PETA’s Animal Shelter Still Shows Grim Euthanasia Results

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) runs a facility that it calls an animal “shelter” in Norfolk, Virginia. All animal shelters in the Commonwealth of Virginia must report annually the number of animals the shelter takes in and what happened to them. These reports are filed with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VADCS) and are publicly available through that agency’s website.

PETA’s reports for 2024 show a high percentage of euthanized animals. PETA has maintained over the years that this death rate is because PETA accepts all types of animals, regardless of how poor the physical condition or likelihood of survival the animal’s situation may be. However, the public shelter in Norfolk — the Norfolk City Animal Control and Public Animal Shelter (NACC) — which also has an open admission policy, has a much lower euthanization rate. PETA has tried to claim that it serves a broader area, but NACC and PETA are only about 6 miles apart, so the differing euthanasia rates are not likely attributable to proximity. Furthermore, the overall euthanasia rate in the Commonwealth of Virginia for dogs and cats also is significantly lower than PETA’s. These trends are shown below in the graph that is based on 2024 filings with VDACS:

PETA’s euthanasia rates for dogs and cats have been consistently high over the last ten years, as the chart below (also based on VDACS collected data) illustrates:

The overall totals for this ten-year period are shown below:

PETA winces at the claim that it kills animals, but it does exactly that and in outsized numbers. If every single one of the dogs and cats that PETA puts down is beyond saving, then PETA ought to be able to say that in their intake policy, which they also must file with VDACS. But they don’t say that. The resulting silence is deafening, particularly when coupled with PETA’s well known, negative views on “pet” ownership:

Consider it from the perspective of animals who are kept as companions: Humans control every aspect of their lives-when and what they eat, whom they interact with, what they have to entertain themselves, even when and where they are allowed to relieve themselves. Dogs long to run, sniff, play with other dogs, and mark their territory. Cats yearn to scratch, climb, perch, and play. But they can’t satisfy these natural desires unless the people they depend on give them the opportunity to do so – and they often don’t.

PETA had $69,874,898 in revenue and $28,958,530 in net assets in 2023 according to its Form 990 filed with the IRS. Maybe PETA could take some of that money and do a better job of adopting out some of the dogs and cats that come into their possession.

Turns Out That DOGE Already Existed – Just With a Different Name

At the federal level, stakeholders in the animal space often encounter regulators such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service or the Department of Interior’s Fish & Wildlife Service.  Not uncommonly, federal regulation is heavy-handed.  Thus, the regulated have been keenly interested in the much discussed Department of Government Efficiency or “DOGE” that President Trump touted during the presidential campaign.  As originally described, DOGE – an advisory body to be headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – would cut regulations and headcounts within the federal government.

Interestingly enough, however, when it came time to actually creating DOGE, President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order simply renamed and reorganized the duties of an existing federal agency – the United States Digital Service (“USDS”).  USDS has been around for ten years.  It was created by President Obama in 2014.  The USDS website describes the agency’s mission as follows:

USDS brings together interdisciplinary teams of top technologists – including engineers, data scientists, designers, user researchers, product managers, and procurement experts – who collaborate closely with agency experts to tackle important problems.  This collaborative approach prioritizes human-centered engineering and design, focusing on iterative improvements to create user-friendly, reliable, and seamless digital services.

USDS states that it puts together teams of individuals with the relevant expertise who, “with tours of service lasting no more than four years . . . bring[] fresh perspectives on technology and delivery to the government.”  Among USDS’s listed achievements are improved user and customer digital experiences for the Veterans Administration, Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service and the Centers for Disease Control.

President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order (EO) “establishes the Department of Government Efficiency to implement the President’s DOGE agenda by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”  The EO renames USDS as the United States DOGE Service.  The EO requires each federal agency head to establish a “DOGE Team” within their respective agencies which will advise the agency head on “implementing the President’s DOGE Agenda.”  According to section 4(a) of the EO,

The USDS Administrator shall commence a Software Modernization Initiative to improve the quality and efficiency of government-wide software, network infrastructure, and information technology (IT) systems.  Among other things, the USDS Administrator shall work with Agency Heads to promote inter-operability between agency networks and systems, ensure data integrity, and facilitate responsible data collection and synchronization.

So, what was described originally as an initiative that would basically slash and burn through the federal bureaucratic state, appears, at least in its original formulation, to be largely a plan to overall federal agencies’ information technology capabilities to maximize efficiency.  Whether the United States DOGE Service expands its role beyond technological improvement remains to be seen.

