PETA Worker to be Tried For Theft of a Hunting Dog
A Virginia Judge has ruled that the case of a couple of PETA employees stealing a hunting dog on the side of a Virginia road will proceed but only one still faces charges. I posted on this story when it broke last fall. The dog is owned by Deputy Sheriff J.T. Cooke Jr. who was fox hunting the night before with the dog when it became lost. The dog had a tracking collar with his phone number clearly displayed. A motorist saw the PETA workers removing the collar and loading the dog into a van owned by PETA called 911 and prevented the dog from being taken. Given that other PETA employees have been caught illegally dumping bodies of cats & dogs that PETA had killed in dumpsters in rural North Carolina this call may have saved this dog’s life.
Cooke testified that he had let out several of his hounds the night before to chase foxes, and one failed to return. The dog carried dye markings of numbers on its side and “JT” on its hip and wore a neon yellow collar bearing Cooke’s name and cell phone number, the deputy said.
The animal also had been outfitted with an orange collar fitted with an antenna that could track the animal for three to four miles.
The tracking collar was found near the side of the road where the dog was picked up.
The women were following PETA policy by not directly trying to contact the dog’s owner through the phone number on the other collar, Benoit’s lawyer, Stephen D. Benjamin, said. They intended to call their office so PETA could reach Cooke, he said.
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.”
The case will be heard in Circuit Court.
The only reason for removing the tracking collar is to make the dog disappear. Whether you agree or not with the use of dogs for hunting taking someone’s dog and/ or collar is wrong. I hope they make an example of this woman after all she belongs to a group that has been linked to terrorism.
I’m glad they are getting tried for doing this. The only reason to take a collar off a dog is to render the dog unidentifiable. Especially in the case of a tracking collar, which is specifically designed to locate the dog.
Comment by Kristine Shreve — June 29, 2007 @ 1:04 pm