PETA Wants To Sue Anonymous HuffPo Commenters

MarkWhittington writes, quoting himself: "PETA is incensed over an article in the Huffington Post that details that organization's unsettling practice of euthanizing animals in a Virginia facility that many have assumed is a no kill shelter. According to the New York Post, PETA wants to sue some of the people who have left comments on the article. The problem is that, following the practice of many on the Internet, many of the comments are under assumed names or are anonymous. PETA is attempting to discover the true identities of their critics so that it can sue them for defamation."

Comments

Talk about hypocrisy, PETA kills most animals..

[stox]

in its shelters. "In 2011, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) behaved in a regrettably consistent manner: it euthanized the overwhelming majority of dogs and cats that it accepted into its shelters. Out of 760 dogs impounded, they killed 713, arranged for 19 to be adopted, and farmed out 36 to other shelters (not necessarily "no kill" ones). As for cats, they impounded 1,211, euthanized 1,198, transferred eight, and found homes for a grand total of five. PETA also took in 58 other companion animals -- including rabbits. It killed 54 of them."

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/petas-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-history-of-killing-animals/254130/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-j-winograd/peta-kills-puppies-kittens_b_2979220.html

Re:hypocrisy

[PlusFiveTroll]

I'll make it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmissible_spongiform_encephalopathy

Re:A name for PETA

[mosb1000]

How do you sue people for telling the truth?

1) Fill out the forms. A Civil Cases Cover Sheet, a Summons, and a Complaint all must be filled out in order to file a lawsuit. You must include facts concerning the case and a legally recognizable cause of action in order for the suit to proceed. It is best to have an attorney help you do this to make sure the forms are filled out correctly. See USCourtForms.com for sample forms you can use.

2) File the complaint. Make two copies of your forms, go to the courthouse, and file the originals with the court according to their instructions. Make sure you provide the forms in the format specified by the court, to prevent delays from occurring. In most cases you will have to pay a filing fee, but this can be waived if you show you can't afford it. Keep the two extra copies.

3) Have the defendant served. The next step is to notify the defendant that he or she is being sued by serving him or her with a copy of the court documents. The case cannot move forward until this happens. Documents must be served by someone over 18 who is not part of the case. You cannot serve your own documents.
Ask for help at the courthouse if you aren't sure who should serve your documents.

4) Wait for a hearing. After the defendant has been served, the court will review the lawsuit and instruct you on how it will move forward.

Not true - hyperbole

[aepervius]

Local shelters kills more even the private held one.

But the difference lies in adoption rate. PETA kills 95+% of what it get given not really bothering giving animals as pet, after all "pets"! are in genral against their policy. Shelter private or public depending on the animal get 40 to 60% back to adoption.

Re:I'm no fan of PETA, but...

[DerekLyons]

Let me preface this comment by stating that, as an animal advocate, I am not in ideological alignment with PETA and I do not generally support this organization.

No, but you certainly appear to have drunk their kool-aid... because you repeat their party line almost word for word.
 

That said, Nathan Winograd's HuffPo article amounts to little more than malicious hearsay and it is incredibly biased, leaving out critical information in favor of whipping lazy readers into a furor.

There's nothing in there that people who actually follow animal rights issues haven't heard before - and it's not all hearsay. This shelter has been under fire for years for it's euthanasia policies, and PETA's involvement with questionable euthanasia policies in other locations is well documented.
 

As far as I can tell, PETA has not attempted to deceive the public about their program or its purpose -- in fact, PETA maintains a website about the program called "Why PETA Euthanizes." PETA appears to be quite public about this program and why they believe it is necessary.

That sound you heard was the article's point zooming over your head - while your head was either deeply buried in the sand. PETA advertises the facility as a shelter - but makes no effort to operate it as a shelter. There's no adoption hours, no counselors, no rehabilitation, nothing but a freezer to store bodies.
 

Furthermore, Winograd is believed to be responsible for posting anonymous comments on articles by or about him to make it seem as though he has reinforcements.

I see... it's wrong for Mr Winograd to spread hearsay... but it's perfectly acceptable for you to do so. And you're amazingly ignorant of the state of animal advocacy in the US if you believe that there's so few opponents to PETA that an author has to create sockpuppets to make it appear that people support him.
 
tl;dr version: Either you're a PETA sockpuppet, or you're amazingly ignorant the facts.

Re:A name for PETA

[Millennium]

You can sue people for whatever you want. The lawsuit might not stand up in court, but if you can bankrupt the person with legal costs (or otherwise force them to settle with you), then you don't have to win the case.

This is called a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP, and many states have laws against it. Unfortunately, not all of them do, and while I don't know what state PETA is suing in, worth noting is that Virginia (the state where the shelter in question is located) does not.