PETA Animal-Cruelty Trial Date Finally Set

On November 13th, nearly 18 months after their arrest, two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will face a felony Superior Court trial on animal-cruelty charges in Hertford County, North Carolina. The defendants, Andrew Benjamin Cook and Adria Joy Hinkle, were each indicted on 22 counts of Cruelty to Animals and 3 counts of Obtaining Property By False Pretenses. The Honorable Cy Grant will be presiding.

Police in Ahoskie, North Carolina arrested Cook and Hinkle on June 15, 2005 near a shopping-center dumpster, from which they recovered 18 dead pets in trash bags. Thirteen additional dead animals were recovered from the PETA-owned van in which the two were traveling. Witnesses from the Bertie County (NC) Animal Shelter and the Ahoskie Animal Hospital later confirmed that the two PETA employees had collected animals earlier that day­including puppies and kittens­on the promise that PETA would find them adoptive homes.

Government records from the Virginia State Veterinarian show that in 2005, PETA killed 90 percent of the animals it took in for adoption. Since 1998, the group has put over 14,400 dogs and cats to death.

» Click here to see crime-scene photos from the arrest, including pictures of PETA’s van and "death kit."

» Click here to see some of the Grand Jury indictments against PETA employees Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook.

» Click here to see police evidence photos of some animals Hinkle and Cook are accused of killing and dumping.