Caption : According to the Center for Consumer Freedom, PETA murders thousands of adoptable puppies and kittens every year.

Caption : According to the Center for Consumer Freedom, PETA murders thousands of adoptable puppies and kittens every year.

Mark Levin, a nationally syndicated radio host, used his conservative show to bash PETA last week. Millions of listeners were told that the organization, which theoretically stands for animal rights, murders thousands of dogs and cats every year.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, more commonly called PETA, has taken heat from conservatives, liberals, and moderate animal lovers for years. That’s no surprise. Even hardcore vegan activists may have found PETA’s "Holocaust on Your Plate" exhibit—which compared factory farms to Nazi death camps—to be over-the-top and highly offensive.

Many of their ads have been legitimately criticized for having sexist and racist undertones, and alienating people who might otherwise be on their side is the stupidest thing PETA could possibly do.

But do they really murder animals? Where did this accusation come from, and more importantly, is it true?

The information can ultimately be traced to PetaKillsAnimals.com, a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom. According to their website:

"From July 1998 through December 2009, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) killed over 23,000 dogs, cats, and other ‘companion animals.’ That's more than five defenseless creatures every day. PETA has a walk-in freezer to store the dead bodies, and contracts with a Virginia Beach company to cremate them."

Factually, this is correct. The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has documents to prove it. Taken out of context, just about anyone would be outraged. Why would PETA do such a thing? The CCF claims that PETA has a $33 million annual budget, but fails to find homes for most of the animals entrusted to them. Instead, they spend the money on media campaigns against meat, fur, and animal experiments.

Fair enough. But the CCF is only telling half the truth. Source Watch, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy, tells a more accurate story.

In 2000, PETA was contacted by a police officer concerned about the suffering of animals in local North Carolina shelters, many of which were nothing more than exposed shacks. PETA conducted cruelty investigations and got involved in assisting these shelters with cleaning, adoptions, training, staff, and supplies. Many pounds in the area had no adoption programs or even operating hours. Unwanted animals were shot, gassed in metal boxes, or injected with a paralytic agent that caused them to suffocate. This had been happening for decades until PETA stepped in and provided humane euthanasia services.

So, for the record, PETA does kill animals. It continues to provide humane euthanasia, as an alternative to much more painful methods, to thousands of animals every year.

The CCF fails to mention any of this. Their newsfeed even goes on to attack Tal Ronnen, the "vegan rock-star chef," for having connections to PETA in the past. So what’s the deal here? Why is the CCF so bent on attacking food activists?

The CCF, a "nonprofit organization devoted to promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choices," used to be called the Guest Choice Network. It began in 1995 with a $600,000 donation from the Phillip Morris tobacco company. Other contributors include Coca-Cola, Burger King, and Tyson Foods. It was created by Richard Berman, president of Berman and Company, a public relations firm known for launching front groups—disguised as grassroots educational efforts—to defend the interests of its corporate clients.

Tyson Foods in particular has an extensive record of animal cruelty and human rights abuse. Through undercover investigations, PETA has repeatedly exposed them. So next time you see a story that quotes the Center for Consumer Freedom, take it with a grain of salt. Or a bucket of high fructose corn syrup.