Written by Jeff Mackey
PETA's SNIP (Spay and Neuter Immediately, Please!) clinics and Community Animal Project (CAP) are on the job year-round to help animals in need in Virginia and North Carolina—and in 2011, they succeeded again and again in improving the lives of animals and the people who care about them.
SNIP's fleet of mobile spay-and-neuter clinics has "fixed" nearly 80,000 cats and dogs over the past decade—10,564 of them in 2011 alone! In the past year, PETA also helped thousands of guardians keep their animal companions by offering counseling tips, information about animal-friendly housing, and assistance with offering humane care.
Today, we'd like you to meet just a few of the animals whose lives were big-time brightened—and even saved—by CAP and SNIP this past year:
Moose's coat was severely matted, a painful and dangerous condition that can lead to sores and maggot infestations. Moose's family didn't realize how serious matting was and couldn't afford to have the little guy groomed. PETA's fieldworkers spruced him up!
Bailey was suffering from a large mammary tumor that was affecting her ability to walk. PETA's veterinarian successfully removed the tumor, and Bailey was spayed at the same time.
Unlike many pit bulls PETA's fieldworkers meet, Prue lives indoors, but she had already had one litter of unwanted pups. PETA helped prevent more pit bulls from being born by spaying this sweet girl. No more pups for Prue!
Bentley's guardian lives in a very rural area. The closest vet clinic is almost an hour's drive from her house, and she didn't have the $200 that the vet charges for neutering dogs, so PETA took care of Bentley's sterilization, transporting him to and from surgery.
Brownie's guardian is a young single mom with two children. PETA spayed Brownie—who, like Prue, had already had one litter—and provided the family with a leash to walk Brownie (which they now do daily), toys, treats, and a sturdy handmade doghouse, along with warm, dry straw.
Biscuit's guardian took this kitten in as a stray and desperately wanted to keep him but couldn't afford to have him fixed at a vet clinic. If it weren't for PETA, who transported Biscuit to and from his neuter appointment, Biscuit's guardian would have had to surrender him to the local animal shelter.
Please join PETA in calling on elected officials to pass mandatory spay-and-neuter laws in your state, county, and town.
Please also help make sure animals continue to get the help that they so desperately need by making a donation to help keep SNIP's mobile clinics going strong, sponsoring a doghouse (or two) to be built and delivered by CAP, and being ready to help neglected animals in your own community.
Companion-animal neglect and homelessness is a preventable tragedy. By working together, we can end it!
Written by Michelle Kretzer
When a police officer asks you to do something, it’s generally a good idea to comply. And when a police officer asks you to help animals, well that’s a no-brainer! The Virginia Beach Police Department was routinely fielding calls in certain low-income neighborhoods about animals getting sick because they weren’t vaccinated or shivering outdoors with little to no shelter from the elements. The police asked PETA and the Virginia Beach SPCA if we could all work together one weekend and help. Did we ever.
PETA rolled out our new mobile clinic and altered nearly 30 dogs and cats. We also handed out bundle after bundle of straw bedding for outdoor dogs, so that they could at least have a warm place to lie down, and signed their families up for our free doghouse delivery program. The VBSPCA offered free rabies and distemper shots for animals who had already been spayed and neutered, administering a whopping 250 vaccinations.
Aside from the danger of some animals being arrested for excessive cuteness, the day was a huge success. Said PETA vice president Daphna Nachminovitch, “We'd like to see this example of teamwork to help stop animal suffering emulated in cities across the country."
Did you know that PETA did some wonderful things in 2011 that you probably didn't read about in the newspapers? I do—because I've read PETA's latest annual report, and you can too. Here's a sample of the interesting stuff that you'll find in just the "Year in Numbers" section alone:
©iStockphoto/ Andrew Helwich
There's lots more to learn—but check it out for yourself. And if you want to be a part of a record-breaking 2012, there's no better time to join us than right now!
I just received the gift of a 2012 calendar illustrated by Mutts artist Patrick McDonell to go along with my PETA "Rescued" calendar. But my walls won't be the only ones sporting the designs of this talented and compassionate artist in the new year. PETA's mobile SNIP (Spay and Neuter Immediately, Please!) clinic received a facelift earlier this month when it was rewrapped with colorful Mutts artwork, courtesy of McDonnell.
