PETA employees face new
charges
New charges have been brought against
two People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals employees
arrested for allegedly dumping dead dogs and cats in an
Ahoskie, N.C., shopping center garbage dumpster.
On Oct. 14, Andrew B. Cook of Virginia
Beach, Va., and Adria J. Hinkle of Norfolk, Va., were each
charged with 22 felony counts of animal cruelty and three
felony counts of obtaining property by false pretense,
according to published reports.
Cook and Hinkle were charged in June
with 31 counts of animal cruelty and eight misdemeanor counts
of illegal disposal of dead animals. The felony charges were
dismissed and new charges filed after an investigation led to
new information, however. The misdemeanor charges still
stand.
Pentobarbital was reportedly used to
euthanatize the dogs and cats. Additionally, the PETA
employees promised an Ahoskie veterinarian they would find
new homes for three cats, but they euthanized them
instead.
Ahoskie Police began an investigation
this summer when dog and cat bodies in plastic bags were
found in a garbage bin every Wednesday for four consecutive
weeks (see JAVMA, Aug. 15, 2005, page 539). The bodies of at
least 80 animals were reportedly found.
Police staking out the dumpster
arrested Cook and Hinkle when 18 animals were found in the
dumpster along with 13 more in their van, which was
registered to PETA.
The dogs and cats were from animal
shelters in two nearby counties. Cook and Hinkle had
reportedly been picking up animals in northeastern North
Carolina since 2001 to be euthanatized at the Norfolk
headquarters of the animal rights organization.
Cook and Hinkle had each posted $35,000
bail. PETA, which is reportedly paying their legal fees,
suspended Hinkle but did not discipline Cook.
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