People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
501 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone 757-622-7382 | Fax 757-622-0457 | Email info@peta-online.org

Center for Food Safety Darcy Kemnitz, current executive director of the Wildlife Advocacy Project, has served as a registered lobbyist for PETA, and as staff attorney for the International Center for Technology Assessment (CFS’ parent organization).

Earth First! In the spring and early summer of 1999, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made three donations to the Earth First! Journal. These grants were all made during the time convicted arsonist -- and PETA beneficiary -- Rodney Coronado was editor of the Journal. PETA has also sent money to various Earth First! chapters.

EarthSave International PETA president Ingrid Newkirk sits on the advisory boards of both EarthSave International and United Poultry Concerns.

Farm Animal Reform Movement Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have co-sponsored several annual gatherings of American animal-rights leaders. The most recent example was a July 2001 conference held in the Washington, DC area, where speakers included PETA’s Bruce Friedrich. PETA activists have also participated in organized observances of FARM’s “great American meatout” event – in one case actually handing out free veggie burgers in front of McDonald’s restaurants in order to discourage the usually carnivorous lunch crowd.

Greenpeace Michael Rodman, who runs Greenpeace USA's human resources department, previously held the same position at PETA.

Humane Society of the United States Numerous former PETA employees have worked at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), including Richard Swain, vice president of investigations; Jonathan Balcombe, Cristobel Block, and Virginia Bollinger, investigations section; Howard Edelstein, computer programmer; Leslie Gerstenfeld and Kimberly Roberts, international affairs section; and Leslie Ison and Rachel Lamb, “companion animals” section. PETA “Humane Education Lecturer” Gary Yourofsky, a convicted Animal Liberation Front felon, spoke at HSUS’s 2002 CompassionFest for children. HSUS and PETA joined eight other animal groups to demand that the U.S. Department of Agriculture restore to its website documents concerning the use of animals in research. HSUS and PETA are both active members of the International Council on Animal Protection, which seeks to limit research on animals. And in 2003, HSUS Vice President Martin Stephens was asked to recommend three people to serve on an EPA “pollution prevention and toxics” panel. Two out of his three choices were PETA employees. HSUS and PETA are co-sponsors of the 2005 “Taking Action For Animals” conference in Washington, DC.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine PCRM president Neal Barnard is also the president of the Foundation to Support Animal Protection (FSAP), which shares a mailing address with PETA. Ingrid Newkirk, PETA’s president, is listed as a “Director” of the same foundation. As of 1998, its assets were in excess of $2 million, and its tax filings list both PETA and PCRM as “supported organizations.” PETA has given PCRM over $850,000, most of it funneled through FSAP. Barnard is PETA’s Medical and Scientific Adviser. And PCRM’s Jerry Vlasak serves on the board of the Los Angeles Animal Defense League with PETA’s Gary Yourofsky.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society PETA co-founder and former chairman Alex Pacheco started his career with SSCS, in the late 1970s. He now serves on its Animal Welfare, Humane and Animal Rights Advisory Board. Pacheco is rumored to be a “commander” of the Animal Liberation Front and has been subpoenaed in connection to ALF activities.

SHAC Working for PETA as an “investigator,” Michelle Rokke first ignited the global SHAC campaign by infiltrating Huntingdon Life Sciences. From October 1996 to May 1997, Rokke was employed at HLS under false pretenses (while also on PETA’s payroll). Her “diary,” detailing various incidences of alleged animal abuse inside Huntingdon, has been denounced by many as an outright fraud. More recently, PETA has issued public appeals on behalf of several SHAC criminals, hoping a deluge of phone calls or faxes will convince prison officials to serve these inmates a special vegetarian-only diet. As we’ve come to expect, PETA has put its money where its mouth is: in 2001, the organization made a $5,000 cash payment to SHAC leader Josh Harper, and back in 1995 PETA paid convicted Animal Liberation Front arsonist $70,400. Coronado now speaks on behalf of SHAC. Also, PETA is no stranger to SHAC’s all-out battle to put medical research laboratories out of business. Until a 1997 court injunction forced them to cease and desist, PETA operated its own aggressive campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences. Lastly, some of PETA’s officers run in the same circles as SHAC’s more prominent activists; for instance, PETA campaign director Joe Haptas is also an officer with the Northwest Animal Rights Network -- a group whose most prominent member is SHAC leader Jake Conroy.

Sierra Club Sierra Club board member Paul Watson's violent activist group, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has received funding from PETA. In a 2002, the Broward Sierra News promoted "a vegetarian lifestyle as a way to counter the alleged abuse animals endure to feed a hungry and growing global population." The newsletter openly plugged PETA and their mantra that meat-eating in general, and livestock operations in particular, are a cause of world hunger and animal abuse. In 2002, Sierra Club activists in Florida teamed with PETA to pass a ballot initiative that extends constitutional rights to pregnant pigs.

United Poultry Concerns PETA president Ingrid Newkirk sits on the advisory boards of both EarthSave International and United Poultry Concerns. Activists from both groups have collaborated on dozens of organized protests over the years; this apparent collaboration has increased since United poultry Concerns moved from suburban Maryland to southern Virginia, following PETA’s similar geographical move. The two organizations are presently less than 50 miles apart.

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