Written by Michelle Sherrow
Some people may know about PETA only from what they see on TV or read online or in the gossip mags, but celebrities aren't the only stars who work for PETA. I'm talking about our hardworking superstar spay-and-neuter clinic staffers, of course.
Six—sometimes seven!—days a week, PETA's mobile clinics provide animals in Virginia and North Carolina with free to low-cost sterilization surgeries. In April alone, the mobile clinics spayed or neutered 717 animals, and PETA's Community Animal Project fieldworkers even transported 29 more to and from the clinics. Here are just a few of the lucky animals "SNIP'ed" by our fabulous medical team this month:
Fluffy
Blackie Jr.
Layla
Missy
Charlotte
You can help end the animal homelessness crisis by volunteering at a spay-and-neuter clinic in your area or offering to transport an animal belonging to someone without transportation to a spay or neuter appointment.
Mexican superstar Kate del Castillo, named one of the “25 most influential women” by People en Español, is just as fierce off-screen protecting animals as she is on-screen in her Telemundo hit La Reina del Sur and in the upcoming thriller No Good Deed. Yesterday, she urged all guardians to be their animals' biggest defender when she unveiled her new PETA ad, which reads, in Spanish, "Fiercely Protect Your Animals."
As Spanish and English-speaking media swarmed around, the upbeat crowd got their own miniature versions of Kate's ad to take home, complete with dog-care tips on the back, including advice to spay and neuter and never leave animals to fend for themselves.
And since May 10 is Mother's Day in Mexico, as well as the adoptiversary of Kate's rescued dog, Lola, it was the perfect day for Kate and Lola to celebrate their relationship by fostering other mother-dogter bonds.
Enter to win an autographed copy of Kate's ad!
Update: The correct answer is that during March, PETA's three mobile clinics spayed or neutered a whopping 882 animals. Thanks for participating in our contest and for your generous donations that keep the mobile clinics running.
Every day, PETA's fleet of mobile veterinary clinics provides animals in Virginia and North Carolina with no-cost to low-cost spay-and-neuter surgeries. If you can correctly guess how many animals PETA "snipped" in March, you could win a dog-pampering set, complete with a new bowl, a Kong, treats, toys, and Ingrid E. Newkirk's book Let's Have a Dog Party!
Meet Bridgette and Lucy, just two of the animals who won't be "littering," thanks to their low-cost surgeries in March:
Submit your guesstimates for how many animals PETA snipped in March in the comments section. The person whose guess comes closest to the actual number will win.
Good luck!
The person whose answer comes closest to the actual number of animals PETA spayed and neutered in March will be the winner. In the event of a tie, a random drawing will be held to determine the winner. The contest will end on April 18, and we'll contact the winner on April 20. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
Written by Jeff Mackey
Some folks have wondered what the dog and cat (and occasionally lizard and rat and seagull and chicken) rooms at PETA headquarters look like. Well, they don't usually look like this …
"Who? Me?"
… but this one did just a few hours after the little dog seen here, Precious—a dachshund mix—arrived for a pajama party. Everything seemed quiet after she had been taken for a long, long walk, but by 5:30 a.m., the couch was down to the wooden frame. Who'd have guessed that such a little dog could wreak so much havoc?
Dogs often tear things up when they feel bored, frustrated, or anxious. If your home contains a canine demolition crew, make sure their need for stimulation and attention is being met. Provide plenty of playtime, tummy rubs, and walks (a reputable dog walker can help when you can't get home yourself), and please don't crate them—after all, they're dogs, not cargo.
Sometimes, though, you have to cut your losses—literally: The sofa had to be chopped in half with a chain saw and thrown out. While Precious was being spayed in one of PETA's mobile clinics, staffers were at the Hope House thrift shop picking up a comfy new (or, rather, gently used) couch. And, hey, at least she had fun!
Want to help animals in need—and, perhaps, replace a shredded sofa or two? Join PETA.
Yep, you read that right.
We want to thank Kanye West for the shout-out to PETA in his new song, "Theraflu." While the aptly named tune does make us want to reach for an over-the-counter remedy as Kanye opines about his inexplicable penchant for slinging tortured dead animals across his back, the song did make #tellPETA trend on Twitter worldwide, giving us a great opportunity to educate people about the revolting cruelty of the fur industry. #TellKanye that 60 beautiful minks have to die to make one ugly coat.
