Animal abuse is no small problem in Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie counties. In my two decades in this business, I have never seen any one area that has such a seemingly disproportionate problem with animal abuse.

Many of the cases I have seen over the years have involved people - often elderly and sometimes with mental or emotional issues - who simply get in over their heads trying to care for too many pets with too few resources. But there have also been too many cases of people torturing animals, neglecting them or even exploiting them.

Fortunately, there have been many good people over the years at local organizations like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who go out of their way to ensure that all animals are treated humanely. These people often accompany police to not only document incidents of abuse but also to help save the victimized animals. Groups like these spend thousands and thousands of dollars every year to try to nurse injured animals back to health and find good homes for them.

But for all these well-meaning people who give of their own time and money to help, there are groups like People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals who set back the cause every time its members open their mouths. Don't get me wrong, I am an animal lover and it both hurts and angers me whenever I hear the story of an abused animal, but I see PETA doing more to hurt the cause than help it.

The latest example came with the group's response to the untimely death of the thoroughbred Eight Belles right after she finished a stunning second in Saturday's Kentucky Derby. The filly had just pulled up after completing the race when she suddenly collapsed, both front ankles broken. Moments after what was undoubtedly the greatest moment of the 3-year-old's career, she was euthanized.

Eight Belles' death sparked a lot of discussion about horse racing, especially about breeding that has led to larger and larger horses running at high speeds on spindly legs and the growing use of synthetic tracks that have reportedly reduced the number of such breakdowns by 25 percent. Both are intelligent discussions that I expect will lead eventually to at least some small changes in the industry.

Unless, that is, PETA antagonizes people within the industry enough to destroy the discussion. You see, while this meaningful discussion has been going on, PETA came out with a statement in which it said the tragedy should spell the end "of the dirty business of thoroughbred racing."

In the statement, PETA called "on the racing industry to suspend the jockey and trainer [and] to bar the owner from racing at the track." The statement goes on to say that "trainers, owners, and jockeys are all driven by the desire to make money, leaving the horses to suffer terribly."

If thoroughbreds suffer terribly, I wouldn't mind such suffering. Other than the two or so minutes they compete every few weeks, these horses live a pampered life, especially when compared to workhorses who still are prominent on many area farms. Yes, there are some elements of cruelty (specifically the whipping by jockeys, which many in the business have said could be done away with without having much effect), but in general, I don't see thoroughbred racing as any less humane than having horses pull plows or carts.

Other than its statement, though, PETA could offer no informed answers about the situation. When quizzed Monday afternoon on ESPN Radio, a PETA spokeswoman could do nothing more than read from prepared talking points that offered nothing more than chest-thumping bluster with absolutely no facts to back it up.

PETA said it wants the jockey and trainer punished for exhibiting "excessive force and neglect" because they should have known something was wrong before the filly broke down. Huh? I'm no expert on thoroughbred racing, but I think I know enough to realize that premonition is not among the required skills for a job in the business.

In that ESPN Radio interview, host Mike Tirico specifically asked the spokeswoman what the jockey and trainer had done that would be considered "excessive force and neglect" and how their actions during the Derby differed from those of other trainers and jockeys at tracks across the nation and around the world. After verbally stumbling for several seconds, the answer from the PETA flack was simply to re-read talking points about how thoroughbred racing is cruel.

Here's a bit of advice for PETA - if it really wants to be a contributor to a discussion that will make racing safer and an overall voice of reason (with an emphasis on the word "reason") in the fight against animal abuse: If you want to be sanctimonious, at least be informed AND sanctimonious.

Some of the arguments PETA makes on its Web site - such as for the expanded use of synthetic racing surfaces - make good sense, and others - like a ban on racing for horses under age 3 or a limit on the number of races a horse can run - are at least good points for discussion. But it's hard to take the group and its reasonable arguments seriously when they are buried under the uninformed arrogance displayed in the days since Eight Belles' tragic death.

And even worse, PETA's reputation to many rubs off on responsible people working with groups like the local SPCAs, leaving them all to be painted with the same broad bursh.

There's an old cliche that says, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." Quite frankly, PETA is NOT part of the solution, and it may very well be part of the problem - or at least a roadblock to a solution. Whether its members see it or not, PETA's actions may drive more people away from the cause of animal rights than it draws to the cause.