Visit PETA’s “Shelter”
State Inspector likens PETA’s “Shelter” to a “Euthanasia Clinic”
Recent documents uncovered by PETAKillsAnimals.com indicate that the Commonwealth of Virginia was so shocked by the number of animals PETA kills each year that the state inspector attempted to revoke PETA’s license to operate a shelter.
In 2010, a Virginia resident called PETA to ask if it operated an animal shelter. PETA said no. Apparently perplexed, she sent PETA’s response to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), the government agency responsible for overseeing shelters and animal welfare matters in the state. Responding to the complaint, Dr. Daniel Kovich, an investigator with the VDACS, conducted an inspection of PETA’s animal shelter at its Virginia headquarters in July 2010. Dr. Kovich determined “the facility does not contain sufficient animal enclosures to routinely house the number of animals annually reported as taken into custody.”
This is probably because most animals taken in by PETA aren’t housed for very long. After reviewing two months worth of records, Kovich found that 245 of the 290 animals–84 percent–that PETA took into custody were killed within 24 hours. Only 17 were reported as adopted or in foster homes. Kovich noted that PETA’s shelter did not meet PETA’s own published guidelines for operating a humane animal shelter.
At the time of the visit, Kovich found a mere three animals were in PETA’s “shelter” which apparently consists of three rooms on PETA’s 4th floor, nestled amongst cubicles and conference rooms. None of the animals available for adoption, and PETA’s representative indicated the shelter was not accessible to the public.
Kovich reviewed the disposition of cats and dogs that were either euthanized or adopted/transferred out in the previous six years and found the adoption/transfer rate at PETA’s shelter dropped from an embarrassing 14 percent in 2004 to an abysmal 0.7 percent in 2009. In other words, of the 2317 dogs and cats in PETA’s shelter 99.3 percent were killed.
Based on his investigation, Kovich made the following determination:
The findings of this site visit support the assertion that PETA does not operate a facility that meets the statutory definition of an animal shelter as the primary purpose is not to find permanent adoptive homes for animals.
PETA’s lawyer responded to VDACS arguing that a legal technicality protected their status as an animal shelter.