PETA activists arrested after trying to dump frozen manure outside rival group's office

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A pair of activists with the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were arrested on Thursday while attempting to dump a truck’s worth of manure outside the Manhattan offices of a rival animal welfare group. “Someone had to go up in the truck and start shoveling it out, and he was apprehended by the police before he finished.” The stunt was the latest escalation in the group’s ongoing campaign against the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA, over their backing of an animal welfare certification program. PETA has alleged that the “sham” certificate — handed down by the Global Animal Partnership — appears on products that come from factory farms and other locations with a documented history of cruelty. “Instead, they seek to eliminate all animal agriculture, and our diverging views on the utility of animal welfare certifications stem from this fundamental difference.” In response to a separate PETA protest last year, the Global Animal Partnership defended its “strong oversight mechanisms."