After observing a large number of dogs who were living in filthy conditions, chained, breeding, fighting, or confined to hot areas—and getting no help from local animal control—a caring person notified PETA, and one of its caseworkers jumped into action.

The miserable pups were covered with fleas and living without veterinary care or socialization. Two of the dogs were kept inside a trailer that had no air conditioning or any other kind of ventilation. One was significantly underweight. Those responsible for the sad conditions of the dogs clearly didn't care about their welfare, so the caseworker persuaded them to surrender the animals and arranged for an area resident to pick up the 13 dogs and carry them to a reputable local animal shelter—from which one has already been adopted into a loving home.

What You Can Do

PETA will continue to monitor the situation to make sure the dogs' former owners don't acquire more animals, but this case again illustrates the importance of speaking up when you see animals in trouble and being persistent until they get the help they so desperately need.

A New York state man was shocked to see a tiny kitten drag himself into his yard by his two front paws. The lower half of the kitten's body was smashed and limp, so he had likely been struck by a car and the driver had failed to stop and check on him. There is no way to know how long the kitten had been suffering, dragging his broken body.

The man called local authorities, but they showed little interest in helping the injured animal. Frustrated, he called PETA for help. We contacted local animal-control officials, but because it was after hours, they told us they couldn't send an officer out until the next day. We persisted, stressing how badly injured the kitten was and how imperative it was that he get immediate help. Animal control relented, and within an hour of the man's worried call, the kitten was mercifully euthanized and freed from his agony.

Sometimes one hour is all it takes to save an animal from immense suffering. It may require persistence and patience, but you will prevail if you refuse to take "No" for an answer. And if all else fails, call PETA. 

For animals, a summer romance can mean adding to the overpopulation crisis. But after July, nearly 800 animals near PETA's Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters won't have to worry about "getting in trouble"—like Rizzo. 

PETA's mobile veterinary clinics "snipped" 794 animals, including 154 whose families couldn't afford spay and neuter surgeries and 40 who couldn't get to the veterinarian without a ride there and back.

One patient, Trixie, lives in an area where there are no low-cost spay-and-neuter services available. Her guardian, a grandmother who is single-handedly caring for all her grandchildren, was ecstatic to be able to get Trixie spayed.

Not only did Coco the poodle get spayed, she also got the full beauty treatment. Staffers removed the painful mats from her fur, and now she and her happy guardian are sitting pretty.

Want to show animals some love this summer? Start by signing the pledge to end animal homelessness. 

While we don't know exactly how Emma's life began, her story starts the way that too many dogs' stories do: She was wandering the streets, homeless, thin, petrified, and alone. Her luck changed when a PETA Community Animal Project (CAP) staffer found her on a neighbor's front stoop, soaking wet and trembling, and cajoled the terrified dog into a fenced-in yard. Eventually—with lots of patience and tempting food—the CAP staffer got the pup leashed and into the car.

She was rail-thin from scavenging for scraps on the streets and was so terrified of people that she cowered and shook when anyone came near. But after a few days of hearty eating, a spay surgery, and other veterinary care—and a lot of TLC from her foster family—Emma began to emerge from her shell.

As luck would have it, a wonderful family whose dog had just passed away was searching for a new canine companion, and when they met the blossoming 2-year-old, it was love at first sight. As she headed to her new home, Emma seemed to understand that her days of being homeless and unwanted were long gone.

Now, Emma is a different dog from the one PETA first rescued: adventurous, confident, and full of life. She spends so much time perfecting her doggie paddle that she could be training for the Olympics, and her list of "likes" reads like a personal ad: swimming, boating, going to the dog park, running, and taking long walks. But little Emma doesn't need a personal ad—she's already found the loves of her life.

After residents complained about a smell coming from a neighboring apartment, the building's management company left several notices and tried to contact the tenant. But after getting no response, company staffers entered the apartment, where they found this abandoned puppy, less than 5 months old, who had been left tied to a radiator. So they contacted PETA.

PETA's caseworker quickly contacted local animal control officials and asked them to pick up the dog right away. The poor pup was in good condition, but her tether was very short. She was surrounded by her own waste and had no food or water. The puppy was brought to a local animal shelter, where she was given veterinary care and was spayed. Now she's been adopted by a loving family, who will never leave her behind—and in return, she'll give them her whole heart.

So that's the happy ending, and here's the moral of the story: This puppy could have easily starved to death if apartment management hadn't helped by contacting PETA. If you ever find an animal in need, speak up.

