PETA case exposes group's fraud

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Permission to CROSS POST!! DeafdogsX2 Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:36:41 EST[animals-in-need] PETA case exposes group's fraud by MARC FOLCO Open SeasonIn a high-profile trial, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) employees Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook were found not guilty this past week of the majority of animal cruelty and obtaning property by false pretenses charges brought

against them in North Carolina. Hinkle and Cook had been charged for picking up animals from an animal shelter and veterinarian's office, killing them, then tossing them randomly into Dumpsters. Judge Cy Grant reorganized the charges prior to the trial, dropping most of the felonies and consolidating several charges into a single one. If convicted of the original charges, the PETA employees — who told veterinarian office employees they were going to find them new homes — could have faced jail time. Instead, they were found guilty of littering and received suspended 10-day jail sentences, one year probation, 50 hours of community service, $1,000 fines and nearly $3,000 of restitution. Their "death van" was confiscated by the town of Anhoskie, and the dead pets found in the Dumpster were identified by the veterinarian and shelter workers as the animals handed to Hinkle and Cook. The forensic evidence showing the

animals died by lethal injection of chemicals found in the death van was never called into question, and neither were licensed in North Carolina to dispense the poison used to kill the pets. Hinkle testified under oath they had picked up the animals, injected them with drugs, bagged them and disposed of them. She also testified that "maybe" they hadn't been forthcoming that they had no intention of putting the animals out for adoption, that it was "possible" they might have been misleading, and that perhaps it was a "mistake" to toss the animals into a Dumpster. So why were they found innocent? Their lawyers argued there had to be "malice" involved in felony animal cruelty charges. The pair of defendants had no malice, they argued. Further, the animals themselves had no intrinsic value, so there were really no demonstrable damages in the case. "For an organization that says it would oppose medical experimentation on

laboratory animals — even if it meant not finding a cure for cancer or AIDS — to argue that the animals in question had no value should make your blood boil," said Jim Shepherd, editor of the Outdoor Wire. PETA raises hundreds of millions of dollars annually, allegedly to defend the rights of all animals. But their manner of disposing animals given to them by animal caregivers shows the total lie upon which their so-called pro-animal organization is founded. This winter, PETA also refused a request to aid in the airlifting of hay bales to cattle, elk and mule deer that had been trapped in a series of freak snowstorms in the Colorado Rockies, leaving them unable to reach food. PETA kills thousands of animals every year, but is opposed to hunting, fishing and eating meat. They purchased walk-in freezers for their Virginia headquarters to store animal carcasses and paid thousands of dollars to an animal cremation

service to dispose of them later. "They dress up in outrageous costumes — or demonstrate in the buff — to draw attention to their animal rights movements and collect funds from people stupid enough to believe they're serious about their so-called work," Shepherd said. "And they terrorize children with books that characterize parents who serve meat as mass-murderers. They have drawn no distinction between meat processors and the Nazis who murdered millions of people in World War II, and they have no compunction about giving money to environmental terrorists." The trial has forced PETA to admit that it does not rescue animals, it kills them. And it has exposed PETA for what it is: People Executing Tame Animals. Still want to send them a check? _http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/02-07/02-11-07/17sports.htm_ (http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/02-07/02-11-07/17sports.htm) . 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with the Search movie showtime shortcut.

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