Graphic Photo: PETA ‘Grills’ Fake Dog in Pro-Vegan Stunt

Animal rights group slammed on social media for upsetting children

As the Camp Fire ravaged the small Northern California city of Paradise, days later, a family found their dog guarding a home. Kayla Westman/GoFundMe

An activist with animal rights group PETA was seen grilling a fake dog in an attempt to get others to turn to veganism.

“If you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat a lamb?” a sign below the lifelike barbecued dog read. The incident unfolded in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 19.

It took place as Australians around the country prepare for yearly barbecue celebrations for Australia Day this Saturday.

“Anyone who’s repulsed by the prospect of chowing down on dog meat should question the incongruity of their compassion towards other animals,” the group said in a statement, Fox News reported.

“This is called speciesism–a form of discrimination based on nothing more than species–and like all forms of discrimination, it cannot be justified. As humans, we instinctively feel compassion and empathy for animals, but we’re taught that it’s OK to enslave and eat some of them, without a second thought as to who they are as individuals,” the statement continued.

PETA was slammed for the move, and some residents said that schoolchildren were walking nearby.

“Keep them out of public places. It should be classed as public nuisance! Kids around? That is further reason to stop this! Exposing them to this??? Cruel,” one person said on Twitter.

Another wrote. “I saw some visibly upset kids.”

PETA said it is unphased, and it wants Australians to stop eating meat during the upcoming holiday.

“To care about animals–as most Australians claim to–should be to care about all animals,” the group said. “‘Many animal-free options (which are also better for your health and the environment) are available for your Australia Day barbecue.”

PETA’s Emily Rice, meanwhile, told News.com.au that their demonstration was “thought-provoking.”

“It’s not gruesome but it’s no different to when you’d walk past a Peking duck hanging in a shop window or a pig on a spit at a wedding,” she said.

Euthanizing Animals?

The Atlantic in 2012 reported that PETA has a “very bad history of killing animals,“ saying that the organization “can’t explain why its adoption rate is only 2.5 percent for dogs.”

“In 2011, PETA behaved in a regrettably consistent manner: it euthanized the overwhelming majority (PDF) of dogs and cats that it accepted into its shelters,” stated the report.

“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.”