Family sues PETA for $9 Million for stealing, killing their dog

Maya was a family-owned, healthy Chihuaua. PETA members were filmed stealing Maya from private property, which they denied until they were told they were filmed. After the family called asking about where their pet was, PETA delivered them a gift basket and told them that Maya was dead. 

The family is now suing PETA for trespassing and emotional distress. Wilber Zarate, Maya’s owner, writes in the lawsuit that after learning of Maya’s death, his daughter cried for weeks and lost sleep and weight. 

It is illegal in the state of Virginia for a shelter to kill an animal that comes to them without waiting five days, and PETA was fined $500 for doing so. The day of the incident, PETA also took in other animals from the same park that may or may not have been stolen, including kittens, a lab mix, a puppy, and another chihuahua. These animals were also killed the same day, without effort to find homes for them. Multiple accounts of current and former PETA workers describe that the organization routinely kills healthy animals, including 97.5% of the animals they take in. Sometimes animals are killed in the back of PETA vans, before even making it to the shelter. “Euthanasia is the kindest gift to a dog or cat unwanted and unloved,” PETA CEO Ingrid Newkirk said at a press conference.

Four months after the incident with Maya, PETA responded. Even though the thieves knew the park well and had personally met with Maya and her owners, they claim that they didn’t realize the dog was owned.