When Ethical Treatment Goes Wrong

Posted on April 19, 2012

Could it be true that in an animal shelter run by a society dedicated to the ethical treatment of animals the percentage of animals killed is nearly 95 percent?  Is it true that the percentage of animals successfully adopted out is less than 1 percent?

A report in Psychology Today by Stanley Coren, Ph.D., F.R.S.C. in Canine Corner, details that nearly 95 percent of the animals entrusted to PETA are killed.  The report also notes that the group cannot back up its recent claims that kennel crates are harmful to dogs. PETA ran half-page ads in many newspapers claiming that the standard kennel crates used in many homes to contain dogs were harmful to them. Dr. Coren went looking for the facts and could not find supporting details about crates being harmful to dogs anywhere, not even on PETA’s website.

Dr. Coren did, however, find revealing facts through Virginia’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) through freedom of information requests. Now much of the same information can be found on the VDACS website (http://www.virginia.gov/vdacs_ar/cgi-bin/Vdacs_search.cgi?link_select=facility&form=fac_select&fac_num=157&year=2006).

In Virginia all animal shelters must report the number of cats and dogs they take in each year, how many animals were reclaimed by their owners, adopted out, transferred to other agencies, died of natural causes, were killed, and how many the shelter held alive at the end of the calendar year. This researcher’s correspondence suggested that the proportion of animals being killed by PETA was extremely high and was causing public concern in Virginia.

Just more misleading of the public by a radical animal rights group that professes to help animals.

Details are at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201204/when-the-ethical-treatment-animals-goes-wrong

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