Written by Michelle Kretzer
Every day, PETA's Community Animal Project (CAP) staffers respond to calls about animals who are malnourished, feral, sick, injured, trapped in storm drains, stuck in trees, dying on the side of the road, or kept chained 24/7 365 days a year. Mya and Becky are two formerly chained dogs who were rescued, thanks to PETA.
Mya had nothing more than a crumbling lean-to for shelter amid piles of trash. But after a social worker saw her living in such deplorable conditions, she asked the owners to consider parting with her. After they agreed, the social worker immediately called PETA.
Our friends at the wonderful open-admission Virginia Beach SPCA (VBSPCA) shelter accepted beautiful Mya, and she already has an application for adoption.
PETA staffers spotted Becky while they were delivering straw bedding to chained dogs elsewhere. This beautiful dog spent all day every day dragging a heavy logging chain around a ramshackle pen.
After CAP's repeated visits to the home to give Becky straw, toys, treats, and TLC, her owners agreed to give her a shot at finding a home where she would be allowed to live indoors with the rest of the family. Again, our good friends at the VBSPCA stepped up, and now things are looking up for Becky.
What You Can Do
Support open-admission shelters like the Virginia Beach SPCA. Workers at such shelters never turn away an animal in need because they know that animals are more than statistics.
Written by Alisa Mullins
It would break your heart to see the difference that a simple doghouse can make in a dog's life. One recent beneficiary of PETA's doghouse delivery program is Passion, who was spotted by a PETA fieldworker when our Community Animal Project visited the trailer park in which she lives to help a neighbor transport her dog to our no-cost to low-cost spay/neuter clinic. Our fieldworker found Passion—and her pitiful excuse for a doghouse, a collection of metal and wood filled with gaps that had done virtually nothing to keep her warm or dry this winter.
We replaced her decaying, makeshift lean-to with a sturdy, weatherproof doghouse and filled it with straw (which doesn't freeze as towels and blankets do when they get wet). Like all our outdoor clients, Passion also received a lightweight, tangle-free tie-out to replace her heavy chain, a toy and a treat, clean water, and a few minutes of affection, which means the world to a dog stuck outside alone 24 hours a day. Passion was so excited by her new house and all the attention she was getting that her whole body wiggled with delight. It was as if she'd won the lottery.
Countless neglected "backyard dogs" don't have so much as a cardboard box to shelter them from the wind and rain. PETA fieldworkers have found dogs shivering during lashing nor'easters with nothing more to protect them from the elements than end tables, patio chairs, overturned barrels, shells of air-conditioning units, and pieces of plywood propped against fences. Some didn't even have those. During the winter, these dogs run the risk of suffering from exposure or frostbite or becoming dehydrated when water bowls freeze. During the summer, lack of access to water or shade can be fatal when the temperatures soar.
Dogs are pack animals who crave the companionship of others. There are few things worse for a dog than "solitary confinement" on a chain or in a pen or kennel. That constant barking that drives the neighbors crazy? It's a cry for help.
If you know someone with an "outdoor dog," offer to play or go on walks with the pup. Take treats and toys, which mean so much to a dog who would otherwise have nothing to do but watch the mud dry. Make sure that the dog has adequate food, water, and shelter (required by law), and report neglect to animal control. And use our resources to help get a chaining ban passed in your community.
We can now add Suffolk, Virginia, to the growing list of cities that recognize that dogs deserve better than life on a chain—something that PETA has been advocating for a long time.
In January, when Suffolk Council Member Mike Duman initially proposed a tethering ban, he met with resistance. But two short months later, the council voted to ban chaining completely. How did this reversal occur?
PETA wrote to council members and got our friend the comedian Wanda Sykes, who is from Virginia, to do the same. Daphna Nachminovitch, our vice president of cruelty investigations, raised awareness about the issue by writing a blog for a local website.
And we asked Alice Conner to share with the council the story of her 2-year-old cousin who was killed by dogs in Suffolk who became aggressive after being chained for years.
Local PETA members and residents also weighed in. And our message got through loud and clear.
PETA's Community Animal Project staff members receive more calls about abused and neglected chained dogs in Suffolk than in any other area surrounding the Sam Simon Center, our Virginia headquarters. As of September 1, 2013, Suffolk residents who do this to their dogs will face fines!
We thank Mike Duman, Alice Conner, Wanda Sykes, and all the other compassionate people who helped make the Suffolk tethering ban a reality. Now, with the help of Sykes and actor Patton Oswalt, we are working with Newport News, one of the two remaining cities in the region that still don't restrict or ban chaining, to improve living conditions for its dog population.
If you would like to help get a chaining ban passed in your hometown, we offer a wealth of resources.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Wanda Sykes—one of the funniest people on the planet, in my opinion—has taken on a very unfunny issue: dogs left chained up outside. Like fellow Southeastern Virginia native and comedian Patton Oswalt, Wanda has sent letters on PETA's behalf to Newport News and Suffolk city officials, urging them to pass legislation against continuous tethering similar to ordinances enacted in neighboring towns, including Hampton, Virginia Beach, Smithfield, Sykes' hometown of Portsmouth, and PETA's hometown of Norfolk.
