Photos Published of Kittens Given to PETA that were Allegedly Euthanized and Left in Dumpster

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the largest animal rights organization in the world with 3 million members and supporters, according to the group's website, is getting somewhat of a bad reputation these days. Photos published by Jason Winograd that were taken in 2005, the director of the No Kill Advocacy Center, showed a dumpster filled with garbage bags that he claims are full of dead kittens that were given to PETA for adoption.

According to The Huffington Post, in 2011, 96 percent of the animals that went to the organization's Norfolk, Va., headquarters didn't survive.

Winograd provided photos of the scene in a long blog post he wrote in February, citing a report from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS.) He reported that PETA euthanized 602 of the 733 dogs given to the organization for adoption in 2012 and similarly stated that 1,045 of the 1,110 cats taken in were also euthanized.

Ingrid Newkirk, President of PETA, wrote a postcard to Winograd stating that despite the widely held belief that PETA is an animal rights group, "We do not advocate 'right to life' for animals."

Newkirk blogged for HuffPost Monday, calling the response to the statistics on its euthanasia practices "hysteria."

"PETA's statistics are also often used, as they are being used now, in a truly perverted way by some 'no-kill' evangelists to try to turn people away from the 'evil' of what is actually a dignified, merciful release from suffering," Newkirk wrote.

Newkirk said critics should consider if they are doing their duty to spay and neuter animals so that shelters aren't filled with animals. "They should also look carefully at the photographs of the animals who come out of the impoverished areas that PETA serves," she added. "Of course, they should definitely not be eating or wearing animals or their skins, using products tested on animals (who are usually killed at the end of the tests), or engaging in any activity that results in killing animals not out of mercy but for selfish reasons."