Kitten Rescue Defends Screening After MAGA Post

Itty Bitty City Kitties, a New York kitten rescue, is defending its adoption screening after social-media posts said MAGA supporters, conservatives and people describing themselves as apolitical should not apply. The dispute has drawn criticism from PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk, who urged the organization to abandon what she called a politically focused approach. Rescue director Samantha Knox said the organization does not screen applicants by registered party affiliation. Instead, she said, it considers public statements, actions and expressed values when assessing whether a home is safe for an animal. Knox said conduct that promotes or celebrates cruelty, discrimination or harm can lead the rescue to reject an application. The rescue’s social-media messaging was more categorical, including a post with a kitten beside the words “NO. F***ING. MAGA.” Another post said applicants whose politics involve racism, bigotry, dehumanizing immigrants or cheering cruelty toward vulnerable people should not apply. The posts prompted online criticism and questions about how the rescue determines an applicant’s political views.