© StarMaxInc.com
In her letters, Wanda explains that chained dogs—like the three pit bulls discovered by PETA cruelty caseworkers in Newport News in December—are often denied adequate shelter and suffer from loneliness, frustration, and neglect. One of those dogs had already died of starvation, and the two survivors were malnourished and had no access to food or water (PETA has filed cruelty charges against the dogs' owners).
As a mother, Wanda also expresses concern that chained dogs are more likely to become aggressive than dogs who live indoors with their human families, as evidenced by the tragic case of a toddler in Suffolk who was mauled to death by his family's chained dogs. Chaining also sends the dangerous message to children that dogs are disposable objects to be tossed out in the backyard and forgotten when they become inconvenient.
If chaining is still permitted in your community, please follow Wanda's example and encourage your local officials to enact a tethering ban. You can also help by sponsoring a custom doghouse to be built and delivered to provide a dog with relief from extreme weather.
PETA first learned about Boomer when his owner was seeking a new doghouse for the 4-year-old Rottweiler, who was left outside 24/7 in the Pacific Northwest. A PETA cruelty caseworker urged her to allow Boomer to live indoors or else give him up so that he could have a chance to be adopted by someone who would. When she balked at doing either, the caseworker worked with a local animal advocate to try to persuade her to act in Boomer's best interests.
Happily, Boomer's owner eventually opted to give him up so that he wouldn't have to spend the whole winter shivering outside all alone. Now the personable pup is in a foster home, and his foster mom is so smitten with him that she says if she can't find the "perfect, perfect home" for him, she will just keep him herself.
It's the best possible outcome for a dog or cat—a bright future filled with care and affection instead of cold and loneliness.
Please help dogs like Boomer by working to pass anti-chaining legislation in your community, and if you know of any animals left outside all the time, don't assume that the owners won't listen to you—speak up and try to make a difference!
When a PETA staffer found this dog named President Obama two years ago, he was stuck on a tangled lead in a trash-strewn yard without proper food, water, shelter, or attention of any kind.
He was fed table scraps by his owner, who would not consider allowing him indoors. Our staff member visited Obama frequently over the next two years, each time offering to find him a new home but always getting turned down. So PETA did what we could to keep the little guy healthy and comfortable, including providing him with a new doghouse and neutering him.
Recently, when a snowstorm was approaching, PETA's staffer took Obama some straw for warmth and found him wet and shivering in the freezing-cold backyard. But this time, the little tyke's owner finally agreed to let PETA take him, which just goes to show why it's so important never to give up when a chained dog needs help.) Here is Obama in his wonderful new home with his adopted "sister":
As you can see, Obama has made himself right at home with his new family—and, just like someone else we know, is taking full advantage of his second chance!
As harsh winter weather rages across the country, some of those facing the greatest risk are the dogs forced to live outdoors at the end of a chain, where they must endure some of the worst conditions that nature has to offer. Now, comedian and actor Patton Oswalt is stepping up to help them with a letter urging Newport News, Virginia, officials to follow the examples of dozens of other communities that have limited or banned the cruel and dangerous practice of chaining, thanks to a sustained campaign by PETA.
Patton is a native of Portsmouth, Virginia, which recently joined its neighboring communities of Smithfield, Virginia Beach, Hampton, and PETA's hometown of Norfolk in curtailing or outlawing tethering, leaving Newport News as one of the few holdouts in failing to protect "backyard dogs." And although he's revered as a comedian's comedian—watch his classic (but NSFW) takedown of the hideous KFC "sadness bowl" if you need proof—Patton knows that chaining is no laughing matter, explaining in his letter:
There is no worse punishment for a dog than a life sentence at the end of a chain. Forcing "man's best friend" to exist in the same barren patch 24/7 deprives these highly social pack animals of proper socialization and the opportunity to move around and explore. Often, they are deprived of necessities as basic as being able to reach food, water, or shelter—if they are even given any of those things. Every year, dogs injure or hang themselves on the chains that shackle them, while others grow aggressively protective of their tiny spaces. Chained dogs are nearly three times more likely to attack than dogs who are not chained.
Please join PETA and Patton Oswalt in taking action for chained dogs. Work to pass a tethering ban in your community—and if you ever see a cold, lonely animal left outside, please speak up!
The following was written by Kaitlynn Kelly, Media Coordinator.
I spend my days at PETA fielding calls from the media to answer questions about our news releases and explain our campaigns. I love my job, but I don't often get to see its impact on animals firsthand. So when the opportunity arose to deliver straw to cold "outdoor dogs," I jumped at the chance. I had no idea that I'd be coming home that day with my own Marley & Me story.
Our team discovered Marley because he was barking at a pit bull we were delivering straw to a couple of yards away. Marley and the pit bull could clearly see each other, and I thought how frustrating it must be for them to see each other, day in and day out, but not to be able to meet, sniff, or play.
