PETA, PETA, PETA......whether the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals is protesting against people “throwing dead fish” at Pike Place Market by having naked “mermaids” lie all over the pavement, enraging gays and lesbians, or complaining about the ethical treatment of groundhogs, they are always making headlines.

Recently, after probably watching Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day one too many times (which is ironic if you know what a never-ending loop of a movie that is), PETA sent a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog club complaining that poor Phil (the groundhog) is not getting enough rest on Groundhog’s Day and that he should be retired. The basis of their reasoning is that it is stressful for a groundhog to perform in front of large crowds. I know, I know- it sounds like something that is from the Onion, but unfortunately, I think this story is for real.

Obviously, the letter to the Groundhog Club was just another clever ploy by the creative publicity department at PETA to get attention, but can’t PETA focus on more worthwhile causes? I honestly believe that campaigns like this make a mockery of what they are trying to achieve, which is the ethical, fair, and humane treatment of animals, right?  By focusing the nation’s time and attention on campaigns that don’t matter that much to their cause, they give the impression that they are an organization of bumbling idiots who just want to appear on the news, no matter what the reason is.

There was once a day when they made more of a difference in how animal-testing was done as in the case of the Silver Spring Monkeys, which was one of the worst cases of animal cruelty related to medical research that I have ever heard of. But if PETA has many on-going campaigns like that now, I am not hearing about them in the press. I would much rather support an organization with clearer objectives that stays true to the original intentions of the organization than what PETA has become. Press is one thing, but there is definitely a difference between positive and negative press, which is something I think PETA should think about.