By Chris Cosci

Some groups will do outrageous things to stand up for a cause. The organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has developed a huge reputation for staging elaborate stunts to make their point. Their protests and actions can often seem over-the-top, but at least they're campaigning from the heart. Of course, this isn't to say that some of their plans could have used a little more time in the drawing room.

Take their latest concept, for example. PETA recently approached the residents of Rodeo, California and requested that they change the town's name. Their reasoning is that the name Rodeo brings up connotations of animal cruelty. Sure it does. In fact, every time I write the word rodeo, I feel like running out to a ranch and roping me up some cattle.

Apparently, it's no longer enough to stop people from treating animals unethically. Now PETA is going for mind control. Maybe they think that by changing the name of this town, people will magically stop thinking about running rodeos. If that worked, we'd be able to help control our country's exploding population by changing the name of the town Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

But even PETA knows that people won't do anything for free. After all, a change like this could cost the town a lot of money. You'd have to change all of the road signs. Town buildings like the post office would have to change their lettering. And who knows how much paperwork would have to be filed? So PETA made the town an offer.

What tempting compensation did PETA offer in exchange for all these expenses and trouble? Veggie burgers. That's right - veggie burgers. You change the name of your town, and they'll give you a bunch of fake hamburger patties made from vegetables. If your last name is Hunter, will they throw in a few bags of soy beans to change that, too?

The offer to Rodeo was $20,000 worth of veggie burgers. They raised the value to $20,000 after two previous, unsuccessful offers to the New York towns of Hamburg and Fishkill. They offered only $15,000 worth of veggie burgers to those towns. It only makes sense to assume that people just wanted more veggie burgers in exchange for their cooperation.

So what did the citizens of Rodeo say about PETA's offer? The reactions were mixed. Some said it was "stupid." Others called it "dumb." Despite these discrepancies, the small town of under 9,000 people finally decided to decline PETA's offer.

For PETA, the obvious solution would probably be to raise the offer to $30,000 in veggie burgers. Perhaps it would be a good idea to tell PETA that the real solution would be to replace "veggie burgers" with "cold hard cash." If they're going to stick with food, at least make it something that tastes good, like apple pie or chocolate cake.

Or maybe somebody should remind them that Rodeo is just a name. It doesn't exactly invite or encourage people to mistreat animals. It's not like the town was called Come Watch Us Kill Cattle, California.

But this will not stop PETA. They have a mission, and they will continue to come up with new and unusual ways to make their point. While some of their methods may seem a little extreme, at least it's good to know that they are crusading for a worthy cause. While I do enjoy a good hamburger as much as the next guy, I admit that there are some inhumane people out there.

So PETA should remain encouraged to speak out for what they believe. Unfortunately for them, they failed to make an impact with the people of Rodeo. But in this case, it wasn't just the town name that sounded like a load of bull.