Another year, another pile of dead dogs and cats for the crematorium, courtesy of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Late Tuesday night—almost literally at the last minute—PETA filed its 2016 animal custody information with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) admitting it had killed nearly 72% of the cats and dogs that came through the “animal shelter” at its headquarters. That’s 1,411 dead dogs and cats at the hands of PETA last year alone.

Since reporting euthanasia statistics became mandatory in 1998, PETA has killed over 85%, or 36,000, of the animals at its Norfolk “shelter.” A 2010 audit by a VDACS veterinarian found that most animals were killed in their first 24 hours at the facility.

A deeper look at the numbers shows even more appalling statistics: PETA’s kill rate for dogs was 16.3 times the rate of other private shelters in Virginia.

Bear in mind that PETA is under no government responsibility to run a shelter or to euthanize animals. They openly admit to the killings of these animals because they say these animals are in some way “unadoptable.” But even a cursory look at statistics from other shelters in the commonwealth shows that PETA is an extreme outlier in their keenness to utilize euthanasia. And when they were caught throwing recently-killed dead dogs and cats in a strip mall dumpster, their victims were cute, adoptable pets.

PETA should know better but they continue to act in ways that are antithetical to their grandiose name. Join us at www.facebook.com/PETAKillsAnimals and share the news about PETA’s hypocrisy with your friends.