PETA’s 2008 Score: 2216 Pets Killed, 7 Rehomed
According to public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, PETA killed 2,216 pets last year at its Norfolk, VA headquarters, and placed only seven in adoptive homes. From July 1998 through December 2008, a total of 21,339 dogs and cats were euthanized by PETA.
Of the 6,378 cats they took in in 2008, 3 were adopted out, 4,786 were reclaimed by their owners, 18 were transferred to other facilities or fell into a “miscellaneous” category, and 1,569 were euthanized.
Even considering that many of the animals they receive might not be adoptable and the fact the number of abandoned pets is growing, their nearly nonexistent adoption rate is stunning for an organization that has an annual budget of $32 million (most of it spent on high-profile shock-inducing media campaigns). It boggles the mind to think that PETA only bothered to find homes for three cats last year, and euthanized the rest. Hardly what one would consider to be “ethical treatment.”
Here is PETA’s Response:
It’s disingenuous, to say the least, for the deceitfully-named Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) to complain about the number of unwanted and suffering animals whom PETA has been forced to euthanize because their guardians requested it, or because no good homes exist for them.
CCF is a front group for Philip Morris, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, cattle ranchers, and other animal exploiters who kill millions of animals every year, not out of compassion, but out of greed. CCF promotes meat-eating and defends corporations that send billions of cows, chickens, pigs, and other animals to terrifying, gruesome, and painful deaths in slaughterhouses.
PETA handled far more animals than 2,124 in 2008. In fact, we took in more than 10,000 dogs and cats, spaying and neutering all of them at low to no cost. We gave them shots, fixed their wounds and treated their illnesses, and returned them to the community. Most of the animals we took in and euthanized could hardly be called “pets,” as they had spent their lives on heavy chains, for instance. They were unsocialized, never having been inside a building of any kind or known a pat on the head. Others were indeed someone’s, but they were aged, sick, injured, dying, too aggressive to place, and the like, and PETA offered them a release from suffering, with no charge to their owners or custodians.
Those figures also do not include the hundreds upon hundreds of dogs and cats whose suffering PETA works to alleviate by providing them with free food when their owners are poor, clean water buckets, sturdy dog houses, straw for winter, and more, or the hundreds of adoptable dogs and cats we will not take in but refer to walk-in animal shelters and adoption centers. Since 2001, PETA’s low- to no-cost spay-and-neuter mobile clinics, SNIP and ABC, have sterilized more than 50,000 animals, preventing hundreds of thousands of animals from being born, neglected, abandoned, abused, or euthanized when no one wanted them. We also actively decrease the number of animals who end up in animal shelters only to be euthanized for lack of good homes by using star power to promote spaying and neutering in ads across the country.
On a national level, PETA is focusing on the root of the problem through our Animal Birth Control (ABC) campaign. The ABC campaign targets breeders, pet stores, and cat- and dog-breeding mills and in an active way through protests, PSAs, celebrity support, and investigations and puts the blame for the overpopulation crisis squarely where it belongs—with those who breed animals or allow their animals to breed. As long as animals are bred, homeless dogs and cats in animal shelters will die because there simply aren’t enough good homes for them all.
As long as animals are still be purposely bred and people aren’t spaying and neutering their companions, open-admission animal shelters and organizations like PETA must do society’s dirty work. Euthanasia is not a solution to overpopulation but rather a tragic necessity given the present crisis. PETA is proud to be a “shelter of last resort,” where animals who have no place to go or who are unwanted or suffering are welcomed with love and open arms.
You can read more about this in Ingrid Newkirk’s last blog.
[PHOTO CREDIT: The Sydney Morning Herald]
I am not happy to hear this. I am waiting for the other side to this story, and it had better be good.
I want a ride on a Roomba. No, I want to chase Sasha while riding a Roomba. MOL.
Hello Skeezy, We to are interested in their side. It must be a good story, as someone seems to be buying it. We don’t and think someone is getting rich from monies that should have been spent on animal care and home placement. They should be shut down and the funds given to an honest outfit! Bosco thinks this group is more crooked than his back leg.
Sheltering animals has never been a primary mission of PETA. They should stay away from it, as by any measure they fail miserably. There are plenty of places whose function is to house and hopefully rehome homeless animals.
