Ever thought animals could use a guardian angel? Well, they actually have at least three: Ali Morris, Daphna Nachminovitch, and Amy Rhodes. PETA’s angels seek justice by writing letters, making phone calls, sending information to judges and prosecutors, and providing assistance to PETA supporters who want to fight animal cruelty. Our caseworkers can’t perform miracles, but they come pretty close. Ali, Amy, and Daphna handle thousands of cases a year, dozens simultaneously, and they get results. Here is just a sampling of their victories:

The Case of the Shelter Shootings
The woman on the other end of the line had shock, horror, and disbelief in her voice. On a cool April evening, Pat Fox had spotted the Colchester County, Nova Scotia, animal control truck at the town dump. She heard a gunshot and then a dog screaming in pain. After the truck left, she crept forward and discovered the dog lying dead in a pool of blood.

Pat learned that shooting dogs was standard shelter policy and called PETA and told Ali her story. Ali immediately wrote to the county administrator, informing him that shooting was not an acceptable way to handle unwanted animals and cited the American Veterinary Medical Association. She sent copies of her letter to the County Council.

One councilor was so upset that he alerted a local newspaper. A media maelstrom ensued—Pat and Ali were deluged with calls from people coming forward with similar stories.
The county administrator announced a moratorium on the shootings.

With Ali’s guidance, Pat circulated a petition, posted an alert on the Web and wrote a letter to the editor of her local newspaper, generating hundreds of petition signatures and letters to county officials. Pat rallied citizens to speak at County Council meetings.

On June 15, the council meeting room was packed. Pat’s troops condemned the shootings and the council voted—unanimously—to end the shootings!

“Pat was tireless,” says Ali. “Without her active role, I doubt we would have won.”

A Tiger's Tale
It’s only a kitten. That’s what George Allan Pettingill of Russellville, Arkansas, thought when he hurled the tiny animal out the window of his moving car. The kitten slammed into the pavement and lay bleeding from her nose and mouth. Despite the efforts of veterinarian Tommy Richardson, “Tiger” died a week later.

Pettingill told police that he had thought throwing the kitten “would be funny.” He seemed scornful of the charges against him.

Local newspaper reporter Mark Scott didn’t think it was funny. He called Daphna for her comments and then wrote a series of articles about the deed. Daphna got in touch with the city prosecutor, Don Bourne, and pushed for Pettingill to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. She also alerted local PETA members and posted an alert on our Web site. The prosecutor’s office received more than 300 letters. Pettingill was convicted of cruelty to animals and sentenced to 120 days in jail, one year’s probation, a $1,110 fine and veterinary costs.

Said the judge: "This animal was sacrificed for no more than the sake of a crude joke. It takes a particularly callous, cruel, and dangerous mindset to take an animal as helpless as a kitten and throw [her] from a moving vehicle.

Said the judge,"...The Defendant’s conduct is intolerable in a civilized society which respects all forms of life as worthy of protection.”

Flea Market Fiasco
People went to Bill’s Flea Market in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in search of bargains—but what they found was a bad deal for animals.

Among the knick-knacks, used furniture, and odds and ends, swap-shoppers reported seeing puppies from Ralph Peele’s “Carolina K-9 Ranch” confined to cages in the hot sun for sale to anyone who could haggle the hardest.

Upon receiving complaints from concerned citizens about the puppies, many of whom were reportedly sick, Amy researched Peele’s operation and provided documentation of cruelty to law enforcement agencies, including the Virginia Beach Bureau of Animal Control and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Amy also wrote to the commissioner of revenue’s office when she discovered that Peele was operating without a required business license.

She contacted the owner of Bill’s Flea Market and the Better Business Bureau after receiving complaints that Peele was peddling underage puppies and puppies suffering from parvovirus, ear mites, fleas, and upper respiratory infections.

Next, Amy sent a mailing to all the PETA members in the area, asking them to contact the flea-market owner and urge him to banish Ralph Peele. Then she contacted a local news team, which aired a two-part exposé. Alarmed by the bad publicity, the flea market finally sent Peele packing!

“When all else fails, sometimes you have to take your case to the media,” says Amy. “The court of public opinion is often the most effective!”