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Oh boy. I can just picture this kind of thread getting way out of hand & being locked, but seeing as it hasn't been yet, I suppose I should be able to give my harmless two cents

PETA is absolutely ludacris. Period. They're insane animal 'activists' who think they're on a crusade to SAVE THE ANIMALZ when really, their opinions are way over-zealous and ignorance-ladden...

PETA is against:
-Consumption of animals/animal products, ie milk. As pointed out, cows NEED to be milked anyway. Just like sheep need to be sheared or they can get very matted/unhealthy, and we end up using the wool for our own products, making it really win-win for the person & sheep. Lots of animal products really do not harm the animal AT ALL and are simply 'harvested' after being produced by the animal, or made from such 'harvest'. Dairy, eggs, honey, etc... If an animal is in any way cruelly mistreated to get these things, sure, by all means protest the farm or what have you, but it doesn't mean the whole product/industry is 'evil'. As for choosing whether or not to be a vegetarian, that's entirely a personal choice. Some people do choose vegetarianism because of moral issues, and that's a-ok. My sister's a vegan. But me, I like to eat meat... sorry. I'm not going to cease eating burgers cause it's caused the death of an innocent widdle cow. Maybe it sounds cold, but here's the way I look at it - other animals eat animals. Why shouldn't I be able to? "You can have a perfectly healthy diet WITHOUT eating animals!" Ok. But humans are designed to be omnivorous. Obviously nature doesn't care if we're eating other animals. At least we're putting the dead ones to use. If you don't want to eat meat, that's your choice, and I'm not going to criticize you for it.. but I will criticize you for attacking those of us who do eat meat, just because we do so.

-Animal testing. Okay, this one is a little more reasonably controversial, because it has been notoriously cruel in the past. But, firstly, the laws have shaped up considerably since the 80's and beyond; it's no longer *legal* to perform mindlessly cruel operations on puppies, as it's portrayed in the movies and such... actually, the law states that actual surgery can only be performed on *small* lab animals, ie mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, what have you. In addition, there are standards to the animals' housing that make their living conditions very humane - I can't recall specifics but I do know every species is required a certain size cage that is most definitely large enough for them to run around, stretch, etc., and there's a law about the housing of primates (not sure if it's only for primates...) that requires certain 'developmental enrichment' standards to be met, meaning an engaging environment, toys, lots of climbing space, etc. Besides the rather humane housing, animal testing is just downright BENEFICIAL for us AND them. Of course there's always the moral issue of 'do we have the right to be doing this to an animal, which can't really give its consent?', but do you know what we wouldn't be able to have if we didn't perform tests on animals? Medicine. Vaccines. Cures for previously incurable, fatal diseases. I suppose if you're oh so against animal testing, you never want a cure for cancer, huh?

-Owning pets. In the eyes of PETA, all animals should be 'set free'. To this I say, "WTF". Pardon my french. Let's ignore the fact that there are already millions too many stray animals in the world and 'setting free' all the happily owned ones would overflow the streets w/ suffering critters... The kind of animals most people own are DOMESTIC. They aren't fit to survive in the wild any more, and what's more is most pets are HAPPY to be owned & cared for. I only say most because I don't want to completely disregard the sad existance of pet abuse/neglect, but that's not my point here. In the majority of homes w/ pets, the animals get... let's see... shelter. Food. Water. Medical care. Grooming. Love. Companionship. I don't know how any of it equates to cruelty. Also, apparently sports involving animals - for example, dog agility, horse back riding - is exploitation and oppression. Ahahahaha. Tell me it's oppressive to work w/ an animal that loves their job & working w/ people. Most dogs will work their heart out for you because to them it's instinct, it's fun, and they love it. Horses, too, enjoy being riden & worked. It's healthy physical & mental stimulation. I agree it's a problem if the poor thing is overworked to exhaustion & is clearly suffering (see Black Beauty), but at the normal level, it's NOT CRUEL. It's HEALTHY and mutually beneficial.

URhgrughurhgusdh I'd write more but I think I've gone on long enough XD; Das all!

EDIT: Also though, just to point out, I believe it's been proven before that PETA has abused animals to make videos of animal abuse, to protest animal abuse.. o.O Wow. Torturing animals to prove your point against the very same thing. Hypocritical enough?