Employees with the animal rights organization PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, are charged with dumping dead animals into a dumpster in Eastern Carolina. Lawmen arrested Andrew Benjamin Cook and Adria Joy Hinkle, both from Virginia for disposing of 18 dogs in a commercial dumpster in Ahoskie in Hertford County. Lawmen in Hertford and Bertie Counties have been investigating animal cruelty in Ahoskie for the last four weeks. Officials arrested the two suspects and seized a van in Ahoskie Wednesday night. Investigators found 18 dogs in the dumpster and thirteen more in a van registered to PETA. Lawmen say the animals were reported to be alive when they were picked up from shelters in Bertie and Northampton Counties. PETA representatives said it is not their policy to place animals in a dumpster and said if that's what happened, they're appalled. PETA has suspended Hinkle from her duties as it conducts its own investigation.
