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 Lindsay Pollard-Post
PETA and other Virginia animal shelters have just submitted to the state the numbers of animals they received, found wonderful homes for, reunited with guardians, had to euthanize, or were able to release back into nature in 2011. Because numbers can't begin to tell each animal's story, let me describe one of those animals: Pepper.
PETA's emergency fieldworkers are on call 24/7 and leap into action even when that means getting up in the middle of the night to drive long distances in response to calls about suffering, abandoned, neglected, and abused animals. Since we refer healthy, highly adoptable animals to traditional, well-trafficked animal shelters, the animals we focus on with our hands-on work are the most abused, neglected, and underserved, usually the "unadoptables."
For months, PETA tried to engage local law-enforcement officials to take action on a monstrous woman who kept a terribly neglected and miserable dog named Pepper, who needed urgent veterinary treatment, penned in her backyard. When PETA found her, Pepper had been languishing in the filthy backyard cage for years and had slowly deteriorated, yet the woman—a nursing assistant—couldn't be bothered to provide her dog with basic vet care and dignity.
Finally, PETA obtained custody of Pepper and whisked her to a veterinarian, who determined that Pepper was suffering from dehydration, "severe emaciation" (the veterinarian's exact words), a severe eye infection that caused both of Pepper's eyes to ooze discharge, a chronic hematoma (blood pocket) on her left ear, chronic dermatitis, a raging flea infestation (more than 500 live fleas were picked off her body), extremely worn-down teeth from biting at her own infected skin, toenails on all four feet so curled inward that they were embedded into the skin (causing an infection), a large mammary tumor, and cancer. For Pepper, euthanasia was a sweet release from the painful existence that she'd endured for so long. PETA's fieldworker stayed with Pepper as she peacefully slipped away from this world.
PETA filed cruelty charges against Angela Williams, Pepper's owner. This month, there was a small measure of justice meted out for Pepper when a judge found Williams guilty of cruelty to animals. The judge said that the woman's treatment of Pepper was as inexcusable as it would be to know that one of her patients had had bed sores for months and do nothing about it.
How we wish that Pepper's heart-wrenching case was unusual! PETA's caseworkers take in scores of animals who are in equally miserable, and even worse, condition almost every single day. For many of these suffering souls, the only kind thing to do is to hold them, make a fuss about them, tell them that they are loved, and let them slip away.
If a dog is kept penned or chained in your neighborhood, please take action. Urge the homeowner to allow the dog indoors and make him or her a part of the family. Offer to take the lonely dog for walks. Report abuse and neglect. Get the dog fixed, vaccinated, and dewormed. Look for other medical needs. Together, let's help wipe out the cruel practice of tossing dogs in the backyard and forgetting about them. Please push for anti-chaining legislation in your city or state.
Written by Michelle Kretzer
You may recall the protesters who took to the center ring at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show a couple of years ago. Well, it happened again earlier today just as the judge stepped up to announce which dog was "Best in Show." Two animal advocates rushed toward the ring with signs reading, "Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs' Chances" and "Have a Heart: Adopt, Don't Buy."
The protesters' point? Members of the Westminster Kennel Club continue to promote and breed "purebred" dogs, while millions of wonderful mixed-breed dogs die in animal shelters every year simply because they don't have a home. Every purebred litter takes homes away from other dogs waiting desperately in shelters as well as increasing the homeless population because one-quarter of purebreds will also be abandoned and end up in shelters.
As long as shelter dogs are dying for lack of a good home, there is no such thing as a "responsible breeder."
Realtor to the stars and Million Dollar Listing celebrity Chad Rogers has a million-dollar idea: Encourage people to adopt their animal companions from animal shelters and donate to PETA's doghouse program. In an exclusive interview, Chad—joined, of course, by his canine family member, Starla—talks with PETA about doing both:
Chad spends his days brokering some of the biggest real-estate deals in Hollywood, but at the end of the day, his dog, Starla, takes center stage in his life. He encourages people to adopt animals rather than buying them because every dog deserves a loving home. "There's thousands and thousands of pets all over the world that need homes," Chad says, "so why not go to a shelter and get a dog? I mean, that's the best thing that you could possibly do for another dog's life."
