Animal Liberation

Red text on a yellow background around a black illustration of a dog with an outer black edge

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was founded in 1980. PETA first gained attention for motivating an investigation of the mistreatment of monkeys in a Silver Springs laboratory. Throughout the 1990s, the group gained attention for its radical advertising campaigns, using graphic pictures of dead animals to protest against the consumption and processing of meat or naked celebrities as part of their "I'd Rather Go Naked than Wear Fur" campaign. The organization has been responsible for ending animal testing in several many major pharmaceutical companies, but has also been the subject of criticism both inside and outside the animal rights movement for its controversial protest methods.

"Animal Liberation" was first used in the book of the same name published in 1975 by Peter Singer, which sought to remove the legal and social distinction drawn between animals and people. The book later inspired Ingrid Newkirk to found PETA with the purpose of fighting for animals' rights, among them the liberation and protection of chained dogs like the one pictured here, which the organization claims are left vulnerable to malnourishment and physical abuse, often leading them to attack when approached.