PETA's fleet of state-of-the-art mobile low-cost to no-cost clinics—we now boast three—spayed and neutered more than 10,000 dogs, cats, and rabbits in 2011, and we hope to surpass that number in 2012, thereby preventing thousands of unwanted animals from being born into a world long on suffering and short on good homes. We've spayed and neutered more than 75,000 animals in the last 10 years!
If you'd like to support SNIP's lifesaving work (the clinics operate at a loss and rely on donations to keep "snipping"), we can hook you up.
When PETA suffered a "van down" earlier this year, longtime President's Circle members Adam and Leni Sender stepped up to the plate. The Sender family—tireless animal advocates who have opened their home to numerous rescued animals, including a refugee from Hurricane Katrina—donated the money for PETA to buy a new and improved van, and we dedicated the vehicle to the memory of their beloved cat Patti.
The "Patti Wagon" will urge people to save lives by spaying and neutering their animals while it ferries animals in need to and from appointments with PETA's no-cost to low-cost spay-and-neuter clinics. We love the Senders as much as the Senders love animals. Thank you for being the animals' "Spay Santas"!
And the van's namesake? Well, we think Patti would be purrfectly pleased with her mobile memorial.
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
Rocky, like so many other pit bulls, was used as a living burglar alarm. He was kept outdoors in all weather extremes, chained to a flimsy doghouse, with no life, no love―no nothin'.
Brutus had broken free of his chain and gotten his ear nearly ripped off by another dog, but his owner was oblivious to the extent of the injury―not that he had made any effort to find out how severe it was. Instead, he just chained Brutus up again and went back inside his own warm, comfortable home, while Brutus cowered inside his doghouse.
These are just two of the countless pit bull cruelty and neglect cases that PETA's Community Animal Project and Emergency Response Team have dealt with recently, and the abuse and neglect of pit bulls in particular seem to be getting worse. Everyone knows that animal shelters are full of these vulnerable dogs. Pit bulls are left at shelters in record numbers—and since they are difficult to adopt out, reputable shelters (that don't slam the door in the dogs' faces) are finding that they must euthanize more pit bulls and pit bull mixes than all other dogs combined.
That's why we are trying to stop pit bull abuse at its roots by preventing pit bulls from being born into a world that largely views them as cheap bodyguards, burglar alarms, punching bags, and back-alley gladiators. No one needs to bring even one more dog into this world while there are so many still homeless.
PETA's mobile clinics provide no-cost to low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to hundreds of pit bulls every year, and we'd like to push that number even higher. Love pits and don't want to see more of them tied up by tractor-trailer chains or torn up like Brutus was? PETA has now launched a special fund through which all donations will go toward free pit bull spay and neuter surgeries. Click here to make a donation today to help prevent more pit bulls from falling into the wrong hands.
Written by PETA
Did you know that in Ukraine, a dog or cat found wandering the streets can be shot on sight or poisoned and left to suffer? Their bodies are tossed into a cremation truck and burned, and some are reportedly burned while alive. It is estimated that in the city of Kiev alone, 20,000 dogs have already been killed in these cruel ways.
Ukrainian authorities are trying to "cleanse" the country of homeless animals before it hosts the European Football Championship in 2012. At a preliminary match between Germany and Ukraine in Kiev last weekend, members of PETA Germany and the Kiev Society for the Protection of Animals protested, calling on Ukrainian authorities to stop the cruel killings and asking the Union of European Football Associations to get involved.
Many German soccer (known as "football" in other parts of the world) players have now joined PETA Germany in publicly criticizing Ukrainian authorities for the torture of these dogs and demanding that the city use humane methods to manage the homeless animal crisis. The only solution to animal overpopulation is a spay-and-neuter initiative, but in the meantime, the city's unwanted animals at least deserve a peaceful, painless end to their lives.
