Fewer exotic animals such as hedgehogs, macaws, and lizards will spend their lives locked in cages as "pets," and it all started with a kind woman who wouldn't give up until she got help for a sick, dying ferret in an Arkansas pet store. The woman repeatedly asked the store manager to let her take the ferret home for rehabilitation, but the manager refused. Finally, she called PETA for help. We pushed animal control to check on the ferret, and the store's owner quickly surrendered the ill animal.

PETA's caseworker explained to the store's owner that animals suffer in mass-breeding facilities and animal dealers' warehouses before they end up in pet stores. The owner agreed to watch PETA's undercover video footage from the now-defunct exotic-animal warehouse U.S. Global Exotics, Inc., and the massive ferret factory Triple F Farms, Inc. He was so moved by the plight of wild-born exotic animals—who are often abducted from their families and stuffed into luggage to be smuggled into the U.S.—that he agreed never to buy or sell these animals again.

This victory is an encouragement to us all always to report cruelty and never to miss an opportunity to educate others about how animals suffer in the pet trade and other cruel industries. You never know whose mind you might change!

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Ducks and geese in North America are a bit safer, now that "celebrity" hunter Jeff Foiles has been banned from hunting for three years in Canada and two in the U.S. following convictions for cruelty to animals.

Foiles, who sells videos of his hunts online, was reportedly seen in one of his taped hunts holding up a wounded duck, wrenching the duck's neck, and opening the bird's mouth while making quacking sounds. According to a news report, "In another hunt videotaped the next day, Foiles manipulates a wounded duck for four minutes, whacking it on the head with a duck call, covering its head with an empty shell box and playing peek-a-boo. He later places his fingers over the bird's nostrils and holds its beak closed while asking 'Is this how you want to die?'"

schrodingersduck | cc by 2.0

Reportedly, a wildlife expert testified during Foiles' hearing that the birds he abused were "conscious, alive and suffering extreme pain and stress."

Considering that people who find it fun to torture and kill animals often take their issues out on human victims as well, we should all be thankful that Foiles is spending 13 months behind bars.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

After buying a dog over the Internet sight unseen for a staggering $7,500, a Long Island man added insult to injury by sending the dog on a terrifying 3,000-mile journey back to the breeder in Washington state less than a week later. The dog, who was likely confused and disoriented after the initial cross-country flight, had failed to adjust immediately to her strange new environment, so the man essentially returned her like a sweater he'd ordered from L.L.Bean, despite the fact that the breeder refused to take the dog back and reportedly said that he would not pick her up at the airport. (The breeder did eventually claim the dog but only after she'd been forced to spend the night at an airport boarding facility.)

The dog buyer could have saved himself a lot of trouble—and the dog a lot of trauma—if he had just taken his family to the local animal shelter, where they could have chosen from among a plethora of great dogs. But considering that he was dumb enough to hand over an exorbitant amount of money to a breeding operation that exacerbates the animal homelessness crisis, allowed the dog only six days to settle into her new home, and was inconsiderate enough to ship her off to an unknown fate in an airplane's dangerous cargo hold after tiring of her, any responsible shelter worker would now lock the doors to this man.

But for those of us who don't view animals as disposable accessories, animal shelters are the perfect place to make a permanent love connection.

Written by Michelle Sherrow 

As part of its new sculpture park, the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) at the University of Rochester is planning to install a piece by Tom Otterness, who notoriously purchased a dog from an animal shelter, tied him to a fence, and shot him to death as part of a 1977 "art" film. Although he has since apologized, he reportedly has yet to make any meaningful gesture of regret, such as donating time or money to a reputable animal shelter.

Public outcry has led to the cancellation or postponement of other Otterness sculptures, including a planned New York Public Library sculpture that was canceled after PETA protested. So far, MAG has ignored the most recent protests and plans to proceed with Otterness' commission.

