In their quest to get people to drop the meat from their diets, PETA has been known to pull some questionable stunts. How questionable? The organization attempted to turn Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home into a vegan restaurant. Now comes the latest attention-getting ploy from the animal rights group: dipping a toe into the Motor City’s ongoing water crisis. PETA is offering to pay the overdue water bills of 10 Detroit families in exchange for their pledge to go vegan for 30 days.

The city has been in the midst of a water crisis after the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department began shutting off H2O services for 150,000 residents whose bills were at least two months past due. The bankrupt city has seen water rates soar 119 percent over the past 10 years. Given that 40 percent of people are living in poverty and 14 percent of folks are also unemployed, keeping up with the hefty bills has been an impossible task.

Leslie Turner, a 46-year-old Detroit resident, told ABC News that she heard about PETA’s bill-paying offer on the radio. She sent her $147.12 bill and a pledge to adopt a vegan diet to the animal rights organization last week. “This would be a tremendous help,” said Turner. “It will be one less expense that I have to worry about.”

“The last thing that people who are struggling need is increased health-care costs,” wrote the PETA blog. “By accepting our offer to go vegan, not only will families be getting an immediate financial boost and helping animals, if they stick with it, they’ll also lower their risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes.”

While that may be true, and while it’s also true that not eating meat cuts our carbon footprint and conserves H2O, what PETA might have forgotten is that having access to clean water is a human right—not a carrot to be dangled in front of people who are already in tough situations.

In comparison, Turn On Detroit’s Water, an inspiring grassroots project launched last week by designer Kristy Tillman and tech entrepreneur Tiffani Bell, helps folks pay their bills with no strings attached. All someone with a water shutoff notice has to do is sign up for help. Bell and Tillman then connect them with strangers who’d like to assist them financially. No schticky pledge required.

Still, if anyone in Detroit wants to take PETA up on their bill-paying offer, the application deadline is Aug. 1.