As reported by several media outlets, within 15 minutes of President Trump’s oath of office and before the EO was even signed, several groups filed suit claiming that DOGE is an unlawful advisory committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.  Whether those litigants revise their claims in light of the actual language of the EO is another thing that remains to be seen. 

D.C. Circuit Bounces Animal Rights Case on Standing Grounds

Animal rights groups often pursue consumer-type cases against food producers and argue that packaging claims and images supposedly mislead buyers into thinking that the animals turned into food were humanely raised.  The goal really isn’t transparency.  The goal is to use the cost of defending such claims to end the eating of animals as food.  On August 9, 2024, the D.C. Circuit knocked out such a case on standing grounds.  Animal Legal Defense Fund, Inc., v. Vilsack, No. 23-5009 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 9, 2024). Continue reading “D.C. Circuit Bounces Animal Rights Case on Standing Grounds”

Supreme Court Guts USDA’s Power to Assess Civil Penalties Under the Animal Welfare Act

Somewhat overshadowed by Chevron’s spectacular crash and burn last week was the Supreme Court’s decision the day before in SEC v. Jarkesy, No. 22-859 (U.S. June 27, 2024), holding that the SEC’s assessment of civil penalties in an administrative proceeding is unconstitutional because it deprives the party assessed of its Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury.  This result has particular significance for those regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Continue reading “Supreme Court Guts USDA’s Power to Assess Civil Penalties Under the Animal Welfare Act”

Fourth Circuit Sends Family Dog Shooting Case to Trial

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently reversed a summary judgment in favor of a police officer who had been sued for an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment arising out of an incident that had resulted in the shooting death of a pet dog.  According to the appellate court, the conflicting accounts of what happened could only be resolved by a jury.  Ray v. Roane, No. 22-2120 (4th Cir. Feb. 22, 2024). Continue reading “Fourth Circuit Sends Family Dog Shooting Case to Trial”

PETA’s Animal “Shelter” Continues as a Leader in Animal Death

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently posted the “news” that it had “newly obtained public records” showing that certain research universities had euthanized laboratory animals during the COVID-19 pandemic and that PETA had complained about this to the National Institutes of Health.  In its zeal to attack the use of animals in medical research, PETA described this as a “mass killing spree.”  What this ignores, however, as reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education back in 2020 when all this happened, is that universities made these difficult decisions because they had no choice.  Social distancing requirements that forced animal care personnel to stay out of the labs, precluded the delivery of proper animal care.  It was not humane to allow the animals to go without food, water and other husbandry.  But what we thought was particularly interesting is PETA’s use of the rhetoric “mass killing spree” in light of what goes on in its own facility in Norfolk, Virginia. Continue reading “PETA’s Animal “Shelter” Continues as a Leader in Animal Death”

Eighth Circuit Animal Rights “Ag Gag Law” Challenge Fail – Part II

Yesterday, we reported on a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that rejected a challenge by animal rights activists to a so-called “ag gag law” in Iowa.  In a parallel decision the same day, the court issued another opinion rejecting a First Amendment challenge by animal rights groups to another aspect of the same law.  Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-3464 (8th Cir. Jan. 8, 2024). Continue reading “Eighth Circuit Animal Rights “Ag Gag Law” Challenge Fail – Part II”

Animal Rights Challenge to Iowa “Ag Gag Law” Fails in Eighth Circuit

On January 8, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge brought by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and other groups to an Iowa statute that prohibits “agricultural facility fraud.”  Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-1830 (8th Cir. Jan. 8, 2024).  Statutes like this are often termed “ag gag laws” by their opponents.  The district court had declared that the law violates the First Amendment, but the court of appeals reversed. Continue reading “Animal Rights Challenge to Iowa “Ag Gag Law” Fails in Eighth Circuit”

Nonhuman Rights Project Loses Another Habeas Case for Elephants

As we have reported previously (here, here, here, here), an animal rights group called the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) has a history of filing fruitless cases to establish that animals should have the same basic rights as people.  NhRP has used the common law and statutory writ of habeas corpus in an effort to “liberate” elephants and apes from various U.S. zoos and other facilities.  None of these cases has succeeded.  The most recent failure occurred this month in Colorado where a state court judge denied a habeas writ with respect to five African elephants residing at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society.  Nonhuman Rights Project, Inc. v. Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society, et al., No. 23CV31236 (Colo. Dist Ct., El Paso County Dec. 3, 2023). Continue reading “Nonhuman Rights Project Loses Another Habeas Case for Elephants”

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