The PeTA principle...

“A crisis is a violation of your organizational vision.”
-- Overdrive, Michael Silva and Terry McGann

That's one of the best definitions of a crisis I've ever seen. If you want to see crisis management in action, pay attention how PeTA spins its way out of its current mess.

The organization has staked its mission on animal rights and humane treatment. Now, two employees at the PeTA national headquarters have been charged with 31 felony counts of animal cruelty, and eight counts of illegal disposal of dead animals -- in a shopping center garbage bin.

As bad as that sounds, this admission from organization president Ingrid Newkirk might raise a few eyebrows:

"PETA has never made a secret of the fact that most of the animals picked up in North Carolina are euthanized."

Statistics show that from 1998 through 2003, PeTA actually euthanized a higher percentage of its animals than nearby branches of the SPCA.

Newkirk is already aware of the potential for negative press, considering how this seems to go against everything the group is for:

"It's hideous... I think this is so shocking it's bound to hurt our work."

You would think there would be a response or a rebuttal on the PeTA website. I found nothing -- and that's a big mistake.