PETA is urging people to avoid visiting MAG so that the gallery will get the message that killing animals is always cruel and that animal abusers should be held accountable. Instead, we encourage people to check out artists such as Miru Kim and Nafe Nanfeng as well as art collective Neozoon, all of whom use their work to help stop cruelty to animals.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

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:

• Hearing animals but rarely seeing them—or seeing many different animals (especially cats) in the windows
• Windows kept closed with the shades always drawn, to hide the hoard
• Flies on the inside of windows
• Strong, persistent odors of waste and decay
• Homes that look abandoned from the outside—unkempt and unlived in
• Homeowners who refuse to open the door to visitors, instead meeting people outside
• Dogs with bacterial infections, bite wounds, and skin conditions, such as mange
• Yards that are overgrown, hiding the home 

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

A concerned resident called PETA after seeing this feral cat. Take one look at his photo, and you can see why.

A PETA supporter went to the scene and was able to trap the cat and take him to a veterinarian.

In addition to the cat's obviously horrific ear wounds, he was suffering from an aggressive and painful form of cancer that had reduced this formerly gorgeous cat to a weak, bedraggled skeleton. The veterinarian immediately put the suffering cat out of his misery, giving him more comfort in his final moments than he had likely known for much of his life.

Unless they are rescued, as this poor cat was, feral cats do not die gently—they incur ghastly injuries and infections, contract painful diseases, are poisoned and shot by people who don't want them in their yards, are hit by cars, are attacked by wildlife, and so on. Easily treatable conditions for cats who live in our homes, like urinary tract infections and flea infestations, can become miserable and even deadly for cats who cannot be handled.

If there are feral cats in your neighborhood, please don't prolong their agony by simply putting out food and hoping for the best. Trap them and bring them into your home (but be aware that some feral cats never become tame and spend their lives in hiding, afraid of you and any noise); take them to a reputable open-admission shelter (not a so-called "no kill" shelter that warehouses frightened, unadoptable animals in cages for years); or take them to a veterinarian for a peaceful release from a world that has turned its back on them. I've personally done all three, and this last option, while the hardest on me, was by far the easiest on the cat.

Written by Alisa Mullins

This sweet's dog owners may have tossed her a bit of food, but that is where their kindness stopped. Neglected and relegated to life at the end of a chain, this tiny Chihuahua mix suffered every day and night without shelter from whatever the weather threw at her. Her fur was painfully matted and she seemed desperate for a kind word or touch.

A neighbor, desperate to help the dog, called PETA for help. We got on the blower and reported this wanton neglect to the local humane society and law enforcement officials, who both paid visits to the house. The pressure worked, and her owners put up a sign advertising a free dog.  

Our complainant arranged for a friend to go by, and the owners handed the dog over without a second thought. Her sentence in chains was over. Our complainant’s friend insisted on picking up the tab for a good grooming for the dog and a much-needed visit to the vet. When she found out that the little dog was infected with heartworms, which would have been fatal, she knew she would foster the dog until treatment was complete. Now this little miss is reveling in the love of her foster mom and the cozy indoor life that she deserves and, who knows, foster homes have a way of becoming permanent ones.

No dog deserves a life on a chain. Please read PETA’s advice on how to help a chained dog in your neighborhood.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

PETA is offering up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who apparently mutilated a dog with a machete in a southern Texas town last month. The poor dog (renamed "Angel" by rescuers) "somehow escaped" from his family's yard and was found the next morning suffering from deep lacerations on his head, face, back, and feet after apparently being hacked with a machete at least six times. Angel's tail had been nearly severed and had to be amputated.
 

If you have any information on this case, please contact PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department immediately. People who hurt animals are cowards who seek out "easy victims," and they often take their issues out on humans too. And for the love of dogs, cats, and other animal companions, please ensure that your animals don't end up like Angel—keep them safe indoors and never let them out of your sight when they are outside.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Our Cruelty Casework Division deals with reports of cruelty to animals every day, responding to literally thousands of instances of animal abuse in a year by writing to prosecutors, informing judges about the link between animal abuse and violence against humans, and sending out fieldworkers to respond to reports of animals in need. When I come across a case like this one, I honestly don’t know how they manage it.

Here’s the story that was reported to one of PETA’s caseworkers. We’re asking the District Attorney to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law, so if you’d like to help us out with that, please click here:

Christopher Alessi will be answering to these charges in court this year. As always with these cases, if he’s convicted we need to make sure that he spends a long time in prison, and that he’s never allowed near animals again.