The Tree That Owns Itself is a white oak
tree that, according to legend, has legal ownership of itself and of
all land within eight feet (2.4 m) of its base. The tree also called the
Jackson Oak, is at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets in Athens, Georgia,
United States. The original tree, thought to have started life between
the mid-16th and late 18th century, fell in 1942, but a new tree was
grown from one of its acorns, and planted in the same location. The current tree is sometimes referred to as the Son of the Tree That Owns Itself.
Both trees have appeared in numerous national publications, and the
site is a local landmark. Neither of the two trees actually holds legal
rights under the US legal system.
Legend
The earliest-known telling of the tree's story comes from a front-page article entitled "Deeded to Itself" in the Athens Weekly Banner on August 12, 1890. The article explains that the tree had been located on the property of Colonel William Henry Jackson. William Jackson was the son of James Jackson (a soldier in the American Revolution as well as a congressman, U.S. senator, and governor of Georgia), and the father of another James Jackson (a congressman and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia). He was the brother of Jabez Young Jackson, also a congressman. (William Jackson was reportedly a professor at the University of Georgia, and is sometimes given the title of Doctor. The nature of his military service and the source of the title "Colonel" are unknown.) Jackson supposedly cherished childhood memories of the tree, and, desiring to protect it, deeded to it the ownership of itself and its surrounding land. By various accounts, this transaction took place between 1820 and 1832. According to the newspaper article, the deed read:
I, W. H. Jackson, of the county of
Clarke, of the one part, and the oak tree ... of the county of Clarke,
of the other part: Witnesseth, That the said W. H. Jackson for and in
consideration of the great affection which he bears said tree, and his
great desire to see it protected has conveyed, and by these presents do
convey unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself and of all
land within eight feet [2.4 m] of it on all sides.
It is unclear whether the story of the Tree That Owns Itself began with the Weekly Banner article, or if it had been an element of local folklore prior to that time. The article's author writes that, in 1890, there were few people still living who knew the story.
Plaque at the site, weathered by exposure; the stone faintly details a passage from William H. Jackson's deed to the tree.
The story of the Tree That Owns Itself is very widely known and is
almost always presented as fact. However, only one person—the anonymous
author of "Deeded to Itself"—has ever claimed to have seen Jackson's deed
to the tree. Most writers acknowledge that the deed is lost or no
longer exists if in fact it ever did. Such a deed, even if it did exist,
would have no legal standing. Under common law,
the person receiving the property in question must have the legal
capacity to receive it, and the property must be delivered to—and
accepted by—the recipient.
William H. Jackson did, in fact, own the property on the opposite
side of Dearing Street from the tree. That plot included the
present-day 226 Dearing Street, but in the early 19th century it was
simply designated Lot #14. The tree, however, is located on a portion of
what had been Lot #15. Jackson and his wife Mildred, along with a J. A.
Cobb, sold their property to a Dr. Malthus Ward in 1832, the same year
cited on a plaque as being the date of the tree's deed. The Clarke County
real estate indices contain no indication of when or from whom Jackson
originally purchased the property, although much of the land in that
area is reported to have belonged to a Major James Meriwether. Even though Jackson may have lived near the tree as an adult, his childhood was actually spent in Jefferson County, not in Athens, making it less likely that he had experienced idyllic childhood summers playing beneath the tree's branches.
Recent deeds suggest that the tree's square footage remains part
of the property at 125 Dearing Street. These documents describe a parcel
bounded on the east by Finley Street and on the north by Dearing
Street, an area that would seem to encompass the tree. However, the actual plat
map for that property clearly does not include the tree's oddly shaped
corner: its eastern line lies roughly ten feet (3.0 m) to the west of
the tree's location—as far as the tax assessor is concerned, the tree's
area is not a part of that property.
This does not confirm that the tree owns itself, but suggests, rather, that it is considered to be within the right-of-way along Finley Street. Athens-Clarke County
confirms that the tree is in the right-of-way, and is thus "accepted
for care" by municipal authorities; according to city-county officials,
local government and the owners of the adjacent property jointly serve
as "stewards" for the care of the tree, while Athens' Junior Ladies'
Garden Club serves as its "primary advocate." Regarding Jackson's deed,
one writer noted at the beginning of the 20th century, "However
defective this title may be in law, the public recognized it."
In that spirit, it is the stated position of the Athens-Clarke County
Unified Government that the tree, in spite of the law, does indeed own
itself. It is the policy of the city of Athens to maintain it as a public street tree.
History
The original Tree That Owns Itself is estimated to have started life at some time between the mid-16th and late 18th centuries. The tree was considered by some to be both the biggest tree in Athens and the most famous tree in the United States.
The tree predated the transformation of the area into a residential
neighborhood beginning in the mid-19th century. The residence adjacent
to the tree, known as Dominie House, was built at the corner of Milledge
Avenue and Waddell Street in 1883, and was moved to its present
location about twenty years later.
By 1906, erosion had become apparent at the base of the tree. George Foster Peabody paid to have new soil, a commemorative tablet, and a chain barricade supported by eight granite
posts installed around the tree. Despite these efforts, the tree
reportedly suffered heavy damage during an ice storm in 1907. Although
attempts were made at preservation, rot had already set in, and the tree
was permanently weakened.
The original oak fell on the evening of October 9, 1942,
following a long period of decline. Its poor condition had been known
for years, and within days of its collapse, a move was underway to
replace the fallen tree with a "son" grown from one of its acorns. One account suggests that the tree had actually died several years before its collapse, the victim of root rot. The tree was over 100 feet (30 m) tall, and was estimated to be between 150 and 400 years old when it fell. It has been reported elsewhere that the tree fell on December 1,
1942, succumbing not to old age and disease but rather to a violent
windstorm that ravaged much of north Georgia that evening, causing
widespread damage and killing several people.
While it is possible that some portion of the tree had remained
standing for several weeks, meeting a dramatic end at the hands of a
killer storm, only the earlier date is supported by newspaper accounts.
It is not known why the tree was not dated by counting its rings.
