PETA (or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) believes that animals and humans have equal moral value, yet it has long killed animals at a rate far higher in its Norfolk, Virginia, animal shelter than have other similar facilities. (This apparently includes adoptable animals, as I discussed here in 2009.)

Apparently, things have not improved in the intervening years. PETA’s kill rate in 2023 was an astonishing 76 percent for dogs, 81 percent for cats, and 78 percent for all animals in its care. In comparison, all Virginia public agencies euthanized 9 percent of dogs, 11 percent of cats, and 10 percent of all animals.

Why might that be? PETA says its animals are mostly not adoptable. But I suspect it has more to do with its absolutist animal-rights ideology that perceives human ownership of domesticated animals as akin to slavery and, hence, a cause of suffering. As a consequence, PETA’s leadership may believe that some animals are better off dead than adopted by households that are non-vegan or don’t espouse the group’s animal-rights beliefs.

Cross-posted at National Review.