I heard about this on NPR coming home the other day: Jury selection begins in animal cruelty trial of PETA activists. According to the article,

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of two animal rights activists charged with animal cruelty after they were discovered dumping dead animals in a trash bin.

Adria J. Hinkle, of Norfolk, Va., and Andrew B. Cook, of Virginia Beach, Va., are charged with 21 counts each of animal cruelty in addition to charges of littering and obtaining property by false pretenses. Both volunteered with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA.

PETA on the receiving end of an animal abuse case?

According to NPR, this is all just a big misunderstanding, the PETA defense team explains. This local PETA chapter had some kind of agreement with the shelter from which Hinkle and Cook were taking the animals. They were apparently supposed to be euthanizing animals, and the volunteers’ only mistake, PETA lawyers explain, was where they chose to leave the bodies.

There’s something more than a little odd about this. PETA, euthanizing animals? That sounds about like the NRA melting down illegal assault rifles.

I went to PETA’s web site this morning to see if I could find anything out about this odd ly ironic case. Instead, I got distracted by PETA’s State of the Union Undress (Warning: the video contains nudity). Apparently, PETA thinks if it has buxom volunteers undress while talking about animal rights, it will get a more attentive audience. One has to wonder what demographic the animal rights organization is targeting with such tactics, and whether said demographic will be receptive to PETA’s vegan animal rights position.