The following website gives more information on the topic
covered in our lead story, Armchair Activist.
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=88131&ran=99846
More Opinions:
Look at the bigger picture
While it would be easy to vilify and condemn PETA right away after this
animal dumping incident, it is more important to look at the bigger
picture as you pondered in your op-ed. Sadly, these animals that were
disposed of, no one wanted to begin with. PETA has provided (at great
expense to their organization) a spay/neuter mobile van to help in getting
the message out to a very apathetic public the importance of animal
population control. They have made no excuses to their stance in humane
euthanasia, and indeed Ms. Newkirk herself has said as much. However, PETA
has always offered free doghouses and animal care equipment for those
whose standard of living barely provides for themselves, let alone animals
in the same area were the incident occurred. One only has to visit their
beautiful dog park next to their headquarters in downtown Norfolk to see
how much they care about companion animals. Every organization that has an
ideology as its mission will always have a few individuals who believe
they are helping further a cause when in fact they are nothing more than
zealots, damaging a company or group or even their country with their
twisted vision of what is right or wrong. There are thousands of shelters
for all sorts of animals throughout this country that prove PETA has a
point: We are a throwaway society. Animals are an enormous amount of
responsibility, and caring for them should be no different than that of
our children. Most people who have animals consider them members of their
family. It is those millions of people out there who view them as toys or
pastimes. It is these people who allow the large litters, start the puppy
mills, open the filthy and inhumane pet stores, and then dump them on a
shelter's doorstep like the one in North Carolina. The trash in those
Dumpsters don't just hold the neglected or abused. They hold a problem
that's not going away anytime soon. - Michael A. Carey, Virginia Beach
Blessed by a PETA dog
We adopted one of the many dogs PETA has rescued from North Carolina over
the past several years and must respond to your article (�PETA president
condemns dumping, defends euthanizing animals,� June 18). PETA did a
wonderful thing by bringing Bea into our lives. She was dumped at a North
Carolina county pound two days before giving birth to nine puppies.
Emaciated, filthy and suffering from heartworm disease, Bea was discarded
by an uncaring person who thought nothing of having their own dog give
birth on a cold, wet cement floor. X-rays later showed that her body was
riddled with bird shot. Every day of our lives has been brightened by
having Bea with us, but giving her a happy, healthy life is just a small
part of the solution. There are not enough homes for dogs, cats, kittens
and puppies as long as people fail to have their animals fixed or if they
buy animals from pet shops or breeders instead of adopting a homeless
animal. PETA�s local spay and neuter clinic, their national campaigns to
promote spaying and neutering, and the tireless work that they�ve quietly
done in improving conditions in North Carolina for years - such as
donating dog houses, training for animal shelter workers, and
veterinarians' care - are efforts that deserve support from every caring
person. - Frances and Roger Spuler, Virginia Beach
Who are the real hypocrites?
At the dog park I take my adopted greyhound to, at least once a week I
hear people discussing the breed they "just have to buy" and the
"responsible" local breeder they go to. I was appalled to hear these same
people berate PETA for euthanizing unwanted animals in North Carolina.
PETA did not create the overpopulation problem. People need to realize
that there are too many animals, not nearly enough homes, and that if
they're buying animals from breeders and pet stores, they are only
exacerbating the problem. PETA has spent over $240,000 in our southern
neighbor's counties to try to implement adoption and spay/neuter programs,
improve their dilapidated shelters, and give the often mange-ridden,
starved, uncared for and unwanted animals a humane death - as opposed to a
gunshot to the head, life in a cage, or other horrors. So if we should be
calling anyone "hypocrites," it's not PETA - it's the irresponsible people
who keep bringing these animals into the world and then cry foul when
caring groups have to "clean up" the resulting mess. - Jacqueline Drake,
Virginia Beach
Bertie County is no Hilltop
Regarding the story about PETA euthanizing unwanted animals in North
Carolina, I think most people have no idea how extreme the situation is
for unwanted animals in that area. Bertie County is no Hilltop; much of
the human population there lacks the essentials, so of course homeless
dogs and cats are allotted next to nothing. It seems that PETA's ultimate
intention was to try to compensate at the very least for the basics that
the county is financially unable to provide - a humane death for those
unfortunate dogs and cats that nobody wants. - Ann Radcliff, Norfolk
Not just a PETA problem
I�m sure that the caring souls who work at PETA are as devastated by the
allegations facing two of their staff as the rest of us are. Those
involved with PETA�s Community Animal Project have a thankless task. We
humans have created a massive animal overpopulation problem by supporting
breeders and pet stores while unwanted animals languish by the millions in
shelters; by failing to spay and neuter our animals; and by tossing
animals away when they become �inconvenient.� Now we have the
responsibility to find a solution. Throwing stones at those who are trying
to help does none of us any good.- Maura McClure, Virginia Beach
Pair will be vindicated
I worked in PETA�s Community Animal Project and was always inspired by
Adria Hinkle�s compassion, enthusiasm and deep concern for the animals. I
assisted her at a few animal �shelters� (sometimes nothing more than a
shack) by helping clean, feed and care for the animals. One shelter was
simply dumping food over the fence for the dogs a couple of times a week.
Many dogs are protected from the elements because of the sturdy, free
doghouses PETA has provided. In North Carolina, I saw Adria cry at the
treatment animals received at the hands of cruel people and I saw
suffering that would turn a strong person�s stomach. I know that when the
investigation is complete, Adria and Andrew Cook will be vindicated. I
only wish their good deeds captured the headlines as quickly as their
misfortune. I will always be proud of the work I did at PETA and always be
proud of Adria Hinkle.
- Misty Collins, Hampton
Euthanizing isn�t cruel
PETA would not have to euthanize any animals if more people would have
their dogs and cats spayed or neutered. Everyone wants to believe there
are plenty of good homes for needy animals, but when millions of them must
be killed in shelters all over the country every year, that belief is
obviously not grounded in reality. Euthanizing animals isn�t cruel, it�s
kind � and necessary. What does veterinarian Patrick Proctor think happens
to the thousands and thousands of other seemingly �very adoptable� kittens
who are born every year? Where are we supposed to put them? On the roof?
There just aren�t enough homes for them all. That�s the bottom line. I
support PETA and respect them for doing what needs to be done. Thanks to
them, unwanted animals in North Carolina won�t die painful deaths or spend
their lives on the streets or in cages. - Elaine Sloan, New York City
Look at the real scandal
There are three rescued cats in my home who are alive today because of
PETA, and at least a dozen others in my neighborhood would have given
birth to unwanted litters if not for PETA�s low-cost spay-neuter clinic.
Unfortunately, as long as people continue to allow their animals to breed
and as long as people buy dogs and cats from pet shops and breeders
instead of adopting them from shelters, the �extras� will have to be
euthanized. That�s the real scandal.- Emily Williams, Norfolk
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