Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had better load up on “non-animal-tested” lipstick and “cruelty-free” breath mints, because they’ve got a date with Lady Justice.Nineteen months after their arrest, Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle will face felony animal-cruelty charges in Hertford County (NC) Superior Court starting on Monday. Cook and Hinkle have each been charged with 22 counts of Cruelty to Animals and 3 counts of Obtaining Property by False Pretenses. On June 15, 2005, they were caught by police tossing trash bags full of dead pets into a shopping-center dumpster. Witnesses are expected to confirm that the two collected the animals earlier that day on the promise that PETA would find them adoptive homes.The self-proclaimed “animal liberation” group’s problems with the law aren’t confined to North Carolina. Two more PETA staffers are set to face charges of Larceny of Animals on March 27 in Southampton, Virginia General District Court. The defendants, Carrie Edwards and Andrea Benoit, allegedly kidnapped a hunting dog, removed its radio tracking collar, and drove away with it in a PETA-owned van. Witnesses to the reported dog-napping informed local police, who stopped Edwards and Benoit on their way back to PETA’s headquarters.We’ll be heading down to North Carolina on Monday to bring you an inside look at the upcoming trial. Check www.PetaKillsAnimals.com for daily updates starting next week.
