Written by PETA
Update: Jack the cat has passed away because of injuries that he suffered while lost inside JFK airport. After spending two months in the American Airlines baggage-claim area, Jack was finally found when he fell through the ceiling. Airline employees took him to a veterinarian, but the severe wounds covering half his body, a raging infection, and starvation were too much for Jack to surmount. His Facebook page, flooded with condolences, will, we hope, prevent similar tragedies from occurring by serving as a reminder that animals should travel in the cabin with their guardians.
Originally posted September 2, 2011
© Linqong | Dreamstime.com
With thousands of us hitting the road for the long Labor Day weekend, it bears repeating that animals should never be transported in the cargo hold of an airplane. In another hideous example of what can happen when airlines treat animals like luggage, a cat named Jack is currently lost inside JFK Airport after he escaped from his carrier before he could be loaded into the plane's cargo hold. Jack has been lost in JFK's baggage claim area for a week, and attempts to catch the terrified cat have all failed.
When vacationing, it's safest to leave animals at home with a trusted adult friend or relative or a bonded, recommended professional sitter. Don't cut corners or be casual—too much rides on your careful selection. If you must bring your animals, drive to your destination, or if you fly, the animals must ride in the cabin of the plane with you, under the seat. See PETA's "Traveling With Companion Animals" factsheet for more information.
And if you're traveling by car this weekend, remember to keep an eye out for animals in distress. If you see an animal near the road, stop to help, and please, if you pass an animal who looks dead, don't assume that he or she actually is.
Safely pull over and make sure that the animal is dead by gently touching the outer corner of the eye and pinching one of the animal's toes. If the eye blinks or the animal pulls back, the animal is still alive, and you will need to take him or her to the nearest veterinary clinic and/or call the local humane society or the police (call 911 if you have to—do not give up). And be sure to stay with the animal until help arrives. For more information on braking for animals, see our list of tips.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Before coming to PETA, I worked at a small animal shelter in rural South Carolina, where I saw firsthand why it's crucial for shelters to accept every animal in need instead of turning animals away, as most so-called "no-kill" shelters do.
One day, a man showed up with a carrier containing a mother cat and five kittens. They were bony, greasy, and crawling with fleas. "This is the best cat in the world," the man said. "This is her 18th litter of kittens!" I had to practically bite off my tongue to avoid bluntly informing him of how badly he'd contributed to the animal overpopulation and homelessness crisis. Instead, I politely accepted the cats and told him we'd sterilize his animals for free if he got any more.
Another time, a woman walked up carrying an old flour bag and a fruit bag, both of which were knotted shut. The bags contained terrified, unsocialized cats. "These cats are taking over—you gotta take 'em," she said. On another occasion, we were called out to pick up nine newborn puppies who were still nursing off their dead mother's body under the house where their owners lived.
And I will never forget the day that a large, rough-looking man raced up in an old truck with an elderly dog in the back. I met him outside with a give-up form, waiting to hear his excuse. Instead, I got a rare glimpse of kindness: The dog wasn't his. He'd found her looking ill by some train tracks, carried her to his truck, and sped to the shelter for help.
An examination revealed that she was suffering badly, possibly from congestive heart failure, and I explained that the best I could give her was a peaceful passing. The man agreed and insisted on staying while I wrapped the dog in a towel, carried her gently to an exam table, kissed her head, and gave her a lethal injection to end her suffering. If not for him, this poor angel would have surely died slowly and in agony.
Whenever I hear "no-kill" propaganda, I think of all the animals we helped at that open-admission shelter. Turning them away would have meant their suffering and certain, painful deaths, and caging them indefinitely is never a humane option. Some are too broken, too old, or just plain unwanted and will not be adopted. Euthanasia was and remains a mercy for many animals, although it breaks the hearts of those who choose to provide this kindness. What gives me hope is that spaying and neutering can drastically reduce the number of animals who end up homeless. Please, if you haven't already, have your animals sterilized as soon as possible—and urge everyone you know to do so as well.
Written by Teresa Chagrin, PETA's animal care & control specialist
© David Thompson/iStockphoto.com
Even while admitting to myself that I was probably well past the target age for Puss in Boots, I couldn't resist the allure of the swashbuckling, lady-killing feline hero. I wasn't disappointed. This movie has plenty for young and old alike, from madcap adventures to the hilarity of Antonio Banderas' smooth, romantic voice purring out of a tiny cat.
But the "legendary lover" has a softer side, which we get a glimpse of when his love interest, Kitty Softpaws, sorrowfully confesses that her claws were taken from her by a family she had thought loved her. Her emotional retelling of the story elicits sympathy from both Puss in Boots and the audience and will likely make people think twice about amputating their own cats' toes.
Kitty Softpaws has learned to make her misfortune work to her advantage as a cat burglar, but as the film makes clear, unless Fluffy's future plans involve a magic-bean heist, her claws belong right where they are meant to be: on her feet!
