Written by PETA
© Digital Vision/Cats & Dogs/Getty Images
In a trailblazing move that would earn tail-wagging approval from dogs everywhere, shopping mall developer Macerich has banned pet stores that sell animals in its more than 70 malls across the U.S. and is offering up the pet stores' old spaces as adoption centers for homeless animals instead. This compassionate decision follows another the company made at PETA's urging last year to ban the hideous "Pocket Pets" kiosks, which sell sugar gliders—tiny, exotic, nocturnal marsupials who often die as a result of improper care and the stress and loneliness of captivity.
Proving that one can make a difference, the pet-store ban is largely thanks to the efforts of California resident Jennifer Peterson, who informed Macerich that pet stores are essentially fronts for cruel puppy mills and worked with the company on a plan to evict the stores.
Hopefully, many other malls will follow Macerich's humane lead and ban sales of live animals. Each of us can help, too, by never buying animals from pet stores and giving a grateful dog or cat from a shelter a loving, lifelong home instead.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
When a PETA supporter saw a picture posted on Facebook of a cat whose face was being eaten away by ulcers, she knew that she had to act. Her speedy investigation revealed that the cat was living at an auto mechanic's shop and that even though animal control had been called, the cat was still suffering. That's when she called PETA.
When we contacted animal control officials, they said that they had required the mechanic to take the cat to a veterinarian. But alarmingly, the veterinarian had refused to euthanize the cat, saying that he would be better off dying at home. Hearing this, PETA's Community Animal Project dropped everything and went to find the cat.
He was in miserable condition—weak, emaciated, matted, infested with fleas, and in the advanced stages of terminal feline leukemia. We convinced the mechanic to let us give the cat a peaceful release from his unrelenting suffering.
If you ever suspect that an animal is suffering, don't hesitate—make the call! Don't assume that someone else will take care of the problem—make sure that someone does by being that someone.
This week is the 83rd annual National Dog Week, and to celebrate, we're showcasing some of the wonderful dogs (and a few cats) PETA has helped recently with our mobile spay-and-neuter clinics.
One such dog is Bentley, a charming white ball of fluff whose guardian does not drive and lives in a rural county where there is no veterinary clinic. If not for PETA's SNIP truck, Bentley likely would not have been neutered and may have contributed to the animal homelessness crisis.
PETA's fleet of spay-and-neuter clinics provides free and low-cost sterilization surgeries in southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina. So far this year, clinic workers have spayed and neutered more than 7,500 animals and provided round-trip, door-to-door transportation (often to remote residences) to more than 400 animals, free of charge. Nobody is ever turned away because of financial reasons.
Please consider helping PETA continue to offer free and low-cost sterilizations by making an ear-marked donation to our animal overpopulation fund. If you cannot give at this time, consider volunteering at a local spay-and-neuter clinic or offering to drive an animal whose guardian is without transportation to a surgical appointment.
Tonight on NBC, the cocktails will flow and the bunny tails will wiggle as the network debuts The Playboy Club, a period drama about the "living, breathing fantasy world" which stars vegan PETA celebrity supporters Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Leah Renee. But bunnies (Playboy and otherwise) aren't the only ones with rampant sex drives—for unaltered dogs and cats living in the "playboy club" of the streets, life is anything but a fantasy. That's why we've asked NBC to air our frisky "Sex and the Kitty" public service announcement during the show—to give viewers a good laugh while showing them that spaying and neutering saves lives.
One unaltered female cat and her offspring can produce a whopping 420,000 cats in just seven years. The result is more animals added to the millions that are already homeless. Animals left to fend for themselves on the streets often suffer from lingering and painful diseases, starvation, exposure, or neglect or are hit by cars, attacked by other animals or cruel people, stolen by laboratory dealers, or used as bait by dogfighters.
Ending the animal homelessness crisis is everyone's responsibility. The solution is easy and practical: spay and neuter all companion animals.
When a calico cat named Willow disappeared from her Colorado home five years ago, the Squires family put up "lost cat" posters and placed ads online. But as time passed, they lost hope. This week, thanks to a computer chip the size of a grain of rice, Willow has been found.
A kind man spotted the friendly cat on a Manhattan street and took her to an animal shelter, where Willow's microchip led workers to her family more than 1,800 miles away. How Willow found her way to New York and what her life was like during those five years is a mystery, but what is certain is that her family never would have seen her again if not for her microchip. "All our pets are microchipped," said Willow's grateful guardian. "If I could microchip my kids, I would."
If your companion animals aren't already microchipped, why not take this opportunity to schedule an appointment today? Collars and tags are crucial, but they can fall off or be removed. As Willow's story shows, a microchip is a permanent safeguard.
A horrific hoarding case in Chicago is a reminder of why, despite any ill-founded "good" intentions, hoarding never results in a happy home—for anyone. It's absolutely vital to report all known or suspected cases of animal neglect or hoarding to authorities immediately.
