Questing for Atlantis

Penn & Teller did a great job of showcasing all sorts of the mass deception and evil PETA has engaged in over the years. It’s an older clip, however it is vital that everyone learn the truth.

And coming up soon, I’ll be adding the article I wrote for The Liberty Bell, the only political newspaper at Seton Hall University with a focus on issues pertaining to liberty. The article details the truth of PETA’s activities in North Carolina.

And here’s the promised article

Spring Cleaning: Pulling Out the Skeletons in PETA’s Closet

There are many people dedicated to stripping individuals of their rights, but few are as ambitious in their efforts as PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They are not only striving to stop hunting, eating meat, and wearing fur, but in the words of PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk they are committed to “total animal liberation.” This means nothing that could be subjugating to animals: no pets, no seeing eye dogs, no animal research (another famous Newkirk comment “even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we would be against it”), nothing.

Of course, it is easy to engage in such self-righteousness when you don’t practice it yourself. Upon examining state records PETA is obligated to provide to the state of Virginia (they have their headquarters in Norfolk) a very disturbing trend was discovered. According to their Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services report PETA had, between July 1998 and December 2005 took the lives of approximately 14,400 companion animals. This averages out to approximately 5 animals killed a day, and in 2005, excluding animals brought in exclusively for spay/neuter PETA killed 90% of the animals taken in.
But it is only fair to give PETA the benefit of the doubt. With many shelters, animals must be put down due to a lack of space. Upon questioning Ingrid Newkirk once again was found to be quite enlightening as to what PETA is really about. In 2000 the Associated Press began investigating the horrifying data about PETA’s activities, and in an interview Newkirk sheepishly admitted that money was an issue; not that they did not have enough though, they “could become a no-kill shelter immediately” but simply choose not to spend the money to do so. Apparently it is more important to PETA that they be able to harass farmers, merchants, and families about their habits than allocate the funds to allow dogs and cats to live.

Now admittedly, there is one other possibility, a slim one but a possible one none the less. There is the possibility that all the animals taken in were hurt so badly there was no choice but to put them down. This is however not the case as was shown by a North Carolina criminal case involving PETA. In June 2005, two PETA members, Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook were arrested in Ahoskie, North Carolina and later indicted by a grand jury on 21 counts of Animal Cruelty and 3 counts of Obtaining Property by False Pretenses each. The reports from locals can barely do justice to the horror of the situation. Employees from the animal shelter revealed all the animals given to the two were in good health and they were promised they would be finding homes for them in Newark. Yet, according to the manager of the supermarket the recently killed animals were dumped “they just slung the doors [open] and started throwing dogs … beautiful cats. I saw a [dead] beagle last week that was pregnant … last week it was 23 or 24 dogs … it’s happened to us nine times … they drove straight from there, straight here, and disposed of the dogs in 30 seconds.”

The case went to trial on January 22, 2007, but sadly justice was not met. Relying on a team of Johnny Cochrane style lawyers to blow enough smoke the two were acquitted on all charges except for littering (for dumping bags of dead cats and dogs into a dumpster). The case did blow a great number of PETA practices into the open though; it was revealed in testimony that it was not the first time that the two had done this sort of operation, nor were they only the PETA employees engaging in such activity. Even more shocking, PETA killed all of the animals without ever having release forms signed by shelter workers. Hinkle even took one person’s dog, took photos of it in a yard on the way to Norfolk HQ, and sent those pictures back to the owner without ever telling him it was euthanized in Norfolk. Sadly though, in spite of all of this, on February 2nd the defendants were found not guilty on almost all counts. It can only be hoped the public will hold PETA accountable now that the truth is known.