PETA's Euthanasia/Killing Record: Ingrid Newkirk Responds

On mailing lists, on blogs, and in articles, there is discussion often of the number of dogs and cats PETA kills or euthanizes each year. A recent critique, rather scathing, came from well-known no-kill advocate Nathan Winograd, and it was directed right at Ingrid Newkirk: "The Butcher of Norfolk." I often agree with Winograd, including with regard to his criticisms of mainstream animal advocacy groups, PETA among them, and I am absolutely on board with the no-kill movement. But I didn't agree with him entirely in this case; that is, I don't agree with his portrayal of Newkirk as merely an "arrogant, disturbed person" with "dark impulses" and a taste for killing. I often disagree with her, her decisions, and her strategies (including PETA's euthanasia/killing record), but I do not concede that she is as he describes her or that her motives are dark ones.

This afternoon, Newkirk has responded, or at least it reads much like a response, if not to Winograd specifically, then to those who are critical of PETA's killing/euthanasia record in general: "Why We Euthanize." I warn you: prepare yourself for the graphic images in this post. They are horrid. Following (after the "Read More" jump) is a selection from the post, but you'll have to visit the original for the post in full, and you'll have to see Winograd's post for his position.

PETA handled far more animals than 2,124 in 2008. In fact, we took in more than 10,000 dogs and cats and work very hard to persuade people to spay and neuter their animals and to commit to a lifetime of care and respect for them. We go so far as to transport animals to and from our spay/neuter clinics, where they are spayed or neutered and given vet care, often for free! Since 2001, PETA's low- to no-cost spay-and-neuter mobile clinics, SNIP and ABC, have sterilized more than 50,000 animals, preventing hundreds of thousands of animals from being born, neglected, abandoned, abused, or euthanized when no one wanted them. And on a national level, PETA is focusing on the root of the problem through our Animal Birth Control (ABC) campaign. . . .

Most of the animals we took in and euthanized could hardly be called "pets," as they had spent their lives chained up in the back yard, for instance. They were unsocialized, never having been inside a building of any kind or known a pat on the head. Others were indeed someone's, but they were aged, sick, injured, dying, too aggressive to place, and the like, and PETA offered them a painless release from suffering, with no charge to their owners or custodians. . . .

The majority of adoptable dogs are never brought through our doors (we refer them to local adoption groups and walk-in animal shelters). Most of the animals we house, rescue, find homes for, or put out of their misery come from miserable conditions . . .

Read the rest of Newkirk's post here. And Winograd's post here.