A low blow missed by the referee can sometimes turn a fight around. Likewise successful propaganda may turn a cause around, temporarily. But the momentum can be sustained only if the substance of the matter is sufficient to back up the propaganda. If not, all one gains is a reputation for misrepresentation, which eventually disqualifies the propagandist from participation in the public forum. In popular interpretation, the saying equates three categories of misinformation.
Inaccurate statistics are correspondingly an invitation to public demolition by one's opponents.
When animal advocates take outdated or sloppily compiled numbers into public debate, they figuratively stand up with pants unzipped. Some activists believe a big number is most convincing and dramatic, whether or not it can documented. Yet people are more often moved by the plight of one animal than that of many. Smaller numbers are more hopeful. When new statistics become available on any aspect of animal use or abuse, we ascertain their source, consider their accuracy, and make them public.