Stars like Khloe Kardashian and Eva Mendes are happy to strip naked for PETA in an effort to sway people from wearing fur, so why is the animal rights group so eager to kill helpless dogs and cats? That's the question on the minds of many as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is once again subject to criticism for the shocking number of pets the group kills at their animal shelter.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has posted online PETA's annual reporting of what happens to the animals in their care. In 2012, PETA euthanized almost 90 percent of the dogs and cats dropped off to their shelter. Of the 1,819 "companion animals" surrendered by their owners, PETA euthanized 1,675. Only 23 pets were adopted out, and 130 were transferred to other shelters.
PETA is known for its high profile publicity stunts, often involving celebrities. The group that took credit for the cancellation of NBC's "Animal Practice" tells the Daily Mail, "We have a small division that does hands-on work with animals, and most of the animals we take in are society's rejects; aggressive, on death's door, or somehow unadoptable." But it's hard to argue some of these animals were too aggressive to go to good homes when the total number of bite cases listed in Virginia's report equals zero.
The Center for Consumer Freedom, which estimates PETA has euthanized 29,398 pets since opening their shelter in 1998, calls the animal rights group hypocrites. "It seems PETA is more dedicated to publicity stunts than to keeping the animals in its own care alive," says the CCF in a statement. "It's the height of hypocrisy for PETA to demonstrate for the 'rights' of rats and pigs, while killing tens of thousands of pets. It's time that the Commonwealth of Virginia finally reclassifies PETA's pet shelter for what it is -- a slaughterhouse."
Peta claims the CCF is "misrepresenting the situation," but it's hard to spin the numbers that are in bloody black and white on Virginia's web site. Still, PETA claims they're just doing "society's dirty work" by euthanizing. It sounds like a dirty situation, to be sure.
Photo/Video credit: PETA