Son of The Tree That Owns Itself
Son of The Tree That Owns Itself in 2005
After the original tree's demise, its small plot sat vacant for four
years. Dan Magill, the young son of Athens' Junior Ladies Garden Club
member Elizabeth Magill, suggested that his mother's club find a
replacement for the tree. Several Athenians had cultivated seedlings
from the acorns of the original tree. One growing in the yard of Capt.
Jack Watson, at five feet (1.5 m) in height, was deemed the best
candidate for transplantation. The operation was directed by Roy Bowden
of the College of Agriculture at the University of Georgia, assisted by students in the Department of Horticulture.
The new tree was officially dedicated in a formal ceremony on December 4, 1946. Athens Mayor Robert L. McWhorter presided and Dr. E.L. Hill, the pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church, offered a short prayer. Also in attendance were Capt. and Mrs.
Watson and representatives of the Garden Club. Club President Patsy
Dudley announced that her group would henceforth take responsibility for
maintenance of the tree's plot, which had fallen into disrepair during
the vacancy.
The new tree, trimmed back to a mere 3 feet (0.91 m) for
transplantation, thrived in its new location. This tree is considered,
popularly if not legally, to be the full heir of the original tree. As
such, it is sometimes referred to as the Son of The Tree That Owns Itself, although it is generally known by the same title as its progenitor. The tree was over 50 feet (15 m) tall as of 2006.
On December 4, 1996, the Garden Club staged a celebration to mark
the fiftieth anniversary of the planting of the new tree. Dan Magill,
who, as a boy, had inspired the replanting effort, served as master of
ceremonies.
The tree sits near the crest of a hill, at the southwest corner
of the intersection of Dearing and Finley Streets, in a quiet
residential neighborhood near downtown Athens and UGA's North Campus. The portion of Finley Street leading up the hill to the tree is Athens' only remaining cobblestone street.
The tree's lot is separated from the larger portion of the adjacent
property by a private driveway; its enclosure also juts several feet
into Finley Street. Thus the tree may in fact appear to occupy a small
but separate tract of land. The appearance of separation is accentuated
by the retaining wall and ornamental chain barrier that surround the
tree. Although alongside private homes in a residential neighborhood,
the Tree That Owns Itself is "open" to the public, and regularly
attracts visitors.
Although the story of the Tree That Owns Itself is more legend than history, the tree has become (along with the University Arch and the Double-Barreled Cannon)
one of the most recognized and well-loved symbols of Athens. It is
routinely featured in travel guides and other visitor information and
has even garnered international recognition through such publications as
Ripley's Believe It or Not!, where it has been featured on several occasions.
Tablets
Newer plaque at the site detailing a portion of William H. Jackson's deed
The site of the tree contains two stone tablets. The first is heavily
weathered and has suffered the loss of one corner, while the second
appears to be considerably newer. Both tablets paraphrase
the same portion of William H. Jackson's supposed deed to the tree,
with slight alterations made to transform the legalistic language into a
first-person declaration of affection:
For and in consideration of the
great love I bear this tree and the great desire I have for its
protection for all time, I convey entire possession of itself and all
land within eight feet of the tree on all sides William H. Jackson
A small brass plaque, about the size of a playing card, is attached
to the lower-left corner of the face of the more weathered of the two
tablets. It reads:
A
Descendant of the
Tree
That Owns Itself
Planted by the
Junior
Ladies Garden Club
1946
In addition to the stone tablets, a larger brass plaque is affixed to
the concrete retaining wall that surrounds the tree. The plaque reads:
The Tree That Owns Itself
Quercus alba
Deeded to itself by Col. William H. Jackson
circa 1832
This scion of the original tree was planted by
the Junior Ladies Garden Club in 1946
National Register of Historic Places 1975
Athens Historical Landmark 1988
The entire Dearing Street Historic District (of which the tree is a "resident") was added to the National Register
in 1975. The District incorporates an area very roughly bounded by
Broad, Finley, Waddell, and Church Streets, and was recognized for its architectural significance. The tree was locally designated a historic landmark on February 2, 1988.
Similar trees
There is another tree
with almost identical legal rights just over the border of Alabama, in
the city of Eufaula. In a similar story, this oak tree was bestowed
legal ownership to itself on April 9, 1936, with the inscription "Only
God can make a tree". Similarly, the tree fell in a storm on April 9,
1961, and it was replaced with another tree in its place ten days later
on April 19, 1961.
Samuel Butler's Erewhon contains a chapter, "The Views of an Erewhonian Philosopher Concerning the Rights of Vegetables".
On the question of whether animal rights can be extended to plants, animal rights philosopher Tom Regan
argues that animals acquire rights due to being aware, what he calls
"subjects-of-a-life". He argues that this does not apply to plants, and
that even if plants did have rights, abstaining from eating meat would
still be moral due to the use of plants to rear animals.
According to philosopher Michael Marder, the idea that plants should have rights derives from "plant subjectivity", which is distinct from human personhood. Paul W. Taylor holds that all life has inherent worth and argues for respect for plants, but does not assign them rights. Christopher D. Stone, the son of investigative journalistI. F. Stone,
proposed in a 1972 paper titled "Should Trees Have Standing?" that, if
corporations are assigned rights, so should natural objects such as
trees. Citing the broadening of rights of blacks, Jews, women, and
fetuses as examples, Stone explains that, throughout history, societies
have been conferring rights to new "entities" which, at the time, people
thought to be "unthinkable".
Whilst not appealing directly to "rights", Matthew Hall has
argued that plants should be included within the realm of human moral
consideration. His Plants as Persons: A Philosophical Botany
discusses the moral background of plants in western philosophy and
contrasts this with other traditions, including indigenous cultures,
which recognise plants as persons—active, intelligent beings that are
appropriate recipients of respect and care. Hall backs up his call for the ethical consideration of plants with arguments based on plant neurobiology,
which says that plants are autonomous, perceptive organisms capable of
complex, adaptive behaviours, including recognizing self/non-self.
Scientific arguments
In the study of plant physiology, plants are understood to have mechanisms by which they recognize environmental changes. This definition of plant perception differs from the notion that plants are capable of feeling emotions, an idea also called plant perception. The latter concept, along with plant intelligence, can be traced to 1848, when Gustav Theodor Fechner, a German experimental psychologist, suggested that plants are capable of emotions, and that one could promote healthy growth with talk, attention, and affection.
