You were right the first time. They do euthanise the majority of animals they take in. https://medium.com/@lauraleecascada/when-the-crusade-for-animals-falls-victim-to-oppression-dc137d08a09b
Four years ago this month, I penned a piece at The Dodo defending an organization to which I had dedicated nearly five years of my life managing animal rights campaigns: PETA. In it, I described a bill being considered by the Virginia legislature that would redefine an animal shelter’s purpose as existing to find “permanent adoptive homes” — and the work of PETA, with euthanasia rates that year of 77 percent of dogs and 95 percent of cats it took in, seemed to be on the chopping block.
Those numbers were never fudged. Anyone claiming otherwise, is lying.
I am not opposed to PETA’s stance on euthanasia, in principle. At PETA, I had some of the most challenging and meaningful experiences of my career. I became a true, full-fledged, career-long activist.
Looking back now, these red-flag incidents were there all along — I just couldn’t see them. The organization sometimes asks its employees to flood various websites with pro-PETA comments, like leaving positive reviews on employment websites. To create and maintain a flawless public image. There was the time that a family member was dying from cancer and needed help rehoming several cats. I created a post on Facebook, in which I mentioned being open to the possibility of a trustworthy rescue stepping forward. Soon after, I received a paragraphs-long email from the head of CID, who wasn’t on my friends list, explaining the problem with so-called “rescues”. At this point, I had been at PETA for two years. I knew a thing or two about vetting rescues and potential adopters. But I had a vice president of the organization breathing down my neck. I immediately rushed to edit the post.
Through my work in CID, I rescued and cared for a pair of birds from a cruelty case for weeks. When the decision was made to euthanize the boy because of a debilitating medical condition, the girl was also euthanized because it was thought that she would be lonely without him. She was one of those lumped into the “unadoptable” category PETA brushes past as it explains its euthanasia statistics each year. I was expected to welcome her death as a positive outcome in order to maintain my employment.
Another time, I rescued an unloved dog whose body condition and personality were good and did not need immediate indication for euthanasia. I quickly heard my mom was interested in adopting him. I excitedly emailed the manager of the shelter but never received a reply. A few days later, I checked in with her and was told that he had already been killed. There was no explanation given. But he was a pit bull, a breed who has often been central to many of these more mysterious cases, and I was petrified to ask for any further detail..
PETA knows its enemies well, and its fear that animal agriculture operates on a multi-billion dollar budget to undermine animal rights work by exploiting the organization’s one real weakness is real and valid. Yet it uses that fear as an excuse to stifle any type of dissent, dismissing critiques, even from its allies and its own employees, as unfounded, stemming from enemy propaganda. It is willing to sacrifice the mental freedom of its employees for its misguided perception of the greater good. And somehow, in that process, it’s forgotten its own philosophical basis: that it operates to protect the rights of the individual. So a dog, a cat, an employee — as individuals, their well-being is often forgotten while PETA’s army presses on.
Imagine dedicating years of your life to a cause you feel so completely passionate about — and then being told on a regular basis that if you dissent about one small thing like a case of euthanasia or an ad, you are worthless to that organization you’ve pledged such loyalty to. It is dangerous to one’s mental health, and I have spent years recovering from that, feeling all the while that there was something wrong with me for straying.
One former staffer, “Anyone disagreeing with even one tidbit of the official encyclopedia of PETA positions is seen as an enemy combatant. You have no autonomy; you’re a clone of the PETA ‘gods,’ or you’re out.” Another: “Co-workers spy on you at work and in town, at the park, near your house — and then report you to HR. One friend was reported to HR because someone thought her dog’s nails were too long.” And another: “[The organization’s president] is of the mind that everyone is replaceable and if employees have complaints or concerns, they should work someplace else.”
This site is not done by the meat industry.
What did it cost? When UPAWS was killing 64% of the animals, they spent $190.85 per animal. Now saving over 95%, they spend $207.58. At the same time, however, they lost $178,636 in adoption revenue when they were killing the animals and it would only have cost them $15,660 more to actually save them. But that’s not at all: while the cost per animal went up slightly (8%), so did revenue: an overall increase of 61%.