Family of euthanized Chihuahua sues PETA

By Jonathan Edwards
The Virginian-Pilot
18 hrs ago

Jay Diem | Eastern Shore News
Wilber Zarate holds a photograph of his family dog Maya on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 on the porch of his home where he says two people in a van marked "PETA" stole his Chihuahua named Maya. Zarate captured video of the incident on his home surveillance system. Zarate says the two returned days later with a basket of fruit and told him the pet had been euthanized.

A family is suing People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals after workers for the nonprofit snatched a pet Chihuahua off their porch and killed it.

Wilber Zarate and his daughter, Cynthia, seek more than $9 million. They each sued the Norfolk-based animal rights group Tuesday in Norfolk Circuit Court for $2 million and are asking for $5 million in punitive damages. Zarate and his daughter also are suing PETA workers Victoria Carey and Jennifer Woods for $350,000 each.

A PETA official declined to comment on the suit Tuesday, saying the group hadn’t read it yet.

Carey and Woods went to the Zarates’ trailer park home in Accomack County in October 2014 and took the young girl’s 3-year-old Chihuahua, Maya, off the family’s porch, according to court documents.

Carey was a contract worker for PETA and had been the nonprofit’s human resources director. Woods is PETA’s senior communications administrator and had volunteered to go with Carey on her own time.

Maya was euthanized that day, but state law required her to be held for five days.

Cynthia was distraught after Maya was killed, Zarate said of his daughter in the lawsuit.

“She cried for weeks, became lethargic, lost sleep, refrained from eating and lost weight,” he said. “Maya was irreplaceable.”

Carey and Woods had come to the park before Maya was taken. The trailer park’s manager had contacted PETA after a group of residents moved out, leaving behind their large dogs, Zarate said in his lawsuit. The PETA workers developed relationships with residents and promised to find good homes for their dogs once they caught them.


A security camera shows two children trying to lure Maya off the porch, according to the lawsuit. When they fail, Woods plays lookout while Carey snatches the dog. Carey and Woods paid the kids to coax the Chihuahua, Zarate said in the suit.

Four months after euthanizing the dog, PETA admitted it euthanized Maya and apologized.

In February, Daphna Nachminovitch, a PETA senior vice president who oversees the team that was responsible for the euthanization, said Carey mistook Maya for another Chihuahua.

Zarate said Carey met Maya during one of her visits and promised to get her vaccinated, Zarate said in the suit, adding that she never did.

The state conducted an investigation and determined that PETA violated state law by failing to ensure that the animal was properly identified and failing to keep the dog alive for five days before killing it, according to the notice from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Because of this “critical finding” and the “severity of this lapse in judgment,” the agency issued PETA the organization’s first-ever violation and imposed the largest fine allowed, $500.

“We were pretty devastated that this happened for obvious reasons,” Nachminovitch said after the investigation’s results were made public. “It shouldn’t have happened. It was a terrible mistake.”

PETA has made several changes to prevent such an incident from happening again, Nachminovitch said in February. Field workers who pick up animals now must complete a form to verify that all proper steps have been taken. Supervisors also must approve unscheduled “animal surrenders” in the field.

Carey’s contract was terminated, and Woods kept her job.

Jonathan Edwards, 757-598-3453, jonathan.edwards@pilotonline.com Follow @VPJEdwards on Twitter.

Family of euthanized Chihuahua sues PETA | Local News | pilotonline.com

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Tags
People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals Peta Pet Dog Chihuahua Porch Little Girl Eastern Shore Workers Euthanized Wilber Zarate Cynthia Victoria Carey Jennifer Wood Lawsuit Sue Million

Oh the irony....I hope they get every penny and then some because, well....PETA sucks.

Someone needs to make an example out of them.


Euthanize PETA
Gun cocking sound effect: http://youtu.be/xc0QG-Xi0BE/

hope they break those Idiots!

PETA is full of self righteous whack a doos

Who taught PETA ethics, Bill and Hillary Clinton?

What was peta's alleged justification for stealing the chihuahua?

This is horrific. And sadly, it's made me think of yet another acronym for that loathsome group:

PETA -

People
Euthanizing
Trusting
Animals

I hope I live long enough to see them get CRUSHED.

Hope the suit goes through..PETA members think the world runs according to them...hope their organization is banned

they're run and operated by tards... they prove that every time they throw paint on a fur coat, costing another animal it's life when the owner replaces it... they do more for keeping the fur trade in business than anything else...

If they're stupid enough to be suicidal,
I don't mind helping them meet that end.

Suing for $9 million?
The plaintiffs must be represented by Dewey, Shaftem and Howe.

Death to spammers