Starla is a star in her own right, capturing the title of America's Cutest Canine in a national contest. Chad and Starla took the prize money and invested in real estate—for dogs. They donated the entire prize to PETA's "Angels for Animals" program, which provides cold and lonely "backyard dogs" with sturdy, custom-built doghouses.
Will you be an "angel" for a cold "outdoor dog" this winter? If so, tell Chad and Starla about it on Twitter.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show may have gotten wind of our plan to take over its Facebook page because the puppy pimps quickly shut the page down. Were they afraid that people would learn exactly how the annual spectacle's shameless promotion of purebred dogs encourages people to support breeding and deters many from adopting wonderful mixed-breed dogs from animal shelters? Yep, I'd say that was it.
Never ones to be easily silenced, we've created an album of beautiful mixed-breed dogs on our own Facebook page that everyone can share to spread the message that rescued dogs rock.
Given America's reputation as a melting pot, there's something very off-kilter, elitist, and, well, un-American about Westminster's relentless pushing of purebreds. Millions of American mutts die in our nation's crowded pounds and animal shelters every year because of a lack of good homes—even though they're every bit as gorgeous, sweet, and loyal as (and generally healthier than) their purebred cousins.
If you're the proud guardian of a Great American Mutt, we hope you'll tell the world about it by sharing photos of your best bud and these other American originals on Facebook. And if you're considering adding a dog to your household, please think "mutt." Like the guardians of these stars, you'll be glad you did!
Google goes gaga for vegan food, learn how to show bunnies some love this Valentine's Day, and help us ask Florida not to change its slogan to "The Hoarder State." Here's everything in PETA's world that you might have missed this week.
Don't miss any breaking animal rights stories. Hop on over to PETA's Tumblr page for the latest:
Here is sweet Diamond before she received a doghouse from PETA:
And after, with new digs replete with warm straw, fresh water, a grassy new spot to lie in, and a lightweight tie-out:
Wanna make a dog's day?
Written by Alisa Mullins
As usual, the commercial lineup during Super Bowl XLVI featured some real dogs—and we're not just talking about CareerBuilder's tired old re-tread of the "immature chimpanzees" storyline. Yes, the chimpanzees are immature—that's because they're babies who should be with their mothers, not being forced to perform tricks for an ass-backwards company's cruel and unimaginative Super Bowl ad.
As for the dogs, I'm also referring to the actual dogs who appeared in many of this year's Super Bowl ads, including Bud Light's real-life rags-to-riches rescued mutt, Weego, who tirelessly fetches beers every time someone utters Bud's slogan, "Here we go!" "He's a rescue," proclaims Weego's proud guardian, and the ad ends with a plea to visit Bud Light's "Help Rescue Dogs" Facebook page.
We have to throw a penalty flag on Skechers for promoting greyhound racing in its ad featuring a sneakers-clad French bulldog. The ad was trying to be cute, but greyhound racing, with its legions of abandoned, shot, and starved ex-racers, is about as ugly as it gets.
Hyundai fumbled when it used a real cheetah in its ad. Wild animals used for ads often spend most of their lives confined to cages or chains and may be routinely beaten in order to "show them who's boss." Hyundai should have taken a cue from fellow carmaker Kia, whose ad starred a lifelike computer-generated rhinoceros (not to mention a very animated—but not animatronic—Tommy Lee).
Animatronics and CGI technology are so good that it can be hard to tell the real animals from the robots, which is why there's no excuse for dragging real chimpanzees, cheetahs, or other wildlife onto a sound stage.
Lawmakers who are considering legislation based on the philosophy of the bogus "no-kill" movement should look closely at the disastrous results of California's Hayden Law, as Phyllis M. Daugherty details in the first of a series of articles for Opposing Views about limited-admission ("no-kill") shelters.
Dangerous overcrowding is a common problem at no-kill shelters.
