PETA is pretty
up front about its policy on euthanasia:
This is an unfortunate reality of animal shelters, some animals are euthanized. Unfortunately, some shelters are not equipped to euthanize humanely. In
this press release, they describe:
A number of years ago, I volunteered at just one of these shelters in Nebraska. It was winter, one of our dogs became very sick with parvo. To avoid infecting the other animals, the owner of the shelter suggested putting the dog outside with 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground. They said it would be fine. The dog sat outside for an hour, shivering uncontrollably, so I put a blanket around it. I complained to the owner, they wouldn't bring the dog indoors.
Five hours later, I decided to check on the dog before going home for the day. The dog was dead, curled up on a ball with a thick layer of ice around it resulting from snow which had melted and re-froze around the dog. The owners forgot they'd put the dog out in the first place.
I should called the cops, animal welfare office, something. I didn't. It was the worst thing I'd ever seen in my life, a memory that will never go away.
Had the facility been better equipped, the dog could have been euthanized painlessly. Poo poo all over PETA you want, but euthanasia services it provides are invaluable.
This is one of those pervasive myths that doesn't go away.
See here:
PETA very strongly supports adopting animals from shelters rather than breeders.