PETA’s Death Toll Surpasses 40,000
The Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, which oversees animal “shelters” in the state, released PETA statistics for 2019. While communities across Virginia and the country are reporting placement rates that are higher than ever – in some cases, the highest in their history (as high as 99% in municipal shelters) – PETA continues to act as the functional equivalent of a slaughterhouse.
In 2019, PETA put to death 969 out of 1,355 cats. That’s a kill rate of almost eight out of 10 cats. Another 374 went to pounds that also kill animals. Historically, many of the kittens and cats PETA has taken to those pounds have been killed, often within minutes, despite being young (as young as six weeks old) and healthy. Not only do those records prove the lie that all of the animals PETA rounds up to kill are “suffering,” but if those cats and kittens were again killed or displaced others who were killed, that puts the overall cat death rate as high as 99%. They only adopted out 10 cats, an adoption rate of less than 1% despite millions of “animal loving” supporters, a staff of hundreds, and revenues of $50,871,312.
While dogs fared a little better, 609 out of 1,066 were put to death. Only 2% were adopted out. And PETA staff also killed 15 of 19 other animal companions, half the “farmed” animals, and almost seven out of 10 wild animals.
And it appears intent on keeping it that way.
It is one of the primary opponents of S.B. 304 in Virginia which would have mandated a minimum 50% placement rate to maintain the ability to purchase and possess sodium pentobarbital, the drug PETA uses to kill animals. In opposing the bill, PETA and other opponents argued the need to kill animals and – three decades after community cat sterilization and release was introduced and proven to humanely reduce impounds and killing, while improving the quality of life and health of cats – indicating the bill would hamper their ability to kill “feral” cats. Overall, Virginia shelters placed 92% of dogs, 79% of cats, and 93% of other animal companions, well above the 50% minimum that S.B. 304 would have required.
To date, PETA has killed 40,854 dogs and cats and sent thousands more to be killed at local pounds, that we know of. The number may be many times higher. According to a former employee whose job it was to acquire animals to kill,
I was told regularly to not enter animals into the log, or to euthanize off-site in order to prevent animals from even entering the building. I was told regularly to greatly overestimate the weight of animals whose euthanasia we recorded, in order to account for what would have otherwise been missing ‘blue juice’ (the chemical used to euthanize); because that allowed us to euthanize animals off the books.
PETA is letting loose upon the world individuals who not only believe that killing is a good thing and that the living want to die, but who are legally armed with lethal drugs which they have already proven – over 40,000 times in the last 20 years – that they are not averse to using.
PETA’s 2019 statistics are here.