Obvious Dept. of the Obvious

The comment section for every article ever written about PETA.

↬ Heather Houlahan, who did not actually post this to her blog even though it is quite funny.

PETA pair merely guilty of 'littering'

There must be joy in Norfolk: Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook were found to be guilty only of littering when they dropped dog and cat carcasses in supermarket dumpsters.

We can expect PETA to spin this as another victory over the forces of ignorance.

As Dave Hardy said, they should have been charged with fraud, if it is fraud to tell an animal shelter that you are adopting an animal, when you really plan to kill at it as soon as it is in your Death Van. But the charge of "obtaining property by false pretenses" did not stick.

The van itself was confiscated. Whoopeedoo.

More trial coverage from the anti-PETA folks.

I own a dog, and I vote

It's a new politically savvy voice of dog owners: Dog Politics.

They are watching the PETA "We Kill Dogs Better" trial, of course.

In day eight of the trial, PETA euthanasia boss Daphna Nachminovitch admitted that PETA "owns" animals (for a short time). Funny, I thought that they did not believe in anyone owning animals for any purpose whatsoever.

You will have scroll way down the page. Look for this passage:

The only thing stranger than Nachminovitch's legal hedging throughout this discussion was the odd sound of a PETA employee referring to people as the "owners" of dogs and cats. We'd never experienced that before—it's usually "guardians" and "companion animals."

But when it's convenient, PETA will apparently assert ownership over the animals it has otherwise sworn to "liberate."

How PETA 'helps' animals in North Carolina

A PETA executive's lame response to my earlier post (see comments) led me to this deceptive site about how they claim to help animals in North Carolina.

From the ongoing trial of two PETA employees on animal-cruelty charges, we know how they really operate:

1. Approach an animal shelter and lie about how you want to adopt a dog or cat.

2. Load the animal in your van and give it the needle.

3. Dump the carcass in a supermarket Dumpster. Let someone else worry about the final disposal problem and paying the bill.

4. Repeat thousands of times.

5. Start another fund-raising campaign.

Lying to the underpaid and overworked shelter employees is acceptable, because PETA people are morally superior to the rest of us. Just ask them.

If you care about what happens to domestic animals, instead of giving money to PETA, support your local humane society or animal shelter. Don't give money to big national groups like PETA or the Humane Society of the United States, which spend most of what they collect on still more fundraising and lobbying--and very little on actual animals.

Trial in PETA animal-dumping case

Two employees of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are now on trial in a high-profile case. (Earlier post here.) They are accused of tossing garbage bags full of euthanized cats and dogs into a Dumpster behind a Piggly Wiggly in Hertford County, North Carolina.

Adria J. Hinkle and Andrew B. Cook, both of whom work in PETA's Norfolk office, are charged with 21 counts each of animal cruelty, a felony that can carry prison time, along with littering and obtaining property by false pretenses.

It is a strange turn of events for PETA. The group's supporters have often been prosecuted for their radical efforts to protect animals -- breaking into fashion shows to throw blood on fur-wearing models, liberating lab animals, showing gory videos outside the circus -- but PETA has never been accused of hurting animals. . . .

A PETA spokeswoman, Kathy Guillermo, said PETA never wanted to get into the business of euthanizing animals. But she said the group couldn't ignore the horrible conditions in animal shelters around Norfolk and in northeastern North Carolina. The group now euthanizes thousands of animals a year.

"Euthanasia is a better alternative to sitting in a stinking pound," Guillermo said.

PETA opponents are drawing attention to this little-known facet of the group's work.

On Monday morning, the Washington D.C.-based Center for Consumer Freedom, an anti-PETA group funded by restaurants and meat producers, drove a mobile billboard truck reading "PETA: As Warm and Cuddly as You Thought?" past the courthouse.

I wonder how PETA will try to spin this in their fund-raising. Lawyer David Hardy thinks that charging them with fraud would be better.

After all, Hinkle and Cook pretended to be adopting the dogs and cats before they killed them.

Their opponents are watching the trial closely.

PETA: People for the Euthanasia Treatment of Animals?

Patrick Burns, who lives in Virginia, is all over the case of PETA workers taking healthy dogs from shelters, killing them, and leaving the bodies in dumpsters.

PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk says it's all a mistake. What was the line from the old Mission: Impossible TV show? "As always, should you or any of your IM force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."

Deep down, I think that hardcore PETA people don't really care for animals. They find them embarassing somehow, always fighting and fucking and scavenging and refusing to live on tofu.

PETA claims that their euthanasia method is more humane, and that is their only defense. Do most PETA contributors know that they are funding such work--and the lies that go with it?

Most animal shelters have to euthanize dogs and cats. That is sad but true. Why not support your local shelter financially instead of adding another layer of nonprofit bureaucracy and giving stormtroopers Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle jobs?

Cook and Hinkle were supposed to have gone to trial last month, but I have not seen a verdict. Anyone?