As Daugherty makes clear, the Hayden Law was put together by lawyers and aides with no experience running animal shelters. And it shows: The bill did nothing to curb breeding (the real cause of the animal overpopulation crisis); instead, it took away shelters' ability to make the critical decisions needed to keep the animals healthy by controlling the spread of contagious diseases and to give the most adoptable animals the best chance of finding a home through necessary means, including euthanasia of less adoptable animals.
Under the Hayden Law, shelters couldn't euthanize the animals they took in unless the animals were already to the point of death—even if that meant enduring prolonged suffering from diseases or injuries that made them unlikely prospects for adoption. Fortunately, this constraint was recently suspended but not before wreaking havoc on animals, shelters (along with their staffers and volunteers), and state budgets.
California's animal shelters continue to be required to surrender any animal scheduled for euthanasia—no matter how aggressive or otherwise unadoptable—to any group claiming to be a "rescue" organization upon request, which forces them to continue to house the animals until they are claimed (up to two weeks later) and puts adoptive guardians at risk from animals with a known tendency toward aggressive behavior. Daugherty describes how 20 percent of one animal shelter was occupied by pit bulls awaiting pickup by one such organization, leaving less room for animals who might have had a good chance of adoption but instead were euthanized because of a lack of space.
It is tragic and ironic that the law cheered on by misguided "no-kill" advocates like Nathan Winograd ended up costing animals their lives; Daugherty reports that the North County Times, in an article titled, "Too Close for Comfort: New State Law Is Killing Animals," explained how the law was "increasing the number of animals destroyed and reducing adoptions …"
While this is sad, it isn't really surprising. As Daugherty notes, "no-kill" is a misnomer, since the refusal of limited-admission shelters to accept the responsibility of euthanasia means that they fill up quickly, leaving the turned-away animals to be taken to open-admission shelters (merely shifting the burden of euthanasia) or, worse, to be simply abandoned to face disease, traffic, starvation, predators, and other dangers.
Limited-admission shelters also tend to attract animal hoarders who take in far more animals than they can possibly care for. PETA’s undercover investigation of South Carolina's now-defunct Sacred Vision Animal Sanctuary—which was really just a front for a hoarder—produced evidence that finally prompted authorities to rescue hundreds of caged cats who had been suffering through a living nightmare of constant filth, disease, and injuries.
We all want to see the number of euthanized animals decreased, but the Hayden Law debacle shows that this goal can't be accomplished just by making it nearly impossible for shelters to use euthanasia to address the current crisis. As one former shelter volunteer explained after visiting a shelter overburdened because of the restrictions imposed by the Hayden Law, "As I passed the kennels, each crammed with too many dogs and puppies, many of them sick or diseased, I was reminded again that euthanasia is not the worst thing that can happen."
To become a truly no-kill nation, we must first become a no-birth nation by mandating spaying and neutering of dogs and cats to stop the flow of unwanted litters into our shelters. If you are concerned about euthanasia, you'll do far more good by adopting a dog from an open-admission shelter or sponsoring a spay/neuter procedure for a cat than by supporting a limited-admission shelter.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has announced plans to completely repeal the ill-advised Hayden Law, and let's hope he succeeds—for the animals' sake.
After discovering that a family of stray dogs had taken refuge at a vacant property in Texas, a kind-hearted soul contacted the landlord to get permission to go in and remove the seriously ill and injured animals. But when local law-enforcement officials and rescue groups were unable to help—no animal shelter serves the county—the dogs' defender called PETA.
PETA's cruelty caseworker persuaded an animal shelter in a neighboring county to take in the dogs and found someone willing to drive more than an hour to transport the two dogs and five puppies to the animal shelter.
Within minutes of their arrival, however, four of the desperately ill puppies died. And one of the adult dogs—suffering from a severe head injury as a result of having been kicked by a horse—was euthanized. But the fifth puppy pulled through and is being fostered by a shelter staffer, and the other adult dog, who had been suffering from severe mange, has been treated and adopted into a loving home.
Life for homeless dogs and cats is dangerous and often deadly. Please, if you see stray animals, never look the other way—do whatever you can to get them off the streets and into a safe place.
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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