Freezing Temperatures Prompt PETA to Offer Free Straw Bedding for Dogs

Group to Distribute Coupons for Free Rabies Shots and Offer Discounts on Spay-and-Neuter Surgeries

For Immediate Release:
January 19, 2010

Contact:
Caleb Wheeldon 757-622-7382

Gloucester Point, Va. -- As Gloucester-area residents try to cope with freezing temperatures, PETA will be out giving away free straw for use as doghouse bedding for dogs who live outside in extreme weather. While PETA strongly encourages people to bring their dogs and other animal companions indoors at this time of year in order to protect the animals' health and ensure their safety, reports of shivering dogs and last-minute calls for help have prompted the giveaway:

When:  Saturday, January 23, starting at 12 noon and continuing until all the straw is given away

Where:  The Used Car Company parking lot, 1535 George Washington Memorial Hwy., Gloucester Point

PETA will also distribute "$10 off" coupons for spay-and-neuter surgeries that are available at its low-cost Dog Doc mobile veterinary clinic and will hand out coupons for free rabies vaccinations. Since the downturn in the economy, Dog Doc has regularly helped Gloucester-area residents by providing sterilization surgeries, vaccinations, flea treatments, deworming treatments, and other vital animal-companion services at little to no charge to qualifying animal guardians. PETA also builds sturdy doghouses and delivers them free of charge to needy dogs.

"We hope that people will come and fetch the free straw so that dogs kept outside have at least some help in surviving these freezing winter nights," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "In nature, dogs run freely and dig dens to keep warm and dry, but chained or kenneled dogs have no way to escape the cold, rain, and snow."

For more information, please visit PETA's Web site HelpingAnimals.com.