Puss in Boots is a delight for kids and for adults, who will chuckle at some of the kids-would-never-get-that jokes, and it's a must-see for anyone considering robbing a beanstalk—or a cat of his or her claws.
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.
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
It's Cat Week, and as much as I want to post cute photos of my newly adopted cat, here instead are seven items adapted from "The Alwayses and the Never-Evers Checklist," from PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's insightful book 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You. Following the complete list will help you make every single week of your cat's life the best it can be.
© Digital Vision | Cats and Dogs | Getty Images
To read the entire checklist, pick up a copy of 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You or click here to read a longer excerpt. There's no time like Cat Week to promise your cat that you will do everything you can to make him or her adore you.
(And if you would like to see photos of my cat, please let my boss know in the comments section.)
We know where Bill Maher got the shirt that he wore to perform at George Washington University—'cause we made it. Lookin' good, Bill.
© Michelle Rattinger/ GW Hatchet.
Speaking of making it: After becoming the first vegan to win a Food Network cooking competition, chef Chloe Coscarelli is still on a (vegan-buttered) roll, making the world a better place for animals and our waistlines. Check out her scrumptious new recipes on Eatocracy.
Anna Wintour took some heat for being cold-hearted enough to wear several cold-blooded animals on her back. "She looks like she got that at a consignment store where pimps drop their coats off," said E! news anchor Giuliana Rancic.
Another proud animal friend who's "still right here" is Melissa Ferrick, who is currently on tour promoting her new album. The adoption advocate would love what Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, Susan, are up to—the couple adopted a pair of cats their friend found in a bush.
Cats don't belong in the wild, but elephants certainly do, according to Coldplay, whose new video features the band members dressed up as elephants searching for "Paradise."
Even without a big striped hat, our mischievous cat shook things up at the St. Louis Children's Hospital gala this past weekend. Dressed to the nines in a bowtie and tails, the cat grabbed the attention of the gala attendees while his fellow protesters handed out information about the hospital's abuse of cats for cruel and archaic intubation training exercises in its Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course.
The leaflets were, unfortunately, not works of children's fiction. Trainees at St. Louis Children's force hard plastic tubes down cats' delicate windpipes over and over again in a procedure that can cause bleeding and swelling in the tissue of the cats' throats as well as pain, scarring, collapsed lungs, and even death. One gala attendee exclaimed, "Are they really doing this? I have a cat at home. This is horrible!"
Readily available infant simulators have been shown to better prepare trainees to treat sick and injured babies and children. Even the PALS course's sponsor, the American Heart Association, strongly opposes animal use in the course. The group has distanced itself from the few facilities that still use animals and only recommends the use of simulators.
If you do not like it, not one little bit, take a minute to tell Saint Louis Children's Hospital to stop abusing cats and better serve children by switching to modern, superior human-patient simulators.
Employees at a Kentucky dentist's office were reattaching vent covers when meowing was heard under the building. A passerby then called PETA for advice.
A pretty black-and-white cat had apparently darted inside an open vent while the covers were off, but then was unable to get back out. We were able to secure the release of the cat and convinced the caller, who planned to adopt the cat, to first take her to a shelter to be scanned for a microchip. Sure enough, the cat, named Minnie, had been lost for six long weeks, and her guardian was desperately searching for her.
Minnie was lucky she was discovered before she starved to death or was seriously injured in the ventilation system and that the people who found her were kindhearted. Other cats who are let outside unattended aren't always so lucky. Outdoor cats are often abused by cruel people, hit by cars, poisoned, attacked by other animals, or stolen and sold for use in experiments or as bait for dogfights. Don't learn the hard way—keep cats safely inside, as Minnie's grateful guardian assures us she will do from now on.
Supermodel and former Leonardo DiCaprio flame Bar Refaeli is catching heat for posing in fur for clothing company Bel Air, especially in light of the proposed fur ban in Israel. Honorary PETA Director Pamela Anderson sent Refaeli a letter explaining, "You probably weren't aware that numerous undercover investigations have revealed that foxes, minks, coyotes, and rabbits—and even cats and dogs—are bludgeoned, genitally electrocuted, and often skinned alive for their pelts." Pam asked Refaeli, model to model, to raise the bar on ethical fashion and dump fur.
But Refaeli insisted that there had been a titanic mistake, telling an Israeli publication that Bel Air had lied to her and said the fur was fake. Then she took to Twitter, posting, "I think its time 2 get it straight! i'm against fur! the truth of the matter is that on the shoot day i was told the fur is FAKE!"
Considering the lies that the fur industry tells about how animals are killed, it's not surprising that fur-mongers would finagle Refaeli into donning pelts.
Be a model of compassion and bar fur from your closet. Lookin' at you, Blake Lively…
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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