This is heart breaking. How is it that innocent animals die while crooked money-grabbing criminals live on year after year? This must stop NOW!
I’ve heard this for quite a few years about PETA. Like, Uncle Taz said in his comment, they should leave this business to other organizations.
Oh dear. I didn’t realize PETA were animal killiers, I thought they were animal HELPERS! People, even famous people like Betty White and Rue McLanahan raisied money for them, and they probably thought they were doing something good.In fact, I became a fan of them on Facebook.
This is no surprise and has been well known for some time. PETA is about radicalism, not about the real nitty gritty of every day life in the trenches taking care of animals.
They did similar things in NC, we’ve read. It’s very sad. They don’t seem very ethical at all to us, and they do seem downright mean.
Oh, PETA, there you go again. I used to think they were just ridiculous, but the more I learn about them, the more they p*ss me off.
No surprising, with their money being spent on ridiculous campaigns like ‘call fish sea kittens’ and such. PETA is a badly managed group of dumbasses.
The do undercover operations and then splice the videos to make them what they want. I could never understand how anyone could send them their hard earned money.
And my biggest question is – how do they keep their 501(c)3 status?
Their response will be the typical – a lot of flashy words with zero content.
I have to admit, I’m very surprised by this. I thought PETA was better than that. I guess not. So I have to wonder about all the rest of the stuff they’ve done, how much it BENEFITTED animals. I’m very disheartened by this
I’m not surprised. Penn and Teller exposed this dirty secret on an episode of their cable show Bull$h*t a few years ago. They even caught PETA employees dumping the euthanized animals in dumpsters. This weekend PETA protested the “chicken dance” world record attempted at Talladega Superspeedway. Too bad they didn’t expend that energy on an adoption drive. Totally shameful. Totally.
This is HORRIBLE!!!! I wonder if in their minds they thought the animals would be better off dead than “pets.” From my understanding of the the group, from the people I know -PETA believes no animal should be a pet or kept in any way. WOW! It will be interesting to hear their side, but I personally cannot think of ANY reason to kill that many animals-not one.
I’ve never been a fan of PETA. It’s such a shame, they have the potential to do so much good simply because of the amazing reach they have due to size and publicity, but their methods turn off so many people, it makes them completely ineffective.
Maybe instead of asking rock bands to change their names (as in their recent request that the Pet Shop Boys change their name to “Animal Shelter Boys”…..), they should refocus their mission on saving animals?
Thank you for helping to spread the word on this issue. I think it’s becoming more well-known but it still surprises me PETA still gets contributions and… well, the time of day from anyone. I wish someone would shut them down. I think they do more harm for animals and the animal movement than good.
I vote for Euthanzing PETA and I hope their Executive Director sees this comment!!
PETA euthanizing so many animals in a year is NOT a new thing…please be aware of that =(
This doesn’t surprise me. I’ve heard they were a bit less ethical than they purport to be. I agree with Guido.
I know we never have nor will we support such an ineffectual organization.
It’s disingenuous, to say the least, for the deceitfully-named Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) to complain about the number of unwanted and suffering animals whom PETA has been forced to euthanize because their guardians requested it, or because no good homes exist for them.
CCF is a front group for Philip Morris, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, cattle ranchers, and other animal exploiters who kill millions of animals every year, not out of compassion, but out of greed. CCF promotes meat-eating and defends corporations that send billions of cows, chickens, pigs, and other animals to terrifying, gruesome, and painful deaths in slaughterhouses.
PETA handled far more animals than 2,124 in 2008. In fact, we took in more than 10,000 dogs and cats, spaying and neutering all of them at low to no cost. We gave them shots, fixed their wounds and treated their illnesses, and returned them to the community. Most of the animals we took in and euthanized could hardly be called “pets,” as they had spent their lives on heavy chains, for instance. They were unsocialized, never having been inside a building of any kind or known a pat on the head. Others were indeed someone’s, but they were aged, sick, injured, dying, too aggressive to place, and the like, and PETA offered them a release from suffering, with no charge to their owners or custodians.
