Animal Rights Group Gives Cold Shoulder to Dogs and Cats Killed in its ‘Shelter’ Every Year
Today, the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is calling out People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) latest hypocritical advertising campaign in New York City, which features actress Penelope Cruz giving the “cold shoulder” to wearing fur. While PETA lectures New Yorkers with a half-naked celebrity and phony “animal rights” message, it also continues to run a slaughterhouse in its own Norfolk, VA headquarters.
Despite years of public outrage over PETA’s euthanasia program, the notorious animal rights group has continued to kill adoptable animals in its shelter at an average of 42 pets every week. According to public records made available by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), a total of 25,840 pets have died at the hands of PETA workers since 1998.
“PETA is far more concerned with funding its media and advertising antics than finding suitable homes for these dogs and cats,” said J. Justin Wilson, CCF’s Senior Research Analyst. “It’s about time PETA’s ‘shelter’ is reclassified as a slaughterhouse.”
Though the group rakes in millions of dollars a year, a recent audit of PETA’s operation found it did not even meet its own published guidelines on running a good shelter. The VDACS inspector astutely described the shelter, which is allegedly open to the public, as a “euthanasia clinic.” A review of 290 of PETA’s animal records found that 245 animals taken in – 84 percent – were euthanized within 24 hours.
“If they did their own research, celebrities like Cruz would turn a cold shoulder to PETA’s media stunts. The animal rights group’s brand is about as toxic as its so-called shelter,” Wilson continued. “Over 25,000 euthanized pets and counting? That’s a lot of fur.”
