July 2003 PETA received evidence of an alleged incident during which Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., employees deliberately caused the mutilation and death of two kittens who were trapped inside a trailer. Employees apparently refused to manually unload the trailer in order to spare the kitten they allegedly knew to be trapped. When the cargo was … Read more »
July 2003 A man who bought a sick puppy from Animals & Things in New Jersey contacted PETA to report unsanitary conditions at the store. The puppy had lived in a feces-filled cage and spent more than a week at the vet with pneumonia. The health inspector who oversees pet stores promptly investigated after our call … Read more »
July 2003 PETA secured a more humane environment for eight exotic birds in Texas who were confined to a semi-outdoor kennel and suffering from severe feather-plucking and lethargy. After days of calls to local authorities, the sheriff and an avian expert visited the property. As a result, the birds now enjoy ventilation fans, elevated water and … Read more »
July 2003 After several months of pressure from PETA, Illinois prosecutors filed felony charges against an Illinois man who had attacked his neighbor’s dog with a home-made spear. The case had been dropped after the abuser’s mother–claiming to be the dog’s guardian–called prosecutors to say she would not be pressing charges. Read about the link between … Read more »
April 2003 A Virginia Beach, Virginia, resident was the first felony conviction under that state’s newly strengthened animal protection law. A drunken man beat his wife’s cat against a wall, inflicting five broken ribs, a broken sternum and front leg, and head trauma. She died from her injuries soon after. The Virginia Beach SPCA worked with … Read more »
April 2003 In October 2001, a tip from PETA led authorities to raid a New Jersey warehouse that was holding dogfights. Patrons bet more than $30,000 that night, and four dogs were injured during the fights and later euthanized. Police arrested 43 people, both alleged organizers and spectators. The dogfight fee collector was sentenced to six … Read more »
April 2003 Police in San Francisco, California, were alerted by neighbors to the smell of decay in an apartment five weeks after its resident moved out. Police found a dead dog in the closet. The owner had tied the dog up, closed him inside, and barricaded the closet door with a barbell. Neighbors told police they … Read more »
April 2003 When a Pittsburgh girl brought a stray pit bull home, the dog fatally attacked the girl’s cat. In response, the girl’s adult brother tethered the dog to a fence, doused her in lighter fluid, and set fire to her paws. He then encouraged a 10-year-old boy to add more fluid in order to consume … Read more »
April 2003 More than 20 goats were found dead on private property in Montello, Wisconsin, and approximately 32 emaciated goats and sheep were found still alive. Included in the dead pile were mother goats with their dead babies halfway outside of their bodies. The attending veterinarian reported that these animals died of starvation and neglect. Initially, … Read more »
April 2003 Kroger customers alerted PETA that AquaBabies, small cubes in which fish and sometimes frogs or snails are imprisoned, were being sold at the supermarket chain. We contacted officials at the company’s headquarters, telling them that the tiny enclosures are inadequate and cruel and that animals are not decorations. We corresponded with Kroger officials for … Read more »
April 2003 Whistleblowers in Madison-Jefferson County, Indiana, contacted PETA to report that cats were found crawling over dead animals in the county animal shelter’s freezer after they were presumed dead. Cats slated for death at the facility were being piled into a metal box pumped full of nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”), a substance not recognized as … Read more »
January 2003 When a puppy named Caesar snatched a loaf of bread from the kitchen table, his owner beat the dog until he was bloody, then buried him alive, his head and upper torso in the ground. The owner sent his buddy to find gasoline so that they could burn the puppy alive. Good Samaritans managed … Read more »
July 2002 PETA was contacted about a parrot named Chico kept alone in a cage at a retirement home called Seashore Gardens in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The center considered Chico part of its pet therapy program. We wrote to Seashore Gardens to ask that Chico be allowed to live out the remainder of his life … Read more »
July 2002 A Long Island, New York, teen coated his family’s parakeet with hairspray and set fire to her, then posted images of the burning animal and of himself–laughing and giving the thumbs-up sign–on the Internet. Although New York state law defines such an act as felony cruelty to animals, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office … Read more »
July 2002 When PETA learned that businesses in Hampton Roads, Virginia, including a health food store, botanical gardens, and garden center, had begun selling AquaBabies, cruel 4-inch cubes containing fish, frogs, and/or snails, we immediately contacted the stores’ managers. We provided them with information that we had gathered from experts who declared the trinkets inadequate and … Read more »