Those figures also do not include the hundreds upon hundreds of dogs and cats whose suffering PETA works to alleviate by providing them with free food when their owners are poor, clean water buckets, sturdy dog houses, straw for winter, and more, or the hundreds of adoptable dogs and cats we will not take in but refer to walk-in animal shelters and adoption centers. Since 2001, PETA’s low- to no-cost spay-and-neuter mobile clinics, SNIP and ABC, have sterilized more than 50,000 animals, preventing hundreds of thousands of animals from being born, neglected, abandoned, abused, or euthanized when no one wanted them. We also actively decrease the number of animals who end up in animal shelters only to be euthanized for lack of good homes by using star power to promote spaying and neutering in ads across the country.
On a national level, PETA is focusing on the root of the problem through our Animal Birth Control (ABC) campaign. The ABC campaign targets breeders, pet stores, and cat- and dog-breeding mills and in an active way through protests, PSAs, celebrity support, and investigations and puts the blame for the overpopulation crisis squarely where it belongs—with those who breed animals or allow their animals to breed. As long as animals are bred, homeless dogs and cats in animal shelters will die because there simply aren’t enough good homes for them all.
As long as animals are still be purposely bred and people aren’t spaying and neutering their companions, open-admission animal shelters and organizations like PETA must do society’s dirty work. Euthanasia is not a solution to overpopulation but rather a tragic necessity given the present crisis. PETA is proud to be a “shelter of last resort,” where animals who have no place to go or who are unwanted or suffering are welcomed with love and open arms.
You can read more about this in Ingrid Newkirk’s last blog: http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/03/why_we_euthaniz.php
Liannne … with the kind of numbers PITA is running we don’t need local shelters to be doing the dirty work of murder … as it seems you folks have all those bases covered on that issue no matter how you want to sugar coat it, Your nasty lil dirty laundry has been aired for the world, not just a select few, to see. Now ALL our four footed critters and foul know whom to fear and so do I, my monies are few but you’ve seen the last of them!
PETA absolutely makes me want to vomit!
cheenna AKA TXCrittrluvr
So PETA is “doing society’s dirty work”? and using “starpower” to get their message of animal rights across?
Like, Pam Anderson who also decries fur and animal exploitation yet has backed a Gentleman’s Club entitled “Sapphire New York” which will be part of Prime 333 Steakhouse on the Upper East Side and opened on April 27th. There you can watch strippers while digging into a nice steak. Someone pull Pam off the stripper’s pole and explain to her steak is from an animal and she’s a HYPOCRITE.
Pam’s also signed on to become Vivienne Westwood’s “face” for her new clothing line…of LEATHER. Someone explain to this witless bimbo where leather comes from…
And PETA, you seem to be more interested in your “starpower” than what they are actually doing and saying…do you think we common people…the society you have to do the dirty work for, is so STUPID that we can’t see a publicity stunt when we see one?
Practice what you preach.
No matter whom PETA tries to blame for their having to euthanize animals, the fact remains that they are doing it. Is it because cats and dogs are just “common” animals and not lab creatures who require full page ads and the celebrity factor coming to their rescue? I am just sick to death of their posturing and preaching and outright lies.
Just curious — does anyone know, according to the records of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, how many pets were killed by The Humane Societies in Virginia?
RT PETA tries to defend itself on the Catster blog about it “doing society’s dirty work” http://tinyurl.com/dl34cm
RT PETA tries to defend itself on the Catster blog about it “doing society’s dirty work” http://tinyurl.com/dl34cm
http://tinyurl.com/dl34cm
PETA and their partner in crime HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) are radical organizations with a very warped definition of “animal rights”. I would imagine there are some in those organizations that truly believe in their mission but then so do some of the people that commit genocide. I have no use for PETA or HSUS and I consider them dispicable animal killing machines.
Thank you catster for publishing this article, and helping to make more people aware of this. This is not new, news peta has been doing this for years, most people just don’t know about it. This is like peta’s dark hidden secret, it’s what they don’t want people to know about them. While it is true that peta does good things such as spay and neuter animals, and does many things that they should not. Peta is very radical and extreme, and I think they needed to be stopped a long time ago. I personally can not stand peta.
huh, neccessity indeed. Felines, Inc. never euthanizes any cats, and takes care of those too old, with special needs, etc, that no one will adopt. They are also a cageless shelter. Those in Chicagoland, check it out at http://felinesinc.org/ . Those who aren’t, check out they’re great work anyway.
Oh, while they’re at it, might as well euthanize all the people in China, right PETA? /Sarcasm/