With a horrible record of killing more than 97 percent of the animals brought to its Fairfax, Va., shelter—thousands upon thousands over the last two decades—is it possible that the hypocritical “animal rights” group PETA could ever do anything else even nearly as reprehensible?
Unfortunately for the group—which also hates all hunters and hunting—the answer seems to be a resounding “Yes.”
According to a report at Inc.com, PETA recently approached Mashable.com to enlist the website in helping push what might be one of the fakest news stories ever. While not as heinous as killing hundreds of animals the group claimed to be seeking homes for—many within 24 hours of receiving them—this episode is a sordid one.
“In a bizarre move even for PETA, the group's marketing agency, Press Kitchen PR, pitched Mashable multiple times on a strange publicity stunt,” the report stated. “The agency planned to anonymously release a disturbing video on YouTube of a house cat being ‘trained’ to jump from one stool to another and slapped by its owner when it failed to comply. The cat in the video does not actually exist, but is a very realistic looking CGI.”
… by conspiring with PETA to get the fake news to the public, Mashable would only be telling its readers a small lie, not a big one.What PETA was asking for was for Mashable—in an attempt to point out alleged abuse of large cats used in circuses and movies—to debut the video of the non-existent cat being abused, which would have been planted on YouTube anonymously by the ad agency that created it for PETA. “Your posting of the provocative piece would simply be to acknowledge that it's in circulation—not to make any claims about its authenticity."
In other words, by conspiring with PETA to get the fake news to the public, Mashable would only be telling its readers a small lie, not a big one. Fortunately for Mashable readers, the website didn’t want to be party to such a shenanigan.
“Spreading false information to raise awareness for anything—even the abuse of animals—is wrong and irresponsible,” Mashable wrote in a report about the fiasco. “The campaign's big reveal relies on the audience following up on the story. As we all know, the internet and the news cycle move fast, and people who believe this clip is real may not necessarily see the behind-the-scene clip revealing the abuse video is fake.”
For its part, PETA seemed surprised that Mashable didn’t want to go along. “We were taken aback last night by Mashable's story and frankly surprised that Mashable didn't wait for our response,” a statement from PETA said.
PETA even tried to shrug off the episode as some kind of small misunderstanding, stating: “The PR company approached Mashable and shared their idea. Mashable didn’t like it.”
“We should note here that the issue isn't that ‘Mashable didn't like it,’ so much as that we here at Mashable don't take kindly to being approached for partnership on a shady, ethically ass-backwards marketing campaign.”In response, Mashable made sure everyone knew that they more than just “didn’t like it.”
“We should note here that the issue isn't that ‘Mashable didn't like it,’ so much as that we here at Mashable don't take kindly to being approached for partnership on a shady, ethically ass-backwards marketing campaign,” Mashable wrote. “But also, yeah, sure: We're not fans of animal abuse videos, fake or otherwise.”
What can A1F Daily readers learn from all this?
The fact that PETA is willing to lie isn’t new news, as the group has existed on a foundation of falsehoods since its inception. We shouldn’t be surprised by the latest, although we should be appalled.
Probably the biggest takeaway is how willing the group is to be completely deceptive in pushing its ill-conceived notions of reality, and how flippant PETA leaders were in responding to Mashable’s revelation. It reveals that not only are they liars, but they’re not even ashamed of that fact.
In truth, PETA’s so-called “animal rights” emphasis is less about rights of animals than it is about bringing down humans to a level equal to animals. The fact that its leaders are so willing to fool the public in order to garner support should be enough to drive anyone still supporting the group away in a hurry.
Mark Chesnut has been the editor of America’s 1st Freedom magazine for nearly 17 years and is an avid hunter, shooter and political observer.