As the sky-high temperatures across the country make clear, it's summer. But it's not vacation season for the staffers of PETA's mobile clinics division, who hit the road year-round to take low-cost to no-cost spay and neuter surgeries and other veterinary services to animals in need.

Too Hot to Be in Heat

We kicked off the summer in fine fashion—in June alone, the mobile clinics spayed and neutered 359 cats (84 of whom were feral) and 302 dogs, including 30 pit bulls. Here are some more stats to break it down even further:

• 127 of the animals were prepubescent, so they'll never reproduce and add to the overpopulation crisis.
• 105 surgeries were subsidized for indigent families.
• 32 animals were given door-to-door rides by PETA staff to and/or from our clinics.

In total, 661 animals were altered in June alone, including Booboo, whose guardian contacted PETA seeking help with flea prevention and grooming. He initially planned to breed this little Pomeranian, but when PETA offered to groom her for free, he gladly accepted the offer to have her spayed at the same time.

Another animal who caught the summer spay-and-neuter wave was Daisy, who was just about to come into heat for the first time. Fortunately, her guardians did not want that to happen, so PETA spayed her before she could have any puppies.

What You Can Do

Long summer days are the ideal time to help make life brighter for dogs and cats by pledging to end animal homelessness. One great way to start is to support PETA's work to address the homeless animal crisis—and you don't even have to go out in the heat to do it!

A PETA staffer walking to the Los Angeles office one morning spotted an opossum sitting in the middle of the road, bleeding from her mouth. Several men were jabbing her with sticks.

Look closely: Even when injuries aren’t obvious, an animal may be suffering.

With the help of several coworkers, the staffer cleared everyone from the area. Then she gathered up the opossum and drove to the nearest animal shelter so that the injured animal could be assessed. Shelter staff determined that the opossum was a mother carrying a pouch full of babies and that her injuries were quite severe: Euthanasia was deemed the most merciful option for both the mother and her babies. The staffer's speedy response saved this opossum family from being hit by another car, being further tormented by cruel people, or suffering and slowly dying from their injuries or from heatstroke, dehydration, or starvation.

If you spot an injured animal on the road, please don't leave the animal to suffer. If you can safely collect the animal, transport him or her to the nearest animal shelter or vet's office for assessment and/or euthanasia. If you don't think that you can contain the animal, call the police or animal control, stress the urgency of the situation, and stay with the animal until help arrives. If all local options fail, please call PETA.

A former PETA staffer in Seattle was on her way to work when she spotted a pigeon whose leg appeared to be broken. When the pigeon didn't try to fly away and let her gently wrap him up in a sweatshirt, she knew he also likely had other injuries or hadn't been able to forage for food and was weak from hunger or illness.

The former staffer called PETA, and we put her in touch with a local wildlife rehabilitator, to whom she rushed the injured bird.

It took only a few minutes out of her day to get help for the bird, and she saved him from suffering for days or even weeks from his injuries and possibly starving, being killed by a predator, or being hit by a car.

Her actions serve as a reminder to all of us that we are never "too busy" to help an animal who is in need.

Our servicemembers aren't the only ones who make sacrifices for our freedom. Their companion animals often endure frequent moves, months of not seeing one of their beloved guardians, and all the other hardships that come with life in the military. To celebrate Independence Day, PETA honored the loyal four-legged companions of servicemembers in Southeastern Virginia by offering to spay or neuter and vaccinate them for just $4 each.

Partnering with the Virginia Beach SPCA (VBSPCA), one of our mobile veterinary clinics performed the spay and neuter surgeries, and the VBSPCA administered the vaccinations. Here are just a few photos from this event, after which many military mutts and freedom felines can now declare their independence from unwanted litters and many health problems: 

Although Philbert was a full-grown tortoise in her 30s, she was being kept in a tiny enclosure at an elementary school in New Jersey and was serving as the "school pet."

While even tiny turtles deserve better than a tank, Philbert's life was just a shell of the one she ought to have had. A substitute teacher got wind of the fact that the school was looking for a new home for the tortoise, and she called PETA to ask if we could help. 

A wonderful sanctuary, Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation in San Antonio, was happy to accept the ravishing reptile. And as luck would have it, a reliable activist in Philbert's area was already going to be making the drive to San Antonio and agreed to a reptilian road trip.

Now, in place of her tank, Philbert has woods, grassland, and a pond to traverse and explore. And in place of hundreds of children handling her, she has the companionship of a male tortoise who has taken quite a shine to her. Tortoises are natural plant lovers, and for Philbert, everything is coming up roses.