People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( PETA ; stylized PeTA ) is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk , Virginia , and led by Ingrid Newkirk , its international president . A nonprofit corporation with nearly 400 employees , it claims that it has 6.5 million members and supporters , in addition to claiming that it is the " largest animal rights group in the world . " Its slogan is " Animals are not ours to eat , wear , experiment on , use for entertainment , or abuse in any other way . " Founded in March 1980 by Ingrid Newkirk and fellow animal rights activist Alex Pacheco , the organization first caught the public 's attention in the summer of 1981 during what became known as the Silver Spring monkeys case , a widely publicized dispute about experiments conducted on 17 macaque monkeys inside the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring , Maryland . The case lasted 10 years , involved the only police raid on an animal laboratory in the United States , triggered an amendment in 1985 to that country 's Animal Welfare Act , and established PETA as an internationally known organization . Today , it focuses on four core issues — opposition to factory farming , fur farming , animal testing , and the use of animals in entertainment . It also campaigns for a vegan lifestyle and against eating meat , fishing , the killing of animals regarded as pests , the keeping of chained backyard dogs , cock fighting , dog fighting , beekeeping , and bullfighting
Silver Spring monkeys
Silver Spring monkeys
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals