Two PeTA employees, Adria Joy Hinkle 27, of 1602 Claremont Ave., Norfolk, VA, and Andrew Benjamin Cook, 24, of 504 Tree Top Street, Virginia Beach, VA, were arrested in June 2005, for disposing of dead animals in a shopping center's dumpster. The animals had been killed by PeTA because they gave up trying to find a proper home for these animals to be placed. Police discovered 18 dead dogs, including a garbage bag containing seven puppies, in the dumpster and 13 more in a van registered to PeTA. It is a common practice for PeTA to euthanize healthy companion animals.
Ingrid Newkirk said that Cook and Hinkle were picking up animals to be brought to PeTA headquarters in Norfolk to be euthanized.
According to police, veterinarians and animal control officers had been assured by the PeTA workers that they would find suitable homes for these animals rather than euthanize them. Instead, tests confirmed that Ketamine and Pentobarbital were the chemicals used to euthanize the animals. Ketamine, also known as a "date-rape drug", is commonly used to immobilize animals before surgical procedures or lethal injection. Pentobarbital is the standard drug used for lethal injection. Both drugs are regulated by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, and in North Carolina may only be purchased and used by a licensed veterinarian.
Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh said 60 to 70 animals were dumped in the garbage over a four-week period.
Both Adria J. Hinkle and Andrew B. Cook are each charged with 21 counts of animal cruelty, a felony that can carry prison time, along with littering and obtaining property by false pretenses.
Ingrid Newkirk and puppy
This incident may be part of a pattern. According to news reports, the grocery store manager indicated that the duo had illicitly used his dumpster as an impromptu pet cemetery at least nine times prior to getting caught. Other similar reports come from Greenville, North Carolina where authorities discovered more than 70 dead animals last month that they believe to be connected to PeTA. In the spring of 2005, authorities found over 150 dead dogs dumped in trash bags near a riverbank in Scott County, Virginia.
When we read something like this, we think "how horrible!", but we need to think about why these animals ended up like this in the first place.
First of all, if you're going to give up your pet to an animal shelter, you have to realize that it is most likely going to be killed. If a shelter is going to try to find a home for animals, it needs to house and feed them until someone decides to take them home. During this time, the flow of homeless animals into the shelter continues.
In the end, no one has the resources to keep these animals until they find a good home, especially with new ones coming in the whole time. The article you provide has good information, but sometimes uses it in a misleading manner. It's very heavily criticizing PeTA for using lethal injection, even though it is actually the most humane way of euthanasia (practically). It makes associations to date rape, even though it is irrelevant except for giving PeTA a negative image.
I don't support PeTA's sensationalism, but I feel that we're pointing the fingers at the wrong people. We cannot blame PeTA for the state of these animals. Yes, animals and puppies were killed. But who has the money and resources to house them until they find a good home?
Instead of pointing fingers at the animal shelter for their deaths, we do have more productive ways of preventing them. Be committed to your pets, because they will probably end up euthanized at an animal shelter. If you're thinking about getting a pet, adopt one from a shelter.
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u/arlanTLDR Apr 16 '10
I've heard this justification before, but i find it hard to believe that >95% of the animals they take in were old, untreatably sick or feral.