Vegans, what's your stance on PETA?!

Vegans, what's your stance on PETA?

I'm a vegan, so no provocation is intended.

This question is for vegans, vegetarians and other people who are seriously concerned about animal welfare.

Thank you.

3 days ago
I am very grateful to all of you for your answers!

The reason I asked this question is because I've come across several web sites, YouTube videos, etc. accusing PETA of corruption, hypocrisy, violence (not only against people, but against animals as well) and so on, so I was wondering whether it was merely the result of pro-animal-exploitation, pro-hunting, pro-meat-eating defamatory campaigns against PETA, or if there really is some truth in them.

As I'm not familiar with PETA, I wanted to hear the opinions of people that I know not to be biased against animal welfare issues!

Since their existence they have done much to fight for the rights of animals and to educate the public about animal
cruelty and the advantages of vegetarian diet. They have
caught a lot of flack lately due to the actions of a few rogue
employees and because of their use of celebrity ads. However, they were the first organization and veganism has
come a long way in popularity because of them. I really wish
that it wasn't so popular for vegetarians and vegans to disavow and trash them.