Please contact the Ukrainian Embassy and politely urge officials to stop these cruel killings immediately. Click here for the e-mail address for your state, or if your state is not listed, you can call 202-333-0606.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
A big brouhaha erupted after the Detroit Animal Control Center euthanized an emaciated, injured and extremely ill dog named Ace (after the hardware store into which he painfully stumbled before being rescued off the streets) on Thursday. Photos of Ace make it abundantly clear that he was suffering; they show him looking weak, hunched over, grimacing, bleeding from a neck wound, and barely able to stand. He looks as if he can't get comfortable, and there is obvious pain in his eyes. Unfortunately, Ace had to endure the state-mandated four-day waiting period for strays, and no owner could be located for him (or they surely would have faced cruelty charges). This suffering dog didn't deserve to linger a minute longer.
We just have one question: The shelters are overloaded with homeless dogs―if anyone is upset because this dog was put down, why don't they stop screaming "Murder!' and do something truly helpful, like adopting another dear dog who doesn't need as much vet care and resocializing but just needs a home? There's certainly no shortage of homeless dogs in every single animal shelter in the country―no, make that, in the world! If you think that every single one―or even one in 20―can be placed, then you're living in a dream that we all wish would come true, but picking one dog and going nuts about his euthanasia is just a feel-good exercise not grounded in reality. Shelters need financial help for spaying and neutering in order to stop more dogs from being born and to find truly good homes even for dogs with no problems, the "easy" ones. Meanwhile, "no kill" shelters take in their quota and then leave the dirty work to everyone else.
But back to Ace―for dogs who have been through so much and are obviously suffering and miserable, a dignified release from their pain is often a blessing and the most humane option. Let's not misplace our anger and frustration, which should be directed at those who neglect animals so badly that they end up ravaged with parasites and barely able to keep their heads up as well as at those who cause animals to end up homeless and euthanized at shelters because they buy from pet stores or breeders and/or fail to spay or neuter their animals.
And let's use our energy to save lives by promoting spaying and neutering and lobbying for legislation that would restrict breeding so that we can arrive at a day when no animal is born unless a loving, permanent home is waiting for him or her. Animal homelessness is a preventable tragedy.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
It's almost time for Halloween, and while some folks are being sweeter than candy to animals, some are making us wish that we were only watching a scary movie.
Kisses to Los Angeles' Ghost Ship. The country's only haunted sailing vessel promises its victims a 75-minute voyage of horror, but only if they aren't wearing the victims of the horrifying fur industry. Even ax-wielding maniacs know that fur is cruel.
Kisses to The Office for showing the very real danger of leaving a dog in a hot car in very memorable Office style.
Hisses to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for talking out of both sides of its mouth about the foods that people put into theirs—pushing people to eat vegetables but granting huge subsidies to the meat industry.
Kisses to women's clothing store Dress Barn for proudly displaying "Fab Faux Fur" in its windows.
Hisses to the U.S. Air Force for considering turning animals into fuel for planes. With all the biofuel options available, even Fred Flintstone would think that this cruel fuel is archaic.
Kisses to Tom Wargo of Lilburn, Georgia, and to 13-year-old Victoria O'Connell of Rapid City, South Dakota, for realizing that companion animals also suffer in a recession and starting animal food banks. Wargo gets an extra smooch for requiring owners to obtain low-cost spay-and-neuter services.
Today was a lucky day for black cats: PETA's mobile Spay and Neuter Immediately, Please (SNIP) clinic got into the spirit of Halloween and "fixed" 44 of the black beauties for free. What a way to wrap up Cat Week!
If there's one thing scarier than armies of the undead, it's the animal overpopulation crisis. Every year, millions of unwanted kittens are left at crowded animal shelters, where many of them must be euthanized for lack of suitable homes. Others are casually passed around from one temporary home to the next or are dumped on the roadside.
Just one unaltered female cat can lead to 370,000 feline descendants in only seven years; an unneutered male cat can help create limitless litters of kittens. PETA's mobile clinics have sterilized more than 75,000 animals since the program's inception in 2001, preventing the births of hundreds of thousands of unwanted kittens and puppies.
Black cats are often the target of cruel people who torture or kill them around Halloween. Keeping cats inside is the best way to keep them safe, and if you have an unaltered cat of any color, make an appointment today to get him or her sterilized. In addition to preventing unwanted litters, spay and neuter surgeries eliminate the risk of certain cancers of the reproductive system. It is the best treat that you can give your cat—any time of year.
If you've already "fixed" your cat, you can make a donation to help others do the same and to help keep our SNIP clinic going.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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