As prisoner to a 10-foot-long chain 24/7, Marley's entire world consisted of a circle of mud at the far end of his owner's backyard. His doghouse was barren, his water bucket was so filthy that it was just another mud puddle, and his food bowl was at the farthest point that his chain would reach, presumably so that his owner could simply dump food into the bowl and walk away without having to touch him.
Marley was understandably guarded when I approached him, but when I held out the back of my hand, he licked it. Then, excited at the prospect of attention, he started to bounce up and down and run back and forth as much as his chain would allow. Marley's owner came out and grabbed the joyful dog by his head, loudly commanding, "Be still! Be still!" Marley, obviously uncomfortable, tried to move his face a little, and the old man smacked him on the head.
I wanted so badly to whisk him away from his abusive owner. But despite his seeming disdain for Marley, the man didn't want to surrender him. So we did what we could for the neglected dog: We covered his muddy patch of ground with straw, cleaned out the dirty water bucket, and gave him fresh food. We convinced the owner to let us replace Marley's chain with a lightweight tie-out. The tie-out added 5 feet to Marley's living space, and he immediately started exploring, feeling grass beneath his feet for what I am sure was the first time in months if not years. I offered Marley a bone, and he gratefully licked my hand before taking it.
My heart went out to every dog I met that day, but it's Marley I go to bed thinking about, and I am determined to help him. I might not be able to change the world, but I can change Marley's world, and that's just what I intend to do.
Want to have a New Year's celebration that's "off da chain"? Start by getting dogs off theirs. (Chains, that is.) Since it's time to make resolutions, make one of yours a pledge to see an end to chaining in your community by year's end—all it takes is persuading local officials to make (and then pass) a kind of resolution of their own!
Need more convincing? Meet Ziggy. This was his life before PETA—and a caring animal advocate, Alexis Tsiouris—came into it:
Alexis and PETA worked together over the course of a year to get Ziggy (then named Gizmo) off his chain and into a true home. After PETA alerted Alexis to Ziggy's plight, she delivered straw and treats to him. Both Alexis and PETA contacted his owner, who finally surrendered him to Alexis. Ziggy now lives indoors with his loving family, including three other dogs:
Ziggy's life is as bright now as it once was bleak. But with so many "backyard dogs" on chains and ropes, one-dog-at-a-time rescues—while worthwhile and often necessary—can't effectively help them all.
That's why it's so vital that tethering (chaining) bans become law in every community. While Ziggy was chained up, for example, PETA had sent law-enforcement officials to check on him twice, but they determined that his situation was legal so nothing could be done about it. A chaining ban would give authorities the necessary tools to help dogs like Ziggy.
This year, put "Get a tethering ban passed" at the top of your list of New Year's resolutions and get it done before 2013 comes to a close. Learn how and then make your resolution: no more chained dogs!
So are you feeling a little bummed that you missed out on the record-breaking $500 million Powerball jackpot? No need.
As PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk points out in an opinion piece just published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, you've already won the jackpot just by being in the right place at the right time—and of the right species:
When we feel sorry for ourselves, it helps to put things in perspective. It helps to remember that we live in the United States of America, where we have a great many luxuries unknown to most of the world. We don't have to stifle our opinions or get a government-issued pass to travel to another state: We enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of movement. We are entitled to an education. We do not have to starve or freeze: Someone will provide us with food, shelter, and water. If we are down on our luck or out on the street, there are basic support services available from the government and from charities. And even beyond all of that, we have won life's lottery because we have been born human. Whether you believe we lucked out because of karma or divine intervention or by an accident of birth, just imagine for one moment what life would be like if you had been born a mouse in a laboratory, a dog kept outside on a chain all winter, a bear in a barren enclosure in a roadside zoo, or a bird confined to a cage. This is an appeal to all of us who have won life's lottery by being born into the luckiest 0.0001 percent of life-forms: Remember to care and to share, especially during this season of goodwill—Powerball or no Powerball.
When we feel sorry for ourselves, it helps to put things in perspective. It helps to remember that we live in the United States of America, where we have a great many luxuries unknown to most of the world. We don't have to stifle our opinions or get a government-issued pass to travel to another state: We enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of movement. We are entitled to an education. We do not have to starve or freeze: Someone will provide us with food, shelter, and water. If we are down on our luck or out on the street, there are basic support services available from the government and from charities.
And even beyond all of that, we have won life's lottery because we have been born human. Whether you believe we lucked out because of karma or divine intervention or by an accident of birth, just imagine for one moment what life would be like if you had been born a mouse in a laboratory, a dog kept outside on a chain all winter, a bear in a barren enclosure in a roadside zoo, or a bird confined to a cage.
This is an appeal to all of us who have won life's lottery by being born into the luckiest 0.0001 percent of life-forms: Remember to care and to share, especially during this season of goodwill—Powerball or no Powerball.
Read the essay in its entirety here.
Via Philly.com
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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