PETA Demands Expulsion from Fraternity for University of Georgia Members Who Allegedly Beat Raccoon to Death

Group Asks National Director to Add Humane Language to Mission Statement

Athens, Georgia (PRWEB) January 21, 2004 --Today, PETA fired off a letter to Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity Executive Director Shawn Collinsworth in Indianapolis, urging him to order the expulsion of three University of Georgia Phi Kappa Psi members. PETAs demand follows reports that on December 12, after spotting a raccoon outside the Phi Kappa Psi house, one of the three men allegedly bludgeoned the raccoon with a pylon and shot the animal with a pellet gun. Another man reportedly skinned the raccoon, and a third reportedly cooked the animal and ate some of the flesh. Because PETA has received an alarming number of complaints about random acts of violence against animals committed by fraternity members from schools nationwide, PETA is also urging Collinsworth to include language that prohibits cruelty to animals in Phi Kappa Psis mission statement.

PETA points out that allowing malicious and violent acts against animals to go unpunished often leads to repeat offenses that can escalate in nature and ultimately involve human victims.

"Mental health professionals and top law-enforcement officials consider cruelty to animals to be a red flag," says PETA wildlife biologist Stephanie Boyles. "People who demonstrate such blatant disregard for life and desensitization to suffering can pose a serious risk to the people and animals with whom they come in contact. Phi Kappa Psi must take decisive action with respect to these three alleged animal abusers in order to help prevent future violent attacks."

PETAs letter to Phi Kappa Psi Executive Director Shawn Collinsworth follows.

January 15, 2004

Shawn M. Collinsworth
Executive Director
Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity
510 Lockerbie St.
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Dear Mr. Collinsworth,

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a nonprofit organization with more than 800,000 members and supporters dedicated to animal protection. Our office has been bombarded with complaints about a case of cruelty to animals involving three Phi Kappa Psi members who allegedly tortured and killed a raccoon. According to news sources, on December 12, the three men spotted a raccoon outside the Phi Kappa Psi house. One man bludgeoned the raccoon with a construction pylon and then shot the animal with a pellet gun. Another man skinned the raccoon, and a third cooked the animal and ate some of his or her flesh.

In response to the recent incident, we understand that the three members involved will soon go before Phi Kappa Psi Kappa grievance committee and face sanctions for their actions. On behalf of our members, supporters, and concerned citizens who have contacted us about this heinous act, we ask that you expel these men from the fraternity, and in view of the pattern of animal abuse documented by our organization at fraternities across the country, we also ask that you include a prohibition on the use or abuse of animals in the language of the fraternitys mission statement.

Every day, our organization warns law-enforcement officers, prosecuting attorneys, and organization leaders about the importance of taking crimes against animals seriously in order to avert repeat offenses and prevent the escalation of crimes against animals to crimes against humans. For example, last year, subsequent to our bringing two previous cases of animal abuse to the attention of the executive director of Kappa Sigma Phi, seven brothers of the Davidson College chapter were arrested and charged with cruelty to animals for luring a goose away from her family with food and then beating her to death with a golf club-a premeditated and malicious crime against an innocent animal if ever there was one. The suffering that these young men inflicted on this animal and her young could have been prevented if Kappa Sigma Phi had seized the opportunity to address this important issue the first time our organization brought a case of animal abuse to its attention-we urge you not to make the same mistake.

I can be reached at 757-622-7382 if you have questions or need additional information. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt reply to our requests.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Boyles, Wildlife Biologist
Research & Investigations Department
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