PETA Activists Campaign

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. With two million members and supporters, it says it is the largest animal rights group in the world. Its slogan is "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment". Founded in 1980, the organization is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation with 187 employees, funded almost entirely by its members. In its campaigns and investigations, it focuses on four core issues—factory farming, fur farming, animal testing, and animals in entertainment—though it also campaigns against fishing, the killing of animals regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, cock fighting, dog fighting, and bullfighting. It aims to inform the public through advertisements, undercover investigations, animal rescue, and lobbying. The organization has been criticized for the confrontational style and content of its campaigns, and for the number of animals it euthanizes. It was further criticized in 2005 by the U.S. Senate Environment Committee chairman Jim Inhofe, who said it had donated money to and acted as a spokesgroup for Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front activists. PETA responded that it has no involvement with ALF or ELF actions, and that it does not support violence, but it did not deny making the donations.