Consumer Group Asks Virginia Government to Reclassify PETA as a Slaughterhouse

[stalk]

Press Release | Consumer Group Asks Virginia Government to Reclassify PETA as a Slaughterhouse

Posted On January 17, 2008




Consumer Group Asks Virginia Government to Reclassify PETA as a Slaughterhouse

New Data Shows PETA Killed 97 Percent Of Dogs And Cats In 2006

WASHINGTON, DC- Yesterday the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom formally petitioned Virginia's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), requesting that the government agency officially reclassify People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as a slaughterhouse.

An official report filed by PETA itself shows that the animal rights group put to death nearly every dog, cat, and other pet it took in for adoption in 2006. During that year, the well-known animal rights group managed to find adoptive homes for just 12 animals. Not counting pets brought to PETA for spaying or neutering, the organization killed 2,981 of the 3,061 “companion animals” it took in. According to VDACS, the average euthanasia rate for humane societies in Virginia was 34.7 percent in 2006. PETA's "kill rate" was 97.4 percent.

“It is absurd to classify PETA as a ‘humane society’ when its employees are slaughtering nearly every companion animal they bring in,” said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. “PETA has killed over 17,000 pets since 1998. Given the group's astonishing habit of killing adoptable dogs and cats with such ruthless efficiency, it's only fair that the state of Virginia refer to PETA as a slaughterhouse.”

CCF’s letter to VDACS Commissioner Todd Haymore reads as follows:

---------

---------

Dear Commissioner Haymore,

The Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) enjoys nonprofit status as a “humane society” and “releasing agency” as defined in Virginia Code § 3.1-796.66. But when PETA filed its required online “Animal Record” report for the year 2006, it reported something startling.

Setting aside the dogs and cats the group sterilized that year, PETA euthanized (killed) 97.4 percent of all the domestic animals it took in.[1] This percentage has been steadily increasing each year since 2001, when PETA’s “kill rate” was 72.4 percent. In 2006, the state average for “humane societies” was less than 35 percent.

In 2006, PETA employees killed 2,980 dogs, cats, and other pets; they transferred 46 to other Virginia releasing agencies; they adopted out only 12.

During a 2007 criminal trial in North Carolina, a PETA manager testified that her organization maintains a large walk-in freezer for the storage of animal carcasses. She testified that PETA employs a crematory service to periodically dispose of the bodies. And she also affirmed that (despite its $32 million budget), PETA does not operate a public “shelter” where members of the public may select dogs or cats and adopt them into their homes.

Given PETA’s apparent practice of killing animals shortly after they come in the door (or, in the North Carolina case, inside a cargo van), without making a good-faith effort to find them adoptive homes or provide necessary long-term veterinary care, its classification as a “humane society” and “releasing agency” seems inappropriate.

Accordingly, I am requesting as a resident of Virginia that your office strip PETA of these designations, and regulate it instead in the future as a “slaughterhouse.”

I recognize that Virginia law presently provides only for the regulation of slaughterhouses, packing facilities, and stockyards which handle animals defined as “livestock.” I respectfully suggest that you should also amend your regulations to account for the fact that at least one Virginia institution (PETA) already operates a slaughterhouse for dogs and cats.

Sincerely,

David Martosko

Director of Research

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.

[Johnny Utah]

Moved to News forum.

[zeus]

I cannot believe this is going on! What are they doing with the title of humanity with this kind of a death rate? THESE MURDERERS MUST BE STOPPED! I am emailing every one I know. Including peta. This really brakes my heart. Can this really be true???:cursing:

[Red-Tailed_mustang]

I mean come on it is PETA I have read several articles about them since 1999 and how many news stations are reporting any of it?? I have not seen any!!!! They talk about helping animals out helping them!!! Is killing them helping them???


Ps; But I don't believe in no kill shelter I have seen what happens to dogs that have been in a shelter for several years. I believe they can go insane from lack of companionship and being locked in a cage day in and day out. No dog should spend all day every day in a cage.

[X-Factor]

Well done David Martosko.....As a Virginian by birth I am especially appalled by those figures....That is outrageous and unacceptable.

[sirens5]

These statistics are very disturbing. I do feel many times euthenizing is the most humane way to proceed in the case of injured or ill pets but that leaves a very large group of adoptable companion animals that can be provided to people for little or no cost to them in exchange for a good home. Unfotunately part of the problem is society too. We love the kittens and puppy's we adopt and then as they grow older we cast them aside and they cease to be the cute little sweetheart we loved so much and become the lonely pet in the backyard while the family is inside. Most of us feel bad if we are away from our pets to long. Or if they have to wait for a meal. Or if we miss the stop at the store for food and make them wait till morning. Cats are one of the most abused animals in the United states I think with them being poisoned, tortured, and just killed for the fun of it. Dogs aren't to far behind with people using them to fight each other for sport and using them as a punching bag for frustrations. Euthenizing seems more humane than allowing them to be mistreated like that and the answer is in spaying and nuetering to reduce the numbers of unwanted animals. PETA's statistics are shameful though and should be looked at and corrected or change the status of the orginization.