PETA earns kudos for Texas exotic pets rescue. 26,400 animals from internet-based wholesaler.

[Karmadillo]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/80913.html

Undercover work by a veterinary technician affiliated with the almost-30-year-old animal rights activism organization led officials to raid U.S. Global Exotics in east Arlington on Tuesday. They seized an estimated 26,400 animals — including frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes, spiders, crabs, hedgehogs, prairie dogs, even sloths and kinkajous — from the Internet-based exotic-animal wholesaler.

They also removed hundreds of animal carcasses and found evidence that some animals had started eating one another because they had not been provided with food.

Not to say that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals hasn't had some similar success stories since it was founded in 1980. It lists some of those successes on its Web site, www.peta.org. But the organization is better known for the street-theater tactics it uses to market its philosophy than it is for such concrete deeds of rescuing animals from deplorable conditions.

The very idea of an Internet-based exotic-animal wholesaler is repulsive. The clear image is of these animals being captured by the truckload in their native habitat, shipped in bulk from wherever in the world that is to the U.S. Global Exotics warehouse in Arlington, shipped in bulk again to retailers and then sold to some end-user. Presumably that end-user is a person, but why does anyone need to own a sloth or a python?

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[sixmile]

1. Thanks for posting

Using Animals for unchecked capitalism is barbaric and ignorant.
I wonder, however, what will now happen to these 24,000 animals?

[cowcommander]

6. This worries me

PETA does have a history of euthanizing animals after "rescue"

[roguevalley]

8. save your 'worry'. they were raided by other people. PETA just led

them to the place.

[BrightKnight]

10. PETA made it happen and the SPCA did the heavy lifting.

I can't fault anything about the operation.

[Karmadillo]

2. Kick

nt

[mitchtv]

3. cancelled out one un rec

Oh those bad, bad Peta people saving animals

[flvegan]

4. PETA often does great work. Their new Ringling expose is quite good.

Love them or hate them, when they do good work they do it very well.

[Quantess]

5. Some animals just shouldn't be kept as pets.

Make that-- most animals do not make good pets. Cats, dogs, a few kinds of birds, and hamsters.

Those are the cuddly, affectionate ones. Any other reason to keep an animal is for your own ego.

[WeDidIt]

7. I have criticized PETA in the past

But I give credit where credit is due.

This is the sort of PR that would make PETA a severely formidable political force if they focused more on this and less on the antics.

[BrightKnight]

9. That is the PETA that I can whole heartedly support. Bravo!

The SPCA was out in force but PETA made it happen. A few more like that and I will have to rework my charity list. I would love to see PETA become more of a Greenpeace like action oriented organization.

[garybeck]

11. I am an unashamed, unapologetic supporter of PETA. n/t

[mitchum]

12. Good work!