Compassionate rapper Waka Flocka Flame could give Ye some pointers—his "Only Cowards Abuse Animals" PETA ad appears in this month's YRB magazine. (Last month, the mag featured Chris "The Birdman" Andersen's colorful anti-fur ad.)
The cover of the May issue of Vanity Fair features the fair face of fur foe Grace Park, looking as stunning in white as she did in her PETA "Save the Seals" ad.
Fellow seal savior Christian Serratos tweeted her support for PETA's campaign this week: "The Canadian seal slaughter has begun. Pls help @PETA stop the bloody massacre NOW!"
Mickey Rourke saved a stray dog he found on a movie set in Romania. Now Foxy has a great new home with Rourke and his other beloved pups, including Jaws, who stars with Rourke in his animal birth control ad:
Photo: Faubel Christensen
When Pamela Anderson visited Turkey and noticed that the country's streets were also teeming with strays, she went on a mission to persuade officials there to adopt an aggressive spay-and-neuter campaign.
Ryan Gosling was a savior for a woman who was almost hit by a taxi in New York City. His lifesaving heroics for people and advocacy for chickens make Ryan a heartthrob with a heart of gold.
Lance Armstrong seems to be made of steel, and now he's living strong thanks to eating mostly vegan foods.
Maybe he'll start whipping up homemade meals from the Candle Café like Christina Applegate.
A vegan eatery led to love for Alec Baldwin, who got engaged this week to Hilaria Thomas, whom he met at Pure Food and Wine.
Christina Aguilera took both her loves—her boyfriend and her son—to Cirque du Soleil, scoring herself a thank-you card from PETA for supporting a circus with only human performers.
To keep up with what your favorite stars are doing for animals, follow @PETA on Twitter.
Can DSK's experience be used for good? Dominique Strauss-Kahn may no longer preside over the International Monetary Fund or be running for the highest office in France, but PETA France is banking on his ability to illustrate one pitfall of having unprotected sex:
DSK might not have considered "spay-and-neuter advocate" to be his next move, but no one can argue that he isn't in the perfect position to let people know about the harmful effects of tomcatting—such as animal overpopulation.
This time, perhaps something good can come from a sex scandal.
On one balmy day in March, PETA's "SNIP-Mobile" (Spay and Neuter Immediately, Please!) and our Holland M. Ware mobile spay-and-neuter clinic "snipped" 46 cats and 10 dogs, preventing hundreds of kittens and puppies from being born!
Multiply those numbers by hundreds of days in a single year, and it's easy to see how PETA's no-cost to low-cost spay-and-neuter clinics have prevented the births of hundreds of thousands of unwanted animals since the debut of our first clinic in 2001 (we have sterilized more than 80,000 animals so far!). The mobile clinics travel to low-income neighborhoods throughout southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina to reach animals whose guardians can't afford spay-and-neuter surgeries or don't have transportation.
Help by always spaying or neutering your animal companions and signing PETA's pledge to end animal homelessness today.
Advertisers have rushed away from Rush Limbaugh faster than the shock jock can say, "Light me a stogie." At last count, 49 advertisers had pulled their spots from The Rush Limbaugh Show after he called Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke "a ****" and "a prostitute" for testifying before Congress in favor of insurance coverage of birth control pills. He later made a guarded apology.
So how might Rush make up for lost advertising? PETA has an idea. We've asked Limbaugh to run this "Spay Today!" ad spot pro bono during his radio show:
Spaying and neutering dogs and cats is birth control that everyone should be able to agree on. Limbaugh could use some positive media coverage—and dogs and cats can always use some positive steps toward ending animal homelessness. Here's hoping Rush rushes to accept PETA's offer.
A front group for the meat, puppy mill, tobacco, and alcohol industries as well as other industries that use and abuse animals is desperately trying to thwart animal protection efforts by publicly attacking PETA. The group got its comeuppance on Jane Velez-Mitchell's show Monday night, when the HLN host invited PETA Senior Vice President of Communications Lisa Lange to talk about the deceptive group's underhanded attacks. Here is some of the interview:
If the meat, dairy, puppy mill, and entertainment industries and their shills were genuinely concerned about the plight of homeless dogs and cats, they would actually do something about it, as PETA is, by conducting massive spay-and-neuter initiatives and encouraging people to adopt animals from animal shelters instead of buying them from businesses that churn out new puppies and kittens to add to the mix.
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!
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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