PETA workers cleared of animal cruelty

I'm certainly not taking Peta's side, but I wonder if these were animals considered unadoptable. I wonder if they euthanized them with the same stuff vets use vs. gas chamber euthanization which is often used by animal shelters.

I remember the original article stating that some were sick, but many were perfectly healthy and adoptable, including some puppies. That part stuck, as I have a lab that was a puppy when they slaughtered the pets. The animal shelters had no clue;

PETA Employees Face 31 Felony Animal-Cruelty Charges for Killing, Dumping Dogs

Posted On June 16, 2005

Ahoskie, NC – Last night, one month after the launch of www.PetaKillsAnimals.com, two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were arrested on 31 felony animal-cruelty charges for killing and disposing of dogs and puppies in a dumpster. Today the Center for Consumer Freedom is calling on Americans to stop making donations to support PETA and its grim-reaper program.

When Ahoskie police arrested PETA employees Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle last night, they found 18 dead dogs in a nearby shopping-center dumpster (including a bag containing seven dead puppies), and 13 more dead dogs in the PETA-owned van the two were driving. Police observed them throwing several dark-colored bags into the dumpster before the arrests were made.

This is not the first public mention of PETA’s large-scale euthanasia program. In May 2005 the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) unveiled a giant Times Square billboard and a new website (www.PetaKillsAnimals.com). CCF had obtained official records from the state of Virginia showing the militant animal-rights group had put over 10,000 dogs and cats to death since 1998.

In 2003 PETA euthanized over 85 percent of the animals it took in, finding adoptive homes for just 14 percent. By comparison, the Norfolk SPCA found adoptive homes for 73 percent of its animals and the Virginia Beach SPCA adopted out 66 percent. PETA’s required report documenting its 2004 record is currently over 4 weeks late.

A Bertie County (NC) Deputy Sheriff told The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald that Cook and Hinkle assured the Bertie Animal Shelter “they were picking up the dogs to take them back to Norfolk where they would find them good homes.” Pittman added that persons identifying themselves as PETA representatives have picked up live dogs from that shelter during the last two months.

“This is disturbing behavior on the part of self-professed animal lovers, and I hope the public takes notice,” said Center for Consumer Freedom Director of Research David Martosko. “PETA raked in nearly $29 million last year alone, but apparently it couldn’t spare any money to care for the flesh-and-blood animals entrusted to its employees. It’s ironic -- If anyone else were caught red-handed with 31 dead dogs, PETA would be holding a press conference to denounce them.”

Martosko added: “Last month when we launched PetaKillsAnimals.com, we warned the public that PETA was not the warm and kind group it claimed to be. Now it’s clearer than ever that Americans who truly want to help animals should donate to their local animal shelter, not to PETA.”

The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.

For media comment, contact our media department at 202-463-7112 ext 133

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/print.cfml?id=109&page=release

Also, this excerpt from after the trial;

The pair were arrested in June 2005 after police staked out a Dumpster where dead cats and dogs had been found for several Wednesdays in a row. Police saw Hinkle and Cook throwing away animals they had collected from the Bertie County animal shelter and a Hertford County veterinarian's office and euthanized in the back of their van.

Unwanted attention

The charges brought national attention to PETA's practice of euthanizing thousands of stray animals every year. The case was startling, given the organization's opposition to meat eating, animal research or any other human use of animals. PETA often drives home its points by displaying naked women in cages, throwing blood on fur wearers or showing gory videos outside circuses.

The trial, which lasted as long as some capital murder cases, centered on a key question: Did PETA tell county officials and veterinarians who handed over strays that they would be immediately euthanized? Or did PETA promise to try to find them homes, but then kill them in the back of the van?

Gushing over puppies

In closing arguments Friday, prosecutor Valerie Asbell painted Hinkle as a liar who gushed over kittens and puppies, promised to find them homes and then gave them lethal injections beside secluded country roads.

Cook, both sides agreed, was a new PETA employee just helping Hinkle for the day.

Employees of an Ahoskie veterinarian testified that Hinkle had asked whether a mother cat and two kittens had names, and promised everyone in the office, including a 9-year-old girl, that she would find them homes. She euthanized them a few minutes after leaving the office.

A Bertie County animal control officer testified that Hinkle said she would have "no problem" finding homes for two dalmatians named Annie and Toby. The dogs were dead before they left the shelter's parking lot.

http://www.newsobserver.com/141/story/539313.html

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