PETA in a Dogfight over its Euthanasia Practices

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) euthanized almost 90 percent of the animals sheltered at the group's headquarters in Norfolk, Va., in 2012, and the organization is taking heat for it.

Critics are charging PETA — renowned for its aggressive anti-cruelty campaigns — with hypocrisy after the group's euthanasia statistics were posted on the website of theVirginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

PETA, however, insists the allegations are financially motivated by an industry group whose "goal is to damage PETA by misrepresenting the situation," said Jane Dollinger, spokeswoman for PETA, in a statement.

According to the published records, PETA euthanized 1,675 of the 1,877 animals in its care in 2012, including 602 dogs and 1,045 cats.

"It seems PETA is more dedicated to publicity stunts than to keeping the animals in its own care alive," Justin Wilson of the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) told the Daily Mail.

"It's the height of hypocrisy for PETA to demonstrate for the 'rights' of rats and pigs, while killing tens of thousands of pets. It's time that the Commonwealth of Virginia finally reclassifies PETA's pet shelter for what it is — a slaughterhouse," Wilson said.

The CCF is a nonprofit organization "devoted to promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choices" from "animal-rights misanthropes and meddling bureaucrats," according to its website.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/28091-peta-euthanasia.html