Oh, the irony... PETA employees charged with animal cruelty

[Strijder]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/17/peta.arrests.ap/index.html

AHOSKIE, North Carolina (AP) -- Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have been charged with animal cruelty after dumping dead dogs and cats in a shopping center garbage bin, police said.

Investigators staked out the bin after discovering that dead animals had been dumped there every Wednesday for the past four weeks, Ahoskie police said in a prepared statement Thursday.

PETA has scheduled a news conference for Friday in Norfolk, Virginia, where the group is based.

Police found 18 dead animals in the bin and 13 more in a van registered to PETA. The animals were from animal shelters in Northampton and Bertie counties, police said.

The two were picking up animals to be brought back to PETA headquarters for euthanization, PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said Thursday. Neither police nor PETA offered any theory on why the animals might have been dumped.

Police charged Andrew Benjamin Cook, 24, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Adria Joy Hinkle, 27, of Norfolk, Virginia, each with 31 felony counts of animal cruelty and eight misdemeanor counts of illegal disposal of dead animals. They were released on bond and an initial court date was set for Friday.

Hinkle has been suspended, but Cook continues to work PETA, Newkirk said.

Newkirk said she doubted Hinkle had ever been cruel to an animal and said if the animals were placed in the bin, "We will be appalled."

[SanchoPanzo]

Can one be cruel to a dead animal?

[dbgirl]

I consider myself an animal-rights sympathizer, but I agree with Sancho here. If the animals were dead and the charges are because the animals were in the trash, how is that cruelty?

It does not seem exactly clear what these people did to the animals when they were alive. Did they euthanize the animals? If so, that's not considered cruelty, shelters do it all the time.
IMO it is not cruelty unless the animals suffered.

[Abevigoda]

Can you be cruel to a dead animal, no that would be idiotic.  Can't they be charged with public indecency or some health violation?  Intended Mopery?

[angelus]

Can you be cruel to a dead animal, no that would be idiotic.  Can't they be charged with public indecency or some health violation?  Intended Mopery?

Illegal dumping of biohazardous waste...at least.

[SanchoPanzo]

Yes. Agreed. Based on the article it seems they were caught "...dumping dead dogs and cats in a shopping center garbage bin". The act of dumping dead animals in a shopping center garbage bin in and of itself is not cruelty.

[dbgirl]

What bothers me most about this whole thing is not the dumping, but the fact that they lied about what they were doing with the animals.
I do animal rescue, and I would be devastated if someone took one of my rescues and pretended to be finding it a home when they were really planning to euthanize it.

[amarain]

The fact that they were charged with animal cruelty as well as the illegal disposal makes me think that there's something else going on, something that the police haven't released to the public yet.

[KODIAK]

As much as I disagree with many of PETA's tactics, I abhor the mistreatment of animals.  Sometimes I really hate some of my fellow humans.

Thank you.  I can't understand any person who could mistreat a domestic animal like a dog or cat.  That really is the mark of a truly horrible person.

[fooseball22]

i heard they were card carrying republicans...