Reply #10: "Nobody wants most of the animals that we touch."

[flvegan]

That's a quote from Ingrid Newkirk in regards to the animals PETA takes in. It's a humane alternative to what would otherwise occur with the vast majority of these animals. PETA assists a number of very rural "shelters" that use fairly obscene methods to euthanize. In many ways, PETAs efforts with animal rescue is simply the outsourcing of euthanasia by the "shelter" the animal comes from.

Many view this as hypocritical of PETA, however, I disagree completely. As a vegan and one that runs an animal rescue (very limited intake), I've personally taken a lot of heat from folks that shake their fist at PETA (or any other open intake or "kill" shelter) yet have no answer to a very simple question: What do you do with the unadoptable animals? There is not a home to take them. You can build shelters until they outnumber nursing homes...they'll fill immediately. PETA runs an aggressive spay/neuter campaign, an aggressive anti-petstore campaign and aggressively spreads the word about adoption. IMO, PETA is hacking at the roots of the problem here, while still having to do some of the dirty work.

I'll close with a quote from an official response from PETA in regards to their role in euthanasia:
"PETA takes in the animals nobody wants--the feral cat colonies descended from abandoned, unaltered house cats who are now thin and wild and often infected with deadly, ravaging diseases like Feline AIDS and leukemia. The stray dogs so disfigured by mange they are almost no longer recognizable as canines. The litters of parvo-infected puppies, wracked with diarrhea and vomiting--literally dehydrating to death. The backyard dogs who have known only chains, beatings, and neglect, and who have gone mad because of it. Some of the animals PETA takes in are eventually reunited with their families. We have caught and reunited some of the most elusive animals who other agencies have given up on. Some animals are fostered until homes can be found for them (PETA does not operate a shelter; we use veterinary boarding kennels and foster homes, including our own staffers' houses, and space is extremely limited). Other healthy and adoptable animals are taken directly to local shelters. Tragically, the only relief for the rest lies in oblivion."