The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology
analyzed scientific data on plants, and concluded in 2009 that plants
are entitled to a certain amount of "dignity", but "dignity of plants is
not an absolute value."
The single-issue Party for Plants entered candidates in the 2010 parliamentary election in the Netherlands.
It focuses on topics such as climate, biodiversity and sustainability
in general. Such concerns have been criticized as evidence that modern
culture is "causing us to lose the ability to think critically and
distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns".
Legal arguments
Justice William O. Douglas, author of a noted dissent about the legal standing of plants
Inanimate objects are sometimes
parties in litigation. A ship has a legal personality, a fiction found
useful for maritime purposes... So it should be as respects valleys,
alpine meadows, rivers, lakes, estuaries, beaches, ridges, groves of
trees, swampland, or even air that feels the destructive pressures of
modern technology and modern life... The voice of the inanimate object,
therefore, should not be stilled.
The Swiss Constitution
contains a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of
creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms", and the Swiss government has conducted ethical studies pertaining to how the dignity of plants is to be protected.
In 2012, a river in New Zealand, including the plants and other
organisms contained within its boundaries, was legally declared a person
with standing (via guardians) to bring legal actions to protect its
interests.
The Animal Liberation Front
argues that there is no evidence that plants can experience pain, and
that to the extent they respond to stimuli, it is like a device such as a
thermostat responding to sensors.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; /ˈpiːtə/, stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rightsorganization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk,
its international president. The nonprofit corporation claims 6.5
million supporters. Its slogan is "Animals are not ours to experiment
on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.
Founded in March 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk and fellow animal rights activist Alex Pacheco, the organization first caught the public's attention in the summer of 1981 during what became known as the Silver Spring monkeys case. Today, it focuses on four core issues—opposition to factory farming, fur farming, animal testing,
and the use of animals in entertainment. It also campaigns for a vegan
lifestyle and against eating meat, fishing, the killing of animals
regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, cock fighting, dog fighting, beekeeping, and bullfighting.
History
Ingrid Newkirk
Ingrid Newkirk
Ingrid Newkirk was born in England in 1949, and raised in Hertfordshire and later New Delhi, India,
where her father—a navigational engineer—was stationed. Newkirk, now an
atheist, was educated in a convent, the only British girl there. She moved to the United States
as a teenager, first studying to become a stockbroker, but after taking
some abandoned kittens to an animal shelter in 1969 and being appalled
by the conditions that she found there, she chose a career in animal
protection instead. She became an animal-protection officer for Montgomery County, Maryland, and then the District of Columbia's
first woman poundmaster. By 1976 she was head of the animal disease
control division of D.C.'s Commission on Public Health and in 1980 was
among those named as "Washingtonians of the Year."
In 1980, after her divorce, she met Alex Pacheco, a political science major at George Washington University. He volunteered at the shelter where she worked, and they fell in love and began living together. Newkirk read Peter Singer's influential book, Animal Liberation
(1975), and in March 1980, she persuaded Pacheco to join her in forming
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, at that point just "five
people in a basement," as Newkirk described it. They were mostly
students and members of the local vegetarian society, but the group
included a friend of Pacheco's from the U.K., Kim Stallwood, a British
activist who went on to become the national organizer of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.
Silver Spring monkeys
PETA distributed images of the monkeys with the caption, "This is vivisection. Don't let anyone tell you different."
The group first came to public attention in 1981 during the Silver Spring monkeys case, a dispute about experiments conducted by researcher Edward Taub on 17 macaque monkeys
inside the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland.
The case led to the first police raid in the United States on an animal
laboratory, triggered an amendment in 1985 to the United States Animal
Welfare Act, and became the first animal-testing case to be appealed to
the United States Supreme Court, which upheld a Louisiana State Court ruling that denied PETA's request for custody of the monkeys.
Pacheco had taken a job in May 1981 inside a primate research
laboratory at the Institute, intending to gain firsthand experience of
working inside an animal laboratory. Taub had been cutting sensory ganglia
that supplied nerves to the monkeys' fingers, hands, arms, and legs—a
process called "deafferentation"—so that the monkeys could not feel
them; some of the monkeys had had their entire spinal columns
deafferented. He then used restraint, electric shock, and withholding of
food and water to force the monkeys to use the deafferented parts of
their bodies. The research led in part to the discovery of neuroplasticity and a new therapy for stroke victims called constraint-induced movement therapy.
Pacheco went to the laboratory at night, taking photographs that
showed the monkeys living in what the Institute for Laboratory Animal
Research's ILAR Journal called "filthy conditions."
He passed his photographs to the police, who raided the lab and
arrested Taub. Taub was convicted of six counts of cruelty to animals,
the first such conviction in the United States of an animal researcher;
the conviction, though, was overturned on appeal. Norm Phelps writes that the case followed the highly publicized campaign of Henry Spira in 1976 against experiments on cats being performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and Spira's subsequent campaign in April 1980 against the Draize test. These and the Silver Spring monkey case jointly put animal rights on the agenda in the United States.
The 10-year battle for custody of the monkeys—described by The Washington Post
as a vicious mud fight, during which both sides accused the other of
lies and distortion— transformed PETA into a national, then
international, movement. By February 1991, it claimed over 350,000
supporters, a paid staff of over 100, and an annual budget of over $7
million.
PETA is an animal rights organization that opposes speciesism, and the abuse of animals in any way, such as for food, clothing, entertainment, or research. PETA
lobbies government agencies to impose fines and/or confiscate animals
when animal-welfare legislation has been violated, promotes a vegan
lifestyle, tries to reform practices on factory farms and in
slaughterhouses, sends undercover investigators into animal-research
laboratories, farms, and circuses, initiates media campaigns against
particular companies or practices, helps to find sanctuaries for animals
formerly used by circuses and zoos, and initiates lawsuits against
companies that refuse to change their practices.The group has been criticized by some animal rights advocates for its
willingness to work with industries that use animals for the purpose of
affecting gradual change. Newkirk rejects this criticism and has said
the group exists to hold the radical line.
