PETA's Sex Talk Could Replace Bristol Palin's Canceled Abstinence Talk in St. Louis

Group Aims to Air Ad Promoting Zero Pregnancies—for Cats and Dogs

For Immediate Release:
February 2, 2011

Contact:
Kristin Richards 757-622-7382

St. Louis -- In the wake of student protests and the cancelation of Bristol Palin's scheduled appearance at Washington University to talk about abstinence, PETA has sent a letter to the campus's TV station, WUTV, asking station staff to air PETA's "