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

NEW YORK — 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.

But the protest may have raised less of a stink than intended, as organizers acknowledged that much of the animal dung remained frozen solid to the truck bed.

''Because of the freezing temperatures, it didn't all fall out,'' explained Ashley Byrne, a PETA spokesperson. ''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.

They have called on the ASPCA to leave the partnership's board in a series of protests and full-page ads that accuse the group of ''humane-washing.''

A spokesperson for the ASPCA, meanwhile, defended the board for ''setting basic standards'' in the marketplace, adding the conflict boiled down to a philosophical difference with PETA.

''Unlike the ASPCA, PETA has no interest in building a more humane farming system,'' the spokesperson said. ''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."

''Certification programs minimize the risk of objectionable practices, swiftly punish it when it is uncovered and tirelessly reduce missteps,'' the group said.

The two PETA activists, who were not identified, were issued summonses for illegal dumping, according to a police spokesperson. They are due back in court on Feb. 11.

Police also confiscated the dump truck, along with its remaining contents which had been sourced from an animal sanctuary in New Jersey, Byrne said, adding: ''There was quite a bit of manure left in the truck when it was taken into police custody."