Former PETA Employee: PETA Killed Adoptable Puppies and Kittens

A new document filed in the ongoing dognapping lawsuit against the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) demonstrates the long-term, systemic pattern of trespassing, pet theft, and killing that occurs as part of PETA’s pet slaughterhouse operation at its Norfolk headquarters. Heather Harper-Troje, a former PETA employee who worked on its Community Animal Project, recently submitted an affidavit in the lawsuit making shocking claims that, during her employment, PETA regularly rounded up and slaughtered healthy cats and dogs and even misled their owners:“While employed at PETA, my primary responsibilities included gaining possession of as many cats and dogs and possible, almost all of which were euthanized.”“Ingrid Newkirk was in charge of the Community Animal Project and Ingrid became my supervisor.”“[Newkirk] said that an effort to adopt out an animal was a waste of PETA’s money and effort.”“I was specifically told by my supervisors at PETA to tell people that we would find good homes for the dogs and cats, even though we knew the animals would be euthanized.”“If we saw animals loose, even on someone’s property, we were to take them whenever we could. PETA would not hold them for five days. We would not obtain signed releases if an animal was stolen, but would euthanize the animals immediately.” PETA focused on impoverished neighborhoods because “people from low income neighborhoods were more likely to relinquish their pets to us.”“We would routinely euthanize healthy puppies and kittens and other highly adoptable animals.”“I was instructed by Erica to over-estimate the size of the dogs and cats when euthanizing them so that there would be additional drugs that could be used kill dogs and cats ‘off the books,’ meaning that dogs and cats could be euthanized without reporting their death to the State. Erica told me these instructions came directly from [Newkirk].”“Killing animals ‘off the books,’ was done so that PETA’s kill rate would not look as bad.”