Client Factfile

1. Jess Stanton
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2. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the largest animal rights organization in the world. With more than 3
million member and supporters, PETA focuses their attention on the areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer
the most intensely for the longest amounts of time. These 4 areas are on factory farms, in clothing trade, in labs and in the
entertainment industry.
PETA was founded in March 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk (a well known animal activist and author) and Alex Pacheco, (co founder
of the organization 600 million stray dogs need you). They met in an animal shelter in Washington D.C back in 1980 where
they were working as volunteers. It was Alex Pacheco who educated Newkirk on animal rights and presented her with a copy
of Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation. ‘She said that Singer put into words what she has felt intuitively for a long time’
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Newkirk#Founding_of_PETA) Ingrid and Alex soon set up a group to educate the
people of American about animal rights as at the time the concept of animal ethics was unheard of in American however the
animals rights movement had started in England 8 years prior in 1972, Newkirk originally named the group ‘five people in a
basement.’
Before PETA was established, the only actions that could be taken in a help to save animals was to either volunteer at an
animal shelter or donate money to a humane society. Although this was bringing comfort to animals being used by humans,
people still didn’t comprehend killing animals for food, using them as entertainment or testing our products on them. This is
when Newkirk and Pacheco wanted to show people how easy it was to shop cruelty free on a healthy vegan diet and for
others to be made aware of what went on behind the walls of a laboratory or ‘behind the scenes’ in a circus. ‘PETA has a
long history of working closely with government agencies, industries, and educational institutions to push for humane,
effective non-animal tests’ http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/us-government-animal-testing-
programs/peta-funds-non-animal-methods/
PETA also have a large celebrity following and support many ranges by famous faces such as Melissa McCarthy and her
animal friendly clothing line Seven7 as well as PETA approved cruelty free make up lines from Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba,
and Drew Barrymore. In 2014 PETA enlisted the help of well known celebrities to enlighten the public and the media on
animal cruelty by getting it in the headlines. Some of these celebrities included musicians such as Paul McCartney and
Morrissey, famous designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, football personalities Phil Neville and Time Howard, Made in Chelsea
star Lucy Watson and singer Josh Franceschi from rock band You Me At Six.
The Client: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

3. The Client: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
The artifact on the right is a summary extracted from the PETA organisation of
their financial statement from the years ending on the 31st July 2014 as seen in
their annual review. PETA accepts donations from the public and with their
‘2010 donations totaling $33 million ($35 million if you add on merchandise
sales and other revenue'http://speakingofresearch.com/2011/01/18/where-do-
petas-donation-dollars-go/ they have been able to help fund campaigns in order
to reach their main goal – for animal cruelty to stop. With the help of their
international partners, PETA have managed to provide more than $1 million
dollars in funding for the development of getting animals out of laboratories. As
you can see from the statement, another £3,000,000 has been raised in 2014
from donations alone.

4. The issues:
Your client might advocate on a number of different yet related issues.
What issues does your client campaign on?
PETA help towards 5 campaigns based on animal rights and their tagline ‘Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on,
use for entertainment or abuse in any other way’ shows this. Their issues cover 5 basic animal rights under the campaign
names ‘Animals are not ours to experiment on’, ‘Animals are not ours to Abuse’, ‘Animals are not ours to use for
entertainment’, Animals are not ours to eat’ and ‘Animals are not our to wear.’ http://www.peta.org.uk/issues/
Part of PETA’s campaigns is to explain to their readers what they can do to help the campaign. Some parts include
advertising buying alternative products e.g. on their ‘Animals are not ours to eat’ campaign, informing their readers on why
not to drink milk, they encourage people to drink substitutes which ‘provide calcium, vitamins, iron, zinc and protein but do
not contain any cholesterol. Even better, they’re also cruelty-free.’ http://www.peta.org.uk/issues/animals-not-
eat/dairy/ When tackling the subject of not eating meat, to their audience, PETA explain the pros and cons of eating meat
and states that ‘Not eating meat is the simplest way to save lives of up to 100 animals every year - and to reject the daily
cruelty and animal abuse that occur in abattoirs and on factory farms in the UK and elsewhere.
http://www.peta.org.uk/issues/animals-not-eat/meat-2/
What are some of the impacts they have managed to achieve?
In 1998, PETA were campaigning against the fast food industry, for the way they treat animals. ‘In the slaughterhouses of
McDonalds U.S and Canadian chicken suppliers, birds are dumped out of their transport crates, hung upside down in metal
shackles, which can result in broken bones, extreme bruising and haemorrhaging. Workers have the opportunity to abuse live
birds, and birds have their throats cut while they are still conscious. Many bird are immersed in tanks in scalding hot water
while they are still alive and able to feel pain.’ http://www.mccruelty.com/why.aspx McDonalds made a few basic
improvements to their animal welfare however refused to eliminate their poorest abuses that it’s chickens suffer. ‘This
cruelty could be illegal if dogs or cats—or even pigs or cows—were the victim’ http://www.mccruelty.com/why.aspx
By 2000 and more than 400 demonstrations had been held against McDonalds and they soon became the first fast food chain
to agree to make improvements for farmed animals. Burger King and Wendy’s soon followed on within a year and within 2
years many more had made the changes to improve the lives of billions of animals who are slaughtered for food such as
Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons.

