But there is another side to this cult-like organisation. Feminists, vegetarians and animal-rights activists accuse Peta of being inherently misogynist, with a philosophy based on a general intolerance of those opposed to Peta's value system. Many claim that the organisation hates humans more than it loves animals. One lifelong vegetarian and animal liberationist who asked not to be named says: "Peta would sooner give chickens the vote than give a damn about people. They are misanthropes, through and through."

Not everyone agrees. Since its UK office opened in 1994, Peta has attracted approximately 13,000 members here, as well as high-profile supporters such as Justin Bieber and Pamela Anderson. It has run campaigns against Fortnum & Mason for selling foie gras in its stores and restaurants, and forced McDonald's to recognise the cruelty that may be involved in producing hamburgers. 

But Peta's tactics are questionable. In 2000, it started handing out "Unhappy Meals" outside McDonald's US branches that featured gory plastic toys for children and cut-outs of "Son of Ron", who was shown in a bloodstained shirt and brandishing a blood-stained knife. It has been known to accuse parents who feed their children meat of being child abusers. One of its leaflets in the US aimed at children tells them: "Your Mommy Kills Animals!"  

Yet Peta itself has been accused of giving money and support to violent and criminal extremists. In 1995, Peta allegedly paid substantial sums to a committee supporting the defence of an Animal Liberation Front (ALF) serial arsonist, Rodney Coronado, convicted of burning down a Michigan University research laboratory. 

Not only is it hostile to any medical research that involves animal testing, but Peta is at best indifferent to human health. In 2002 it launched a poster campaign entitled "Got Beer?", a parody of the US campaign from the 1990s, "Got Milk?". The "Got Beer?" posters, placed around university campuses, argued that beer is healthier than milk, and that drinking cow's milk is cruel to cows. 

Soon afterwards a research report suggested that dairy products could increase the risk of prostate cancer. Never one to miss an opportunity for shock tactics, Peta ran a poster campaign in which the mayor of New York at the time, Rudy Giuliani, was depicted with a milk stain on his upper lip with the slogan, "Got Prostate Cancer?" The mayor, recently diagnosed with the disease, threatened to sue before Peta withdrew the campaign. Then there was the controversy over breast milk, after a Swiss restaurant added it to its menu in 2008. Peta asked ice-cream producers Ben & Jerry's to switch from "unhealthy bovine juice stolen from tormented calves" (cow's milk) to "healthier, humane human breast milk".