https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_ ... of_Animals
Euthanasia and PETA's shelter
PETA is a strong proponent of euthanasia. They oppose the no-kill movement, and rather than adoption programs, PETA prefers to aim for zero births through spaying and neutering.[95] They recommend not breeding pit bulls, and support euthanasia in certain situations for animals in shelters, such as those being housed for long periods in cramped cages.[96]
PETA calls their shelter in Norfolk, Virginia a "shelter of last resort", claiming they only receive old, sick, injured, badly behaved, and otherwise unadoptable animals. Operating as open admission, they take in animals no one else will, and consider death a merciful end. The consistently high percentage of animals euthanized at PETA's shelter has been controversial.[97][98] In 2014, PETA euthanized over 80% of the shelter's animals and justified its euthanasia policies as "mercy killings".[99][100]
In 2008, industry lobby group Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) petitioned the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, requesting they reclassify PETA as a "slaughterhouse." CCF said in a news release that "[a]n official report filed by PETA itself shows that the animal rights group put to death nearly every dog, cat, and other pet it took in for adoption in 2006," with a kill rate of 97.4 percent.[101] In 2012, VDACS said that it had in the past considered changing PETA's status from "shelter" to "euthanasia clinic," citing PETA's willingness to take in "anything that comes through the door, and other shelters won't do that."[102] *PETA acknowledged that it euthanized 95% of the animals at its shelter in 2011.[102]
PETA's euthanasia practices have drawn intense scrutiny from lawmakers and criticism from animal rights activists for years. Fueled by public outrage from a 2014 incident where PETA workers took a pet Chihuahua from its porch and euthanized it the same day, the Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1381 in 2015 aimed at curtailing the operation of PETA's shelter. The bill defines a private animal shelter as "a facility operated for the purpose of finding permanent adoptive homes for animals."[97][103] Though risking their legal access to euthanasia drugs, PETA has continued their practices.[97][98] In the Chihuahua case, PETA paid a fine and settled a civil claim with the family three years later.[104]
*oh, the tender mercies...the recognition of feelings and suffering...'it's crying! let's kill it!'
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2011/7525.html
Jo Edgar, PhD student in the School of Veterinary Sciences, said: “The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.
“Our research has addressed the fundamental question of whether birds have the capacity to show empathic responses.
“We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of ‘empathy’; the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.”
During one of the controlled procedures, when the chicks were exposed to a puff of air, the hens’ heart rate increased and eye temperature decreased. The hens also changed their behaviour, and reacted with increased alertness, decreased preening and increased vocalisations directed to their chicks.
Presumably both chicks and hens filled out questionnaires -- 'how did the unexpected puff make you feel?', 'were you frightened for your chicks?' -- to support the, I'm sure, wholly unbiased observations of Edgar and crew.