PETA has been criticized for their policy of euthanasing almost all animals that come into their Virginia shelter.
In 2020, PETA's website claimed they had 6.5 million supporters, and received donations of $49 million for 2019.
Campaigns and consumer boycotts
PETA's trademark "Lettuce ladies" in Columbus, Ohio
The organization is known for its aggressive media campaigns,
combined with a solid base of celebrity support—in addition to its
honorary directors, Paul McCartney, Alicia Silverstone, Eva Mendes, Charlize Theron, Ellen DeGeneres, and many other notable celebrities have appeared in PETA ads. Every week, Newkirk holds what The New Yorker
calls a "war council," with two dozen of her top strategists gathered
at a square table in the PETA conference room, with no suggestion
considered too outrageous.
PETA also gives an annual prize, called the Proggy Award (for
"progress"), to individuals or organizations dedicated to animal welfare
or who distinguish themselves through their efforts within the area of
animal welfare.
Many of the campaigns have focused on large corporations. Fast
food companies such as KFC, Wendy's, and Burger King have been targeted.
In the animal-testing industry, PETA's consumer boycotts have focused
on Avon, Benetton, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Chesebrough-Pond's, Dow
Chemical, General Motors, and others. The group's modus operandi includes buying shares in target companies such as McDonald's and Kraft Foods in order to exert influence.
The campaigns have delivered results for PETA. McDonald's and Wendy's
introduced vegetarian options after PETA targeted them; and Polo Ralph
Lauren said it would no longer use fur.
Avon, Estée Lauder, Benetton, and Tonka Toy Co. all stopped testing
products on animals, the Pentagon stopped shooting pigs and goats in
wounds tests, and a slaughterhouse in Texas was closed down.
As part of its anti-fur action, PETA supporters have infiltrated
hundreds of fashion shows in the U.S. and Europe and one in China,
throwing red paint on the catwalks and unfurling banners. Celebrities
and supermodels have posed naked for the group's "I'd Rather Go Naked
Than Wear Fur" campaign—some men, but mostly women—triggering criticism
from some feminist animal rights advocates. The New Yorker
writes that PETA activists have crawled through the streets of Paris
wearing leg-hold traps and thrown around money soaked in fake blood at
the International Fur Fair. They sometimes engage in pie-throwing—in January 2010, Canadian MP Gerry Byrne compared them to terrorists for throwing a tofu cream pie at Canada's fishery minister Gail Shea in protest of the seal slaughter, a comment Newkirk called a silly chest-beating exercise. "The thing is, we make them gawk," she told Satya magazine, "maybe like a traffic accident that you have to look at."
PETA has also objected to the practice of mulesing
(removing strips of wool-bearing skin from around the buttocks of a
sheep). In October 2004, PETA launched a boycott against the Australian
wool industry, leading some clothing retailers to ban products using
Australian wool from their stores. In response, the Australian wool industry sued PETA, arguing among other things that mulesing prevents flystrike,
a very painful disease that can affect sheep. A settlement was reached,
and PETA agreed to stop the boycott, while the wool industry agreed to
seek alternatives to mulesing.
In 2011, PETA named five orcas as plaintiffs and sued SeaWorld over the animals' captivity, seeking their protection under the Thirteenth Amendment. A federal judge heard the case and dismissed it in early 2012.
In August 2014, SeaWorld announced it was building new orca tanks that
would almost double the size of the existing ones to provide more space
for its whales. PETA responded that a "larger prison is still a prison." In 2016, SeaWorld admitted that it had been sending its employees to pose as activists to spy on PETA. Following an investigation by an outside law firm, SeaWorld's Board of Directors directed management to end the practice.
PETA supporters campaign against Burberry in an anti-fur protest in 2007
In 2011, Patricia de Leon was the Hispanic spokesperson for PETA's anti-bullfighting campaign.
Some campaigns have been particularly controversial. Newkirk was criticized in 2003 for sending a letter to PLO leader Yasser Arafat asking him to keep animals out of the conflict, after a donkey was blown up during an attack in Jerusalem. The group's 2003 "Holocaust on your Plate" exhibition—eight 60-square-foot (5.6 m2) panels juxtaposing images of Holocaust victims with animal carcasses and animals being transported to slaughter—was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League,
which said, "the effort by Peta to compare the deliberate systematic
murder of millions of Jews to the issue of animal rights is abhorrent"
and "[r]ather than deepen our revulsion against what the Nazis did to
the Jews, the project will undermine the struggle to understand the
Holocaust and to find a way to make sure such catastrophes never happen
again." In July 2010, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that
PETA's campaign was not protected by free speech laws and banned it
within Germany as an offense against human dignity. The exhibit, however, had been funded by an anonymous Jewish philanthropist
and created by Matt Prescott, who lost several relatives in the
Holocaust. Prescott said: "The very same mindset that made the Holocaust
possible—that we can do anything we want to those we decide are
'different or inferior'—is what allows us to commit atrocities against
animals every single day. ... The fact is, all animals feel pain, fear
and loneliness. We're asking people to recognize that what Jews and
others went through in the Holocaust is what animals go through every
day in factory farms." And analogies between animal rights and the Holocaust had been initiated by the prominent Jewish author Isaac Bashevis Singer. In 2005, the NAACP
criticized the "Are Animals the New Slaves?" exhibit, which showed
images of African-American slaves, Native Americans, child laborers, and
women, alongside chained elephants and slaughtered cows.
PETA's "It's still going on" campaign features newspaper ads
comparing widely publicized murder-cannibalization cases to the deaths
of animals in slaughterhouses. The campaign has attracted significant
media attention, controversy and generated angry responses from the
victims' family members. Ads were released in 1991 describing the deaths
of the victims of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, in 2002 describing the deaths of the victims of serial killer Robert William Pickton, and in 2008 describing the killing of Tim McLean. In several cases, newspapers have refused to run the ads.