5. The issues:
What are some of the impacts they have managed to achieve?
In November of 2013, PETA Asia began an investigation into Chinese angora farms. Angora rabbits, which are kept there are
captured for the use of their wool in clothing. However it’s the process and the treatment to the rabbits which is what PETA
want to strongly campaign on to get stopped. Upon investigation investigators found the appalling abuse used on animals is
standard procedure on the Chinese angora farms. Rabbits are kept in unhygienic cages surrounded by their own waste with
no room to run around and cage wires which cut into their footpads. The animals are kept out in the cold so that their coats
get as thick as possible however if the animals freezes to death the industry is not affected as the coat can still be used to
make clothing. When workers pluck the fur from the angora rabbits they are still alive and are in shock once it has
happened. 60% of rabbits who are plucked die within one or two years and if they do not die after this time they are
generally killed after two to five years. Their necks are broken and their throats are then slit. The meat is then sold on local
markets. Other animals as well as rabbits when having their fur plucked, cut and shaved have ropes tied to their front and
back legs so they can be stretched. Some are even suspended in the air while planting and struggling to escape. With PETA
supporters campaigning none stop, they managed to persuade brands in the fashion industry such as ASOS, Forever 21, H&M
and many more to banish angora wool from their collections. However one big fashion retailer which hadn’t planned a
policy on banning angora wool was Boohoo., this was until 10,000 persistent PETA campaigners started sending messages to
the company in their masses via email Facebook Twitter and their website asking it to do the right thing for the rabbits.
Boohoo listened to the campaigners and customers and updated its animal welfare policy with this statement ‘As a result of
recent investigations by PETA (Asia), which have uncovered cruel and inhumane practices during the harvesting process,
boohoo has committed to a ban on the use of angora in any of its products.’ Many other high street stores have also banned
the use of angora wool thanks to PETA; these include shops such as Monsoon, Lacoste and House of Fraser.
What are they still hoping to achieve?
PETA’s aim is to put a stop to animal suffering. They are achieving this by doing anything they can to raise awareness as they
believe they are a necessity to reach the masses and start discussions and get initiate action. ‘The current situation is
critical for billions of animals, and our goal is to make the public aware of the issues—even if it means wearing a funny
costume, engaging in a public stunt, or taking our clothes off.’ http://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/peta-tactics/
Another aim PETA are still hoping to achieve is to gain even more publicity to help them make people aware of cruelty to
animals through non violent actions and ‘educating the public about the horrors of cruelty to animals through peaceful
means’ http://www.peta.org.uk/about/

6. Facts and figures:
Client fact file:
• PETA have over 300 employees and 3 million members and supporters
• It has been running for 35 years and in this time has helped run medical training programs in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Egypt,
Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Mongolia, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago to put an end to cutting apart and killing animals for
surgery practices and instead using life like human-patient simulators.
Animal Cruelty Facts:
• In 2007 out of 1,880 animal cruelty cases in the United States of America, 64.5% (1,212) involved dogs. 18% (337) involved
cats and 25% (470) involved other animals.
• In 2014, the RSPCA received 1,299,163 phone calls with reports of animal cruelty.
• Each year more than 100 million animals (such as mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish and
birds) are killed in labs for purposes including biology lessons, medial training, curiosity driven experimentation and
chemical, drug, food and cosmetics testing. This is only in the United States of America.
• 85% of the fur industry’s skin comes from animals who are held captive on fur factory farms, where they are trapped in
cages in brutal conditions with filthy wire cages and are then often skinned alive.