PETA might find itself in some very hot water after what seems to be a PR stunt gone wrong.
Catching PETA lying isn’t anything new. Over the years there have been numerous occasions when the radical group has been caught lying.
- PETA lies about University of Michigan
- PETA lies about their animal shelter
- PETA lies about milk causing autism
- PETA lies about the Beastie Boys Support
- PETA lies about animals being skinned alive
- PETA lies and thwarted an animal welfare investigation
- PETA lies about animal care on The Hobbit set
- PETA lies about wool
This past week PETA put out a press release bragging that the Florida Department of Education had discontinued its relationship with SeaWorld Orlando.
PETA’s press release stated that the Florida Department of Education had removed two SeaWorld links on its website. One of the links was for field trip ideas and the second was for special offers for teachers.
The PETA-run propaganda site SeaWorld of Hurt then posted a gleeful article about their victory.
The diligent reporters at the Orlando Sentinel reached out to the Florida Department of Education. Officials were baffled by this claim.
“We’re looking into what happened,” said the Department’s Director of Communications and External Affairs, Meghan Collins.
Within a few hours the link was back up on the website in both places
After the statement by the Florida Department of Education, PETA began scrambling to cover their tracks. Their blog post on SeaWorld of Hurt has been removed.
When SeaWorld was asked about the stunt the company responded, “SeaWorld is proud to be a resource for the state’s students and teachers. Through partnerships like the one with FDOE, millions of children have benefited from our education initiatives including instructional field trips, camps, education outreach and distance learning programs. We look forward to our continuing relationship with FDOE and working to inspire the next generation of Floridians to care for and preserve our natural world.”
It seems that PETA has been caught red-handed and lying once again.
Unlike the Orlando Sentinel, Amanda Claire Curcio of the Tallahassee Democrat fell for the stunt. The education beat reporter failed to ask simple follow-up questions and her editors failed to do their job. At 4:18pm on October 6, 2015, the TD posted their story.
The TD editors eventually realized the error of their ways and the story has been taken down from the site.
The real question isn’t why did PETA lie, but rather why do reporters continue to trust and listen to PETA as they continue to deceive the public?