The group has also been criticized for aiming its message at young people. Your Mommy Kills Animals features a cartoon of a woman attacking a rabbit with a knife. To reduce milk consumption, it created the "Got Beer?" campaign, a parody of the dairy industry's series of Got Milk? ads, which featured celebrities with milk "mustaches" on their upper lips. When the mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani,
was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, PETA ran a photograph of
him with a white mustache and the words "Got prostate cancer?" to
illustrate their claim that dairy products contribute to cancer, an ad
that caused an outcry in the United States. After PETA placed ads in school newspapers linking milk to acne, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and strokes, Mothers Against Drunk Driving
and college officials complained it encouraged underage drinking; the
British Advertising Standards Authority asked that the ads be
discontinued after complaints from interest groups such as The National
Farmers' Unions.
In August 2011, it was announced that PETA will be launching a soft pornography website in the .xxx domain. PETA spokesperson Lindsay Rajt told the Huffington Post,
"We try to use absolutely every outlet to stick up for animals," adding
that "We are careful about what we do and wouldn't use nudity or some
of our flashier tactics if we didn't know they worked." PETA also used
nudity in its "Veggie Love" ad which it prepared for the Super Bowl,
only to have it banned by the network. PETA's work has drawn the ire of
some feminists who argue that the organization sacrifices women's
rights to press its agenda. Lindsay Beyerstein criticized PETA saying
"They're the ones drawing disturbing analogies between pornography,
misogyny and animal cruelty."
PETA sometimes issues isolated statements or press releases, commenting on current events. After Lady Gaga wore a dress made of meat in 2010, PETA issued a statement objecting to the dress.
After a fisherman in Florida was bitten by a shark in 2011, PETA
proposed an advertisement showing a shark devouring a human, with the
caption "Payback Is Hell, Go Vegan". The proposed ad drew criticism from
relatives of the injured fisherman. After Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer admitted that he had killed Cecil the lion
in Zimbabwe in 2015, PETA's president, Newkirk, issued a statement on
behalf of PETA in which she said: "Hunting is a coward's pastime. If, as
has been reported, this dentist and his guides lured Cecil out of the
park with food so as to shoot him on private property, because shooting
him in the park would have been illegal, he needs to be extradited,
charged, and, preferably, hanged."
Undercover work
PETA sends its staff undercover into industries and other facilities
that use animals to document the alleged abuse of animals. Investigators
may spend many months as employees of a facility, making copies of
documents and wearing hidden cameras.
1990s
In 1984, PETA produced a 26-minute film, Unnecessary Fuss, based on 60 hours of research video footage stolen by the Animal Liberation Front
during a break-in at the University of Pennsylvania's head injury
clinic. The footage showed experiments on the baboons with a hydraulic
device intended to simulate whiplash. The publicity led to
investigations, suspension of grant funding, the firing of a
veterinarian, the closure of the research lab, and a period of probation
for the university.
In 1990, two PETA activists posed as employees of Carolina Biological, where they took pictures and video footage inside the company, alleging that cats were being mistreated. Following the release of PETA's tapes, the USDA conducted its own inspection and subsequently charged the company with seven violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Four years later, an administrative judge ruled that Carolina Biological had not committed any violations.
In 1990, Bobby Berosini,
a Las Vegas entertainer, lost his wildlife license as well as (on
appeal) a later lawsuit against PETA, after PETA broadcast an undercover
film of him slapping and punching orangutans in 1989.
In 1997, PETA made a film from footage obtained by PETA member Michele Rokke, who went undercover to report on UK company Huntingdon Life Sciences, which aired on television. Huntingdon sued PETA, and PETA agreed to drop its campaign against Huntingdon.
In 1999, a North Carolina grand jury indicted three workers at a hog
farm after three-months of videotaping by a PETA operative while he was
employed at the farm. The veterinarian who oversaw the farm said the
video PETA had made from the footage was a distortion and was made by
someone who "lied during his employment interview".
2000s
In 2004, PETA released video tapes taken from eight-months of
undercover filming in a West Virginia slaughterhouse that supplies
chicken to the fast food industry. The recordings showed workers
stomping on live chickens and throwing dozens against a wall. The parent
corporation sent in their own inspectors and told the plant to clean up
their act or lose their contract. Eleven employees were fired and the
company introduced an anti-cruelty pledge for workers to sign.
For 11 months PETA shot footage inside Covance's
Virginia facility. Alleging that the footage showed primates being
choked, hit, and denied medical attention, PETA sent the video and a
253-page complaint to the United States Department of Agriculture.
The department investigated and Covance was fined $8,720. In 2005,
Covance filed a lawsuit. "In exchange for not suing the infiltrator for
illegally filming within Covance's lab, which was in breach of contract,
PETA US handed over all the video footage to Covance and signed an
agreement not to try and infiltrate Covance's laboratories for the next
five years."
In 2006, PETA filmed a trainer at Carson & Barnes Circus instructing others to beat the elephants to make them obey. A company spokesman said they stopped using electrical prods on animals after the video was released.
In 2007, the owners of a chinchilla
ranch in Michigan sued PETA after pretending in 2004 to be interested
buyers and secretly filming them, creating a video "Nightmare on
Chinchilla Farm". A judge dismissed the case, writing "Undercover
investigations are one of the main ways our criminal justice system
operates," and noted that investigative television shows "often conduct
undercover investigations to reveal improper, unethical, or criminal
behavior."
In 2008, the famous Spanish singer Alaska collaborated with PETA in a joint campaign with AnimaNaturalis, posing nude in a picture to raise awareness for what she considers cruel activity, bullfighting.
2010s
In 2013, PETA investigated angora rabbit farms in China and released video footage showing farmers ripping out the wool from live rabbits while they screamed. In 2015, Inditex announced they would discontinue their use of angora and donated their existing inventory to Syrian refugees. Seventy other retailers had also stopped selling angora wool since the release of PETA's graphic video footage.
Between 2012 and 2014, PETA investigated sheep shearing sheds in the wool industry in Australia
and the US. PETA sent reports and film footage to local authorities
alleging that shearers had kicked and beat sheep, stomped on their
heads, necks and legs, punched them with clippers, slammed them onto the
floor, and sewed up cuts without pain relief. An American Wool Council
spokesperson said "We do not condone or support the actions of anyone
that results in the abuse of sheep either intentionally or
unintentionally. Rough handling of animals that might result in the
injury of a sheep is an unacceptable maneuver during the shearing
process or anytime when sheep are handled."
In 2014, PETA conducted an undercover investigation of the horse-racing industry, filming seven hours of footage that, as The New York Times reported, "showed mistreatment of the horses to be widespread and cavalier." Noted trainer Steve Asmussen
and his top assistant trainer, Scott Blasi, were accused "of subjecting
their horses to cruel and injurious treatments, administering drugs to
them for nontherapeutic purposes, and having one of their jockeys use an
electrical device to shock horses into running faster." The newspaper
noted that this investigation "was PETA's first significant step into
advocacy in the horse racing world." In November 2015, as a result of PETA's investigation, Asmussen was fined $10,000 by the New York State Gaming Commission.
Robert Williams, executive director of the commission, said, "We
recognize PETA for playing a role in bringing about changes necessary to
make thoroughbred racing safer and fairer for all." By contrast, the
Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which also received PETA's
allegations, found that Asmussen did not violate any of its rules.
Asmussen remains under investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegedly violating the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
After a thorough investigation, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission
did not bring any charges against Asmussen, stating the allegations "had
neither a factual or scientific basis." While the fine from the New
York State Gaming Commission was for a minor transgression, the most
serious charges were deemed unfounded.
In 2015, as The Washington Post reported, PETA investigated Sweet Stem Farm, a pig farm that supplies meat to Whole Foods.
The resulting video footage "featured images of pigs, some allegedly
sick and not given appropriate care, crowded into hot pens and roughly
handled by employees," contradicting both the farm's own video
self-portrait and Whole Foods' claims about "humane meat" (a term that
PETA maintains is an oxymoron). The Post notes that "[i]n the wake of the PETA investigation, Whole Foods has removed the Sweet Stem video from its Web site."
PETA subsequently filed a class-action lawsuit against Whole Foods,
"alleging that the chain's claims about animal welfare amount to a
'sham.'"
The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal magistrate, who ruled that the
store's signage "amounted to permissible 'puffery'" and that "the
statement that 'no cages' were used to raise broiler chickens was not
misleading merely because Whole Foods failed to also disclose that
poultry suppliers normally do not use cages in the first place."
Other PETA investigations from around this time focused on crocodile and alligator farms in Texas and Zimbabwe, a monkey breeding facility in Florida, pigeon racing in Taiwan, ostrich slaughterhouses and tanneries in South Africa.
CBS News reported in November 2016 that PETA had captured footage
from restaurants that serve live octopus, shrimp, and other marine
animals. The group's video showed "an octopus writhing as its limbs are
severed by a chef at T Equals Fish, a Koreatown sushi restaurant in Los
Angeles." PETA noted that octopuses "are considered among the most
intelligent invertebrates" and "are capable of feeling pain just as a
pig or rabbit would."
In December 2016, PETA released video footage from an investigation at Texas A&M University's dog laboratory, which deliberately breeds dogs to contract muscular dystrophy.
PETA claims that for "35 years, dogs have suffered in cruel muscular
dystrophy experiments ... which haven't resulted in a cure or treatment
for reversing the course of muscular dystrophy in humans." The Houston Press
noted that "Texas A&M has been less than transparent about the
research, and in some cases has denied that the dogs experience pain or
discomfort." Among other efforts, PETA placed a billboard to oppose the
ineffectual research on animals.
Bio Corporation, a company that supplies dead animals for study and
dissection, was the subject of a November 2017 PETA undercover
investigation. It was claimed that video footage showed workers at the
company's facility in Alexandria, Minnesota
"drowning fully-conscious pigeons, injecting live crayfish with latex
and claiming that they sometimes would freeze turtles to death." PETA
brought 25 charges of cruelty to animals against the company. Drowning
is not considered an acceptable form of euthanasia, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, and its standards of humane euthanasia must be followed by companies certified by the United States Department of Agriculture such as Bio Corporation.
On 18 April 2018, the case was dismissed and all charges dropped based
on the Alexandria City Attorney's Office's assessment that the
allegations of cruelty against either pigeons or crayfish were not
sufficiently supported. Daniel Paden, PETA's director of evidence
analysis, said that PETA is "reviewing its options to protect animals
killed at Bio Corporaton."
In 2018, police raided a PetSmart store in Tennessee, after receiving video footage from PETA. Police confiscated six animals: a guinea pig, mice, and hamsters.
PetSmart sued the ex-employee, Jenna Jordan, claiming she was a paid
PETA operative who obtained employment at PetSmart stores in Arizona,
Florida and Tennessee in order to obtain recordings which she provided
to PETA. Jordan was accused of committing "animal neglect, theft of
confidential information, unlawfully surveilled private conversations,
and filing false reports with law enforcement under false pretenses in
three states." In 2019, PetSmart added PETA as a defendant in the lawsuit.
On 1 May 2018, PETA released an investigation of the mohair industry
that led more than 80 retailers, including UNIQLO and Zappos, to drop
products made with mohair. The video evidence "depicts goats being
thrown around wood floors, dunked in poisonous cleaning solution or
having their ears mutilated with pliers. ... [E]mployees are shown
cutting goats' throats, breaking their necks, electrically shocking them
and beheading them."
Ag-gag laws
Various U.S. states have passed ag-gag
laws in order to prevent animal rights and animal welfare groups from
conducting undercover investigations of operations that use animals. In
response, PETA has been involved with other groups bringing lawsuits,
citing First Amendment protections for free speech.
In 2017, a federal judge ruled Utah's ag-gag law an
unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment in a case brought
against the state by PETA, ALDF and Amy Meyer, the director of the Utah
Animal Rights Coalition.
In 2018, Idaho's ag-gag law was struck down as unconstitutional in a
case brought by ACLU-Idaho, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and PETA.
PETA is a strong proponent of euthanasia and considers it a necessary evil in a world full of unwanted pets. They oppose the no-kill movement, and rather than adoption programs, PETA prefers to aim for zero births through spaying and neutering. They recommend not breeding pit bulls,
and support euthanasia in certain situations for animals in shelters,
such as those being housed for long periods in cramped cages.
PETA calls their shelter in Norfolk, Virginia a "shelter of last
resort", claiming they only receive old, sick, injured, badly behaved,
and otherwise unadoptable animals. Operating as open admission, they
take in animals no one else will, and consider death a merciful end. The
consistently high percentage of animals euthanized at PETA's shelter
has been controversial. In 2014, PETA euthanized over 80% of the shelter's animals and justified its euthanasia policies as mercy killings.
In 2008, industry lobby group Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) petitioned the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, requesting they reclassify PETA as a "slaughterhouse."
CCF said in a news release that "[a]n official report filed by PETA
itself shows that the animal rights group put to death nearly every dog,
cat, and other pet it took in for adoption in 2006," with a kill rate
of 97.4 percent.
In 2012, VDACS said that it had in the past considered changing PETA's
status from "shelter" to "euthanasia clinic," citing PETA's willingness
to take in "anything that comes through the door, and other shelters
won't do that." PETA acknowledged that it euthanized 95% of the animals at its shelter in 2011.
PETA's euthanasia practices have drawn intense scrutiny from
lawmakers and criticism from animal rights activists for years. Fueled
by public outrage from a 2014 incident where PETA workers took a pet
Chihuahua from its porch and euthanized it the same day, the Virginia General Assembly
passed Senate Bill 1381 in 2015 aimed at curtailing the operation of
PETA's shelter. The bill defines a private animal shelter as "a facility
operated for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for
animals." Though risking their legal access to euthanasia drugs, PETA has continued their practices. In the Chihuahua case, PETA paid a fine and settled a civil claim with the family three years later.
Legal proceedings
Two PETA employees were acquitted in 2007 of cruelty to animals after
at least 80 euthanized animals were left in dumpsters in a shopping
center in Ahoskie, North Carolina,
over the course of a month in 2005; the two employees were seen leaving
behind 18 dead animals, and 13 more were found inside their van. The
animals had been euthanized after being removed from shelters in Northampton and Bertie
counties. A Bertie County Deputy Sheriff stated that the two employees
assured the Bertie Animal Shelter that "they were picking up the dogs to
take them back to Norfolk where they would find them good homes."
During the trial, Daphna Nachminovitch, the supervisor of PETA's
Community Animal Project, said PETA began euthanizing animals in some
rural North Carolina shelters after it found the shelters killing
animals in ways PETA considers inhumane, including by shooting them. She
also stated that the dumping of animals did not follow PETA's policy.
In November 2014, a resident of Accomack County, Virginia, produced video evidence that two workers in a van marked with a PETA logo had entered his property in a trailer park
and taken his dog, who was then euthanized. He reported the incident to
the police, who identified and charged two PETA workers, but the
charges were later dropped by the commonwealth attorney on the grounds that it was not possible to prove criminal intent.
The trailer park's manager had contacted PETA after a group of
residents moved out, leaving their dogs behind, which is why the workers
were on the property. The state later determined that PETA had violated
state law by failing to ensure that the Chihuahua,
who was not wearing a collar or tag, was properly identified and for
failing to keep the dog alive for five days before euthanizing the
animal. Citing a "severity of this lapse in judgment," the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued PETA a first-ever violation and imposed a $500 fine. The contract worker who had taken the dog was dismissed by PETA.
In 2015, PETA sued British nature photographer David Slater in US court as a next friend for a wild macaque monkey, whom they named Naruto. PETA argued that the monkey was entitled to the copyright of a selfie photo it had taken while handling Slater's camera, and naming themselves to be the administrator of any copyright revenue. The monkey selfie copyright dispute was originally dismissed by Judge Orrick who wrote there is no indication that the Copyright Act extends to animals and a monkey could not own a copyright. PETA appealed, but the Court of Appeals
found in favor of Slater saying that "PETA's real motivation in this
case was to advance its own interests, not Naruto's." The decision cited
Cetacean v. Bush (2004) that says animals can't sue unless Congress makes it clear in the statute that animals can sue, and added that "next friend" representation cannot be applied to animals. The court also wrote:
"Puzzlingly,
while representing to the world that “animals are not ours to eat,
wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way,”
PETA seems to employ Naruto as an unwitting pawn in its ideological
goals."
Video games
PETA has created a number of satirical video games with such names as How Green Is My Diet? and KKK or AKC? Spot the Difference.
PETA uses these games to spread attention about animal rights and
animal welfare and to advocate vegetarian and vegan diets. PETA's head
of online marketing Joel Bartlett said "We've found that parody games
are extremely popular. By connecting our message with something people
are already interested in, we're able to create more buzz."
In 2017, Ingrid Newkirk sent a letter of complaint to Nintendo about their video game 1-2-Switch,
during which players get to milk a cow. In her letter, Newkirk called
the game "unrealistic" and wrote "you've taken all the cruelty out of
milking". She also suggested that "instead of sugarcoating the subject,
Nintendo switch to simulating activities in which no animals suffer."
Person of the year
Each year, PETA selects a "Person of the Year" who has helped advance the cause of animal rights. In 2015, Pope Francis was selected for his encouragement to treat animals with kindness and to respect the environment. In 2016, Mary Matalin was chosen for her fight for the humane treatment of farm animals and monkeys. In 2017, PETA chose a nonhuman recipient, Naruto, a monkey unaware of his role in a copyright case.
Positions
Direct action and the ALF
Newkirk is outspoken in her support of direct action,
writing that no movement for social change has ever succeeded without
what she calls the militarism component: "Thinkers may prepare
revolutions, but bandits must carry them out."
Newkirk is a strong supporter of direct action that removes animals
from laboratories and other facilities: "When I hear of anyone walking
into a lab and walking out with animals, my heart sings."
Newkirk was quoted in 1999, "When you see the resistance to basic
humane treatment and to the acknowledgment of animals' social needs, I
find it small wonder that the laboratories aren't all burning to the
ground. If I had more guts, I'd light a match."
PETA considers the word pet to be "derogatory and patronises
the animal", and prefers the term "companion" or "companion animal".
"Animals are not pets," Newkirk has said.
Hearing-ear and seeing-eye dogs
PETA supports hearing dog programs when animals are sourced from shelters and placed in homes, but opposes seeing-eye-dog
programs "because the dogs are bred as if there are no equally
intelligent dogs literally dying for homes in shelters, they are kept in
harnesses almost 24/7".
Animal testing
PETA opposes animal testing—whether
toxicity testing, basic or applied research, or for education and
training—on both moral and practical grounds. Newkirk told the Vogue magazine in 1989 that even if animal testing resulted in a cure for AIDS, PETA would oppose it.
The group also believes that it is wasteful, unreliable, and irrelevant
to human health, because artificially induced diseases in animals are
not identical to human diseases. They say that animal experiments are
frequently redundant and lack accountability, oversight, and regulation.
They promote alternatives, including embryonic stem cell research and in vitro cell research.
PETA employees have themselves volunteered for human testing of
vaccines; Scott Van Valkenburg, the group's Director of Major Gifts,
said in 1999 that he had volunteered for human testing of HIV vaccines.
Milk and autism
In 2008, 2014, and again in 2017, PETA conducted an advertising campaign linking milk with autism. Their "Got Autism?" campaign, a play on words mocking the milk industry's Got Milk?
ad campaign that ran from 1993-2014, stated "Studies have shown a link
between cow's milk and autism." PETA also claimed milk was strongly
linked to cancer, Crohn's disease, and other diseases.
In 2014, PETA's Executive Vice President confirmed their position, and
additionally stated that dairy consumption contributes to asthma, chronic ear infection, constipation, iron deficiency, anemia, and cancer.
When pressed, PETA cited two scientific papers, one from 1995 and
one from 2002 using a very small sampling of children (36 and 20), and
neither showed a correlation nor a causation between milk and autism.
Newer studies from 2010 and 2014 have shown no association between dairy
and behavior in autism.
Despite having been corrected, PETA says they still keep the
information on their website "because we have heard from people who have
said it contains helpful information."
PETA's campaign has angered the autism community. A 2008 PETA billboard was taken down by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. In 2017, British food writer, journalist and hunger relief activist Jack Monroe,
demanded PETA remove her recipes from their website "with immediate
effect coz I wrote them with my autism". They did, but PETA didn't
remove the "Got Autism?" article from their website. The frowny face in the campaign image negatively stereotypes autistic people.
PETA has been critical of Australian wildlife expert and zookeeper Steve Irwin. In 2006, when Irwin died, PETA Vice President Dan Mathews said Irwin had made a career out of antagonizing frightened wild animals. Australian Member of Parliament Bruce Scott
was disgusted by the comments and said PETA should apologize to Irwin's
family and the rest of Australia, and "Isn't it interesting ... how
they [PETA] want to treat animals ethically, but cannot even think for a
minute whether or not their outlandish comments are ethical towards
their fellow human beings."
PETA reignited the controversy in 2019 by criticizing Google for creating a slideshow Google Doodle of Steve Irwin posthumously honoring his 57th birthday.
PETA started a Twitter firestorm with several tweets criticizing Google
for forwarding a dangerous message, and wrote that Irwin was killed
while harassing a ray and that he forced animals to perform. A Washington Post editor wrote "PETA can add 'insulting a deceased cultural icon' to its infamous repertoire."
PETA India
PETA India was founded in 2000 and is based in Mumbai, India. It focuses on issues about animals in laboratories, the food industry, the leather trade, and entertainment."
PETA and NGO Animal Rahat, authorized by Animal Welfare Board of India,
participated in a nine-month investigation of 16 circuses in India.
After it was revealed that "animals used in circuses were subjected to
chronic confinement, physical abuse, and psychological torment", AWBI in
2013 banned registration of elephants for performance.
PETA India put up billboards prior to a 2020 annual religious event Eid al-Adha
where animals are ritualistically slaughtered. The billboards depicted
goats with the words "I am a living being and not just meat. Change your
view towards us and become a vegan." and "I am ME, Not Mutton. See the
Individual. Go Vegan." Muslim clerics wanted the billboards taken down and claimed that it was hurtful to their religious sentiments.
In July, 2020, PETA put up billboards saying "This Rakshabandhan, protect me: Go leather-free".
Domain name disputes
In February 1995, a parody website calling itself "People Eating Tasty Animals" registered the domain name "peta.org". PETA sued, claiming trademark violation, and won the suit in 2001; the domain is currently owned by PETA.
While still engaged in legal proceedings over "peta.org", PETA
themselves registered the domains "ringlingbrothers.com" and
"voguemagazine.com", using the sites to accuse Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Vogue of animal cruelty. PETA later surrendered the domains under threat of similar legal action over trademark infringement.
Position within the animal rights movement
The failure of PETA to condemn the Animal Liberation Front is a common complaint by other animal rights activists and groups.
The more radical activists say the group has lost touch with its
grass-roots soldiers, is soft on the idea of animal rights, that it
should stop the media stunts and their use of nudity, and stop "hogging
the spotlight at the expense of its allies in the movement".
Robert Garner
of the University of Leicester has written that PETA has shaken up the
animal rights movement, setting up new groups and radicalizing old ones. According to reviews at Philanthropedia,
"PETA paved the way for other national organizations to delve into what
used to be controversial issues and are now more mainstream concerns." Michael Specter considers PETA to be the radical that helps the more mainstream message to succeed.
Because of PETA's euthanasia rates at their "shelter of last resort", attorney Nathan Winograd, advocate for the No Kill movement, calls Newkirk of PETA "The Butcher of Norfolk".
Gary Francione, professor of law at Rutgers Law School and a proponent of abolitionism,
says that PETA is not an animal rights group because of their
willingness to work with industries that use animals to achieve
incremental change. Francione says PETA trivializes the movement with
their "Three Stooges" theory of animal rights, making the public think
progress is underway when the changes are only cosmetic. "Their campaigns are selected more for media image than content."
Francione has criticized PETA for having caused grassroots animal
rights groups to close, groups that were essential for the survival of
the animal rights movement, and rejects the centrality of corporate
animal charities. Francione wrote that PETA initially set up independent
chapters around the United States, but closed them in favor of a top-down, centralized organization,
which not only consolidated decision-making power, but centralized
donations. Now, local animal rights donations go to PETA, rather than to
a local group.
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