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August has been a harsh month for PETA. As noted elsewhere in this publication, PETA's "undercover" investigation of alleged neglect at the Portsmouth, Virginia animal shelter was thrown out of court. Then PETA's President and founder, Ingrid Newkirk found herself shutting down PETA's anti-milk "GOT PROSTATE CANCER" campaign. But, the group's most embarrassing August moment came when the press decided PETA's brand of "ethical treatment" for animals is to kill them. Newkirk's inking a letter of apology to New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Guiliani for using his photograph in a cruel impersonation of the famous "GOT MILK" advertising campaign was understandable. PETA has been trying to wean humans from cows milk for years, claiming it is unhealthy and, in their recent effort, a contributor to prostate cancer. Earlier this year, Guiliani dropped out of a Senate race against First Lady Hillary Clinton for an open U.S. Senate seat after being diagnosed with that disease. PETA, an organization quick to threaten legal action against critics, backed off because it knew it faced a losing proposition if the Mayor, himself a former Assistant U.S. Attorney General at the Justice Department, took to the courts as he promised. The bad press is another matter. For the past two decades, PETA has thrived on manipulating the U.S. media in its favor, that is, until it moved its headquarters to Norfolk, Virginia. According to the Associated Press (AP) PETA killed 1325 dogs and cats in Norfolk last year. That was more than half the number of animals is took in during that period. According to Virginian-Pilot Reporter, Kerry Dougherty, the execution rate at PETA's "shelter" far exceeds that of the local Norfolk SPCA shelter where only a third of animals taken in are "put down." Today many "humane" shelters operate with "no kill" policies (12 "no kill" shelters are in Virginia alone according to AP). Still, while shrilly condemning the inhumanity of humans eating hot dogs, PETA has opted for a "dead dog" policy rather than take time to find foster homes for abandoned puppies and kittens. According to Dougherty, a Virginia radio talkshow host is now calling PETA, "People Executing Thousands of Animals." Newkirk does not see the contradiction in her group's strident condemnation of hunters, fishermen, or any other carnivorous human behavior. "Sometimes the only kind option for some animals is to put them to sleep forever," is what Newkirk told Reporter Dougherty. This from the woman who made the statement "A rat is a cat is a pig is a dog is a boy." Newkirk, herself, has plenty of experience "whacking" (the reporter's term) puppies and kittens during her days as shelter executioner in Montgomery County, Maryland and Washington DC before she became the animal savior of PETA. Perhaps one should think twice before asking Ms. Newkirk to keep an eye on a loved one whether that loved one is a "companion animal" or otherwise. ¨
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