Police reportedly found a mentally disabled 14-year-old boy dead in a backyard, wearing only a T-shirt. Inside the house, they allegedly found more than 200 animals—and three more sick children—living in filth and feces. Reportedly, all 109 cats in the house were suffering from feline AIDS and leukemia and had to be euthanized, and many other animals were starving and diseased, including a cockatiel whose spine was visible on his nearly featherless back. The children reportedly had never been to school or a doctor and slept on the floor, and their bare feet were caked with feces and dirt. The children's mother has been charged with child abuse and cruelty to animals, among other crimes.
Hoarders exist in virtually every community, so it's crucial to be alert to the signs of hoarding:
If you notice red flags of animal hoarding, please don't hesitate—call the police. Hundreds of lives—both animals' and humans'—may be at stake.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
As observances of September 11, 2001, take place across the country, PETA thinks back to all the cats, dogs, birds, hamsters, fish, and other companion animals who waited in vain for the return of their loving guardians who lost their lives that day. Especially the ones trapped inside apartments in the cordoned off "Red Zone." PETA received call after call from people desperate to reach their dearly loved animals after being barred from returning to their homes. PETA immediately dispatched a rescue team to New York.
PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch—who took a PETA team from Norfolk, Virginia, to New York right away—will always remember the destruction and despair. "It was total chaos and heartbreak," she recalls. "We struggled to get through various barriers and roadblocks to reach animals who needed us—and whose guardians were desperate for us to retrieve them. We were able to get some building superintendents and firefighters to bring some of the animals out, but most perished. We were also able to care for traumatized animals at an impromptu rescue center and managed to reunite a person here and a person there with their beloved animals. It was a trip that will forever remain burned into our brains."
PETA's Emergency Response Team also rescued more than 100 turtles from a market in New York's Chinatown. And PETA was on the ground following the attack on the Pentagon, supplying dogs who were searching for survivors through the broken glass and twisted metal with protective booties.
September 11 was a harrowing time for all beings, and one that continues to affect us as a nation. When you observe September 11 today, please think of all the individuals who suffered and died because of an act of hatred. Let's resolve to open our hearts as much as we can to everyone—regardless of race, color, species, gender, creed, nationality, or religion—every day.
Written by Joe Taksel
Tomorrow is National Pet Memorial Day, a time to honor the animals with whom we have shared our lives and love. We gave them a home, and in return, they gave us their all.
© Andrew Helwich | iStockPhoto.com
Looking for a way to memorialize your best friends past and present? You could do something kind for animals who haven't had the good fortune to be cherished by someone like you. For example, you could offer to take a lonely chained dog for a walk and offer him or her treats and toys. Or you could volunteer at your local humane society or spay-and-neuter clinic. In these economic tough times, animal charities are struggling and would welcome a donation in your animal's name.
You could also post an online remembrance of your beloved animal companions on PETA's True Friends Memorial page. Tribute pages can include stories, pictures, and videos and are easily linked to blogs, websites, and social-network profiles. People can view the tribute to your animal and make a donation in their honor that will have a lasting impact and improve the lives of not-so-lucky animals.
Labor Day meant a long weekend for many nine-to-fivers, but some laborers can't close up shop and forget about their jobs, even for a day. For animal shelter workers, the stream of battered and bruised animals in need of refuge never ends. Few people have a more emotionally challenging job than those who punch in every day knowing that they will likely have to euthanize the animals they've devoted themselves to helping.
We can all help ease shelter workers' burdens by doing our part to slow the stream of homeless animals. That means always having our cats and dogs spayed or neutered and adopting animals instead of buying them from breeders or pet stores.
As one who has spent years volunteering at my local animal shelter, I know that shelter staffers are some of the hardest-working people around. They scrub poop-strewn kennels, comb animals who are matted and crawling with fleas, and give belly rubs to dogs who have been chained up like old bicycles their entire lives. They heft dogs onto examination tables, unload vans of 50-pound bags of food, get bitten by petrified dogs who have known nothing but cruelty, and get scratched by cats who are frantic after having left the home they've always known to live in a cage surrounded by other crying felines. They cuddle cats, throw balls for dogs, slip treats through cage bars, speak kind words, and give many scratches behind the ears. They do their best to make the animals' stay at the shelter as full of love as possible.
But shelters don't have a magic wand that they can wave to create loving homes for all the animals who need them. Those who work in open-admission shelters must also perform the thankless, gut-wrenching task of holding the animals they've played with and loved in their arms while the euthanasia needle slides into a vein and the light in their eyes softly flickers out. These people are heroes for doing the right thing for animals even though it takes such a toll on them personally.
Breeders, pet stores, and people who haven't had their animals spayed or neutered put shelter workers in this tragic position. Every new puppy or kitten who is brought into the world takes the chance for a home away from one of the thousands of animals waiting in shelters. And every new puppy or kitten means another broken heart for a brave shelter worker.
Shelter workers' jobs will never be cushy, but if more people spay and neuter their animals before that first litter and if more people adopt the eager-to-please dogs and cats waiting in shelters instead of buying animals, we could dramatically reduce the number of animals euthanized for lack of a good home. We could save thousands of lives—and make shelter workers' lives a little bit easier too.
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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