[Deckard]

Originally Posted by Sean

Well, there have been very valid points made here about the detrimental effects to the health of some pure-bred dogs

My tangent on health was prompted by the comment of the spokesman in the article you linked.

Originally Posted by Sean

...but to get back to the initial story and the further digging I did about it, the health issues are literally never even mentioned by PETA.

Because that's not what this particular campaign is about. It's about the 4 million dogs and cats put to death each year because people opt for pure-bred rather than rescue, and the culture that propagates it. Elsewhere PETA have drawn (and continue to draw) attention to the health-related problems (and they don't deny that pure-breds end up in rescues too). The fact that the health problems and deformities aren't part of this particular campaign will have more to do with the benefit from isolating and honing a single message, rather than a lack of awareness and concern for it.

and that this is somehow equal to the goals of white supremacists.

Three things I'd say to this. First, you're falling for a marketing technique, in the sense that it's got you talking about issues even if you think they're idiots. You're taking the parallel drawn in a deliberately provocative publicity campaign and drawing an equivalency. It's precisely because people are inclined to do that that PETA can be assured of column inches and radio time (and moveon.org can link Bush with Hitler ). PETA take the hit for the benefit of spreading their message that bit further. Second, to re-iterate, I can't say I agree that turning themselves against public sympathy is - on balance - the best approach. I've never aligned myself with PETA as an organisation and certainly won't defend it unquestioningly or with any kind of allegiance. Third, drawing a parallel between the KKK and the American Kennel Club might sound extreme, but don't let that throw you off the genuine parallels that exist. A BBC documentary last year described how the Kennel Club in this country was borne from the eugenics movement, which, let's not forget, was a movement that believes "the human race can be improved and purified by breeding the best to the best". The KC undeniably does continue to embrace, even today, eugenics principles - even its most vehement supporters would have to admit that much. That doesn't mean to say the KC are as bad as Hitler or the KKK, but it's precisely the human tendency of interpreting a parallel as an equivalency that fuels a controversial campaign. Dressing up two of its members like this is undeniably a ploy, a deliberately provocative way to gain publicity and get the topic talked about (even if while criticizing the approach itself). My guess is it's backfired in one respect and worked in another, depending on what their expectations were. We're talking about the subject matter, and - in this instance - no-one has had to die for this to happen (which is always nice). Sure I will always question any tactic that involves causing offence, but if I'm being honest I struggle to feel that outraged about the possible offence caused, when viewed within the bigger picture.