For Immediate Release:
December 12, 2008

Contact:
Lindsay Rajt

Wilmington, Del. -- Despite PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's letter to Vice President-elect Joe Biden urging him to set a good example and adopt a dog from an animal shelter, the Bidens have reportedly purchased a dog from a Pennsylvania breeder. In order to inform residents of Biden's home state that buying from a breeder kills a shelter dog's chance of being adopted, PETA will air its controversial "Buy One, Get One Killed" ad on TV stations serving the Wilmington area. The ad lays the blame for the deaths of deserving "pound pups" squarely at the feet of those who choose to patronize pet shops, puppy mills, and breeders. These businesses bring more and more litters into the world for profit--while animal shelters have to euthanize millions of animals each year.

In the TV spot, right after a family buys a new dog, a breeder throws a body bag onto his desk and announces, "Here's the dog you just killed." He explains to the horrified family, "When you buy a dog from a breeder, you kill a dog at the shelter." The ad concludes with a sobering statistic: "Four million unadopted animals are killed in shelters every year. Adopt. Never Buy."

To view the ad, click here.

"By paying money to a dog breeder, the Bidens have in effect signed a death warrant for a loving dog at an animal shelter who would have been thrilled to go home with them," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "Mr. Biden ran for office on a promise of change, but he's missed the boat by ignoring this country's animal overpopulation crisis."

For more information and to read PETA's letter to Vice President-elect Joe Biden, please visit PETA's blog or click here.