Another smart move by a PETA member - Page 1

Ya gotta love them just for the ability to keep me amused on a daily basis.

Animal activist allegedly steals cop's dog




Associated Press
Vail, CO Colorado
June 27, 2007

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COURTLAND, Va. — A dog let out to chase foxes by his owner, a sheriff’s deputy, was picked up by an animal rights activist who now faces a felony theft charge.

A judge Tuesday allowed the case to proceed against Andrea Florence Benoit, who contends she was worried about the dog’s welfare and only wanted to return it to its owner.

Benoit, 25, picked up the fox hound in a van while working in Southampton County for Norfolk’s People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Prosecutors dropped charges against another PETA worker in the van.

A motorist who saw the women pick up the dog called Southampton County Deputy Sheriff J.T. Cooke Jr., an animal control officer for the county. Cooke found the van and discovered his own hound in the back.

Cooke testified that he had let out several of his hounds the night before to chase foxes, and one failed to return. The dog wore a collar bearing Cooke’s name and phone number. Benoit’s lawyer said she planned to call the office so PETA could reach Cooke instead of trying to do so herself.

While General District Judge Robert B. Edwards said he had no doubt that Benoit believed she was doing the right thing, “the right thing in this case was a felony.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1857820/posts

ok, not to play devils advocate because I agree that the overzealous nature of PETA members does them more harm then good....but...

Where I live there are "leash" laws.  Letting a group of dogs out to chase animals unattended at night may warrent the group being caught by animal control and the owner being fined heavily, and worse yet, their dogs being destroyed if they feel they are of a "vicious" breed (rotties, GSD's, dobies, pits).

I'm not saying that it's justified or right, but it does happen.

Now if the hounds were on his property only and weren't running "free" then I could see this charge.

The woman who picked up the dog should have called the number on his/her collar immediately, and we all know that if you are an honest, dog loving person who finds a stray, we all would call right away.  We would assume that an owner would be frantic with worry upon missing a dog.

That's where the line is blurred in this case.  Even though this is a "cop's dog", it doesn't sound like his foxhounds are service dogs by the way it's listed in the article.

Either way this woman was Dumb with a capital D!

Heartbroken, I came into this thread to say exactly the same thing! If this dog was running loose along the road, and in danger of being hit by a car, I might have done exactly what she did. But the minute I saw its tags with the owner's name and number, I would have been on my cellphone to call the owner.

Let me get this straight: this guy serves as an ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER and he's letting his dogs run at large??? Wow! I got my wrist slapped by our local AC people because my dog jumped out of my car when I was putting groceries away, and it didn't have a leash on it!!

Yeah, I know things are different in rural areas, and some hound owners consider it their god-given right to let their packs loose to chase varmits, but still I think the AC offcer should be setting a better example.

That's not to say that I approve of PETA in any way.

I heard from one of my cardi friends that a pro handler on the AKC circuit arrived at his hotel room with a van full of dead dogs, courtesty of some a**hole, probably from PETA who believes dogs are better dead than slaves to humans!

If I could get my hands on someone like that.....

Unfortunately, sunssilver, that happens all too often.  Just recently an entire kennel of French Bulldogs was wiped out by poisoning here in VA while competing in a dog show.  If you do show your dogs, be EXTREMELY careful as to who you let approach them.  It only takes a little poison on a scrap of meat to kill a dog.  That cute kid who want to pet the nice doggie?  Not going to happen with MY dog.  No one is allowed near.  There have also been instances of people simply opening crates while the owners are not watching so you have to be aware of that too.

Remove the PETA affiliation and the only true fool I see in this story is the animal control officer. You let your dogs out over night to chase wild life - rabies, traffic and leash laws be damned? Riiiiiiight.

Okay, read the whole article. This dog was wearing a tracking collar which the PETA member removed and threw at the side of the road.

She lied about having the dog in her van.

PETA has euthanized 90% of the animals that come under its care in this particlar part of the country, as they have no facilities for holding animals.

Talk about the lunatic fringe!

PETA has euthanized 90% of the animals that come under its care in this particlar part of the country, as they have no facilities for holding animals.

But I thought....? PETA loves animals more than people right? Wow, what hypocracy..

Ok, both people in this story should be hung up by their toes and flogged.

People run their hounds often at night.  It could well be this guy had been running his hounds and one failed to return with the rest of the pack, not at all unusual.  If a hound gets on a scent it often will follow it until it loses the scent.  Don't jump to conclussions and just figure this guy let his dogs out.  I know many hound hunters and know how many work their dogs.