At this point, animal rights organization PETA has an unfortunate reputation of doing more harm than good and never knowing how to pick a battle or make an argument. Unfortunately, due to the identity PETA has taken on over time, the general public tends to assume all of their claims are unsubstantiated, ill-informed, or simply lacking a finer understanding of nuance, balance, and the multiple factors that are at play. All in all, this has led to PETA’s latest X statement facing some serious backlash.

With the Kentucky Derby all set to commence in just about a week (May 3), horse racing is having its time under the spotlight. But as always, attention isn’t always positive. Which brings us to PETA and one of their latest tweets on X. PETA posted an AI-generated image of two cartoon-style horses, wherein the white one is mourning the death of the blue one under the words, “You raced her to death.”  The caption read, “White Horse may have won the carrots, but she lost so much more 💔 #JusticeForCyan #StopHorseRacing #horseracetests”

Needless to say, the post didn’t go down too well, especially in light of the various controversies regarding AI-generated images. Perhaps if PETA had mentioned that last year there were 12 deaths of healthy horses in Churchill Downs all around the time of the Kentucky Derby, fans might have reacted differently, more sympathetically.

However, the argument isn’t as straightforward as that. The Kentucky Derby is also a multi-million-dollar race, where, regardless of people’s personal ethics and values, the money is on the horses to do well, so they are undeniably kept in the best of conditions, living in state-of-the-art stables with high-end health care that many horses couldn’t dream of having access to in their lifetimes.

The Derby even has stringent rules on health leading up to the race, where one fever, injury, or missed practice could lead to the disqualification of a horse. So while the deaths that took place last year were tragic, some perspective in the framing of PETA’s argument would have at least helped hold themselves in some regard with the online community, which currently isn’t the case.

The online community reacts to PETA’s X statement about the Kentucky Derby

Reactions varied from quite abstract and existential to pointed and cutting. Some X users used this opportunity to pose a larger philosophical conundrum: “Technically, we’re all in an existential race to our deaths, using our tiny window of life to self-actualize some deeper meaning,” this X user said, indicating that while we think we’re wielding agency, we’re really not much different than the horses. Hmm, one to dwell on, or not, depending on the time of day.

Another X user pointed out PETA’s seeming blind spots, stating, “Y’all are always on the wrong side of history when it comes to animal rights.” Which, unfortunately for PETA, is not far from the truth, considering they were, in 2020, accused of cultural racism for calling out the farming of coconuts by monkeys in Thailand but never finding fault with the harvesting of truffles by pigs in Europe. Perspective—it often makes such a difference.

Another X user posed a fair quandary: Have you ever seen a wild horse? What are they doing for most of the day?” Presumably referencing galloping Mustangs in Wyoming, this argument, though, is not too different from PETA’s, as it fails to capture the nuances, i.e., galloping Mustangs in Wyoming are choosing to gallop and not being ridden by a jockey through 1.25 miles of stress, noise, and pressure. Perspective and nuance.

Another X user made a valid point by stating, “Thanks for reminding me I need to pick up some glue and paint brushes this weekend.” Thereby indicating how hard it is to pick fault with one example of cruelty when so much of our daily lives relies on some form of exploitation or another. This is a tough one to argue, so perhaps it’s best to leave it out of this particular article and address instead this final X statement.

“How many animals have you euthanized in the last few years?” This one is a good question considering PETA themselves indicate on their website that they euthanize “sick, injured, dying, or otherwise suffering (physically or psychologically) and whose guardians often can’t afford the service at a private veterinary practice.” Which sounds humane enough until we get to the numbers, In 2023, PETA took in 3,117 dogs and cats and euthanized 2,471 of them. This figure only further complicates matters, begging the following question.

Who decides who gets to do what while we’re all on this “existential race to our deaths using our tiny window of life to self-actualize some deeper meaning”? Anyway, here’s to Kentucky Derby week and practicing kindness in all forms!