and then acting against his will, it's really not related to any failure on their part to actually live up to their original purpose. I'm annoyed because FFA really was a true, grass-roots animal rights organisation which has now been watered down into an advocacy group attached to a protection and welfare agency designed to work in accordance with government standards and by-laws.

This is why they turn in AR activists, but they're not actually "selling out" when they do such things. They're simply trying to remain in good favour with the government so that they can continue to do their jobs without being labelled as "terrorists" or "terrorist aids."

However, the HSUS do actually help animals in a far more direct way than PeTA has done or is even expected to do .

One example which springs immediately to mind is this incident which happened nearly two years ago and was my very last dealing with PeTA before I decided to wash my hands of association with them entirely. During that time I was still under the mistaken impression that PeTA might care to use the billions of dollars they take in for any direct action work to actually help animals instead of pouring it all into silly faux “awareness” campaigns and wasteful leaflets which in turn lead to overfilling landfills and deforestation. Unfortunately, like countless other young activists hoping for change and looking for a bigger sibling for guidance, I was sorely disappointed. Granted, after several years of working with them in other areas I really didn’t expect too much. However, I did find myself getting a bit upset considering the amount of money annually being absorbed by the organisation and seeing it swallowed up into leaflets (which I’m not allowed to recycle in the city of New York due to the materials used) and bullshit propaganda.

Any idea who actually did go in to save the day in that case?

The Humane Society of the United States sent in $10,000 USD and assisted the National Guard in airlifting many of the animals to safety.

This is actually the sort of thing the HSUS exists with intention to do.

Unfortunately, people seem to think that this is why PeTA exists as well, and this is what leads to a great deal of controversy.

I hope this post clears up any confusion for anyone here who has any doubts, expectations or misinterpretations as far as the roles of either group is concerned.

Each group has a defined purpose, and whether or not that purpose is made clear is subject to interpretation as well as representation. I simply don't believe that PeTA actually present themselves for what they really are, hence my lack of support for what they do (in combination with my outright opposition to their blatant disregard for the environment or human health and welfare in general).

If you want to focus on animal rights you must go grass-roots.

"Consumer advocacy is actually a key component of animal rights, because if more people are aware of the health-risks associated with consuming animal products, then more people would eliminate them from their diet."

The interesting thing about the information they release for the purpose of raising public awareness regarding "health" and such related issues is made completely irrelevant by way of pushing products which are absolutely terrible for human health as well as the environment. Chemicals, genetically modified organisms, artificial garbage all promoted because it’s considered “vegan.”

Then of course there's soya.

Soya is absolutely terrible for everyone and everything, yet they push it like crack on a schoolkid living in a housing project. Why is that? Why do they happen to push mainly products which have been produced by major corporations responsible for environmental damage, irresponsible farming practices and possibly factory farming as well? Why push products from companies owned by bigger corporations who actively engage in animal testing?

As I've mentioned before, PeTA is a consumer group. Not even a consumer group with public interest in mind, but with corporate interest holding the reins 99.9% of the time.
Much like the government, their loyalties lie in the laps of many large corporations and they are willing to put nearly every shred of dignity, righteousness, or public safety at risk in order to help these businesses succeed.

What do you think I was doing with them for as long as I worked for them? One of my many roles in life has been that of a promotional spokesmodel. I was pushing shitty product and half-baked propaganda for reasonable profit until I finally realised exactly what I was doing and how destructive these things really were.

Not cool.

"I agree with a lot of what you just said, but groups like PETA, HSUS, ASPCA, etc are really just trying to get amimal rights and vegan/vegetarian options mainstream, and I would have to agree that for the most part they are succeeding."

These organisations are actually not trying to do those things, as that is not part of their agenda. Each organisation has a different agenda, and I have no idea where you even got the impression that the ASPCA could even be part of this equation. They're a different entity entirely, and have a totally unrelated purpose. If you want to talk about their shortcomings, I'll have to begin an entirely different thread to talk about how their shelters gleefully euthanise countless numbers of animals per month and send them away in big collection vehicles sent their way by Procter & Gamble, the notorious makers of IAMS "pet food" which is made from rendered down "pets" who have died at the hands of shelter technicians.

For some reason I'm getting the distinct impression that you either didn't read my post in its entirety or you're having trouble grasping everything I've stated within. Read that post again if you don’t fully understand or merely skimmed it. There were many points which I feel have already addressed your last post, yet you seem to have missed them or blanked them out when composing your reply. Consider doing some research on what you’ve read here, follow up on the things you find, talk to others who have also dealt with the organisation in the past if you like. Most of the other activists with whom I associated during that time have also cut ties, as the difficult lessons I learned were hard felt all around and many of us have posted our experiences in various places.

I'm definitely anti-corporation and I’m anti-federal and big government as well. PeTA is not only pro-corporate mass-production, it actually is a corporation run in part by the grace of a large government agency.
PeTA is not just any corporation.
PeTA is a non-profit tax-exempt corporation sanctioned by the IRS as engaging in work for the "public benefit."
This means that the organisation is taxpayer funded, and will never be obligated to return a thing.

The fact that they sometimes make interesting or provocative statements does not change this.
HSUS doesn't have the same effect on people, and neither does the completely non-relevant ASPCA. PeTA creates nearly as many "meatatarians" as it does herbivores, which is a really sad fact. For every PeTA-created vegetarian or vegan I meet, I meet 10 or 20 people who deliberately damage their health by consuming ridiculous amounts of meat simply because they find the organisation so offensive. How do I know this? Because every time someone happens to catch onto the fact that I survive on a vegan diet (a claim I don’t make so publicly anymore, now that I can simply refer to myself as a raw foodist), there comes this intense wave of opposition from people who automatically assume that I’m affiliated with PeTA because of my lifestyle decision.


Perhaps it might be wise to consider the fact that for every little ounce of "good" you seem to think they're doing, there is also a sea of negativity stemming from endless corruption, greed and hypocrisy in the name of corporate interest. Instead of putting all of this faith and devotion into a Big Brother organisation who has been responsible for the countless federal markings of thousands of gullible kids as "terrorists," I would suggest looking into finding or creating a more efficient way of permeating the system and bringing about change.

It is possible, but requires a great deal of work and effort--much moreso with PeTA foiling grass-roots efforts at every turn with their irresponsible behaviour and methods.

One last little thing I'd like to offer as food for thought is this:
Why is it that they choose to capitalise every letter in their acronym/logo with the exception of the one little "e" (which stands for "ethical")?

I find this small detail to be extremely telling…