Okay, we admit it. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) animal cruelty trial didn't turn out the way we'd expected. PETA employees Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook basically got off scot-free, each with only a single conviction of littering to officially sully their names. (Reminder: "Littering" in this case consisted of throwing garbage bags full of dead animals into a shopping center dumpster.)

Expectedly, PETA's media team has gone on the offensive, claiming that the jury's decision vindicates their longstanding stance that the whole trial was much ado about nothing. But all the spinning in the world can't change the fact that the defendants' lawyers never contested the accusation that PETA -- a bunch of self-proclaimed animal "rights" activists -- orders its employees to kill animals.

On that note, the quote of the week comes from Andrea Press, a member of Responsible Dog Owners of Eastern States, who called a spade a spade in the Associated Press piece on the trial:

It's a disgrace. PETA preaches to everybody not to hurt and kill animals. And they just proved it's OK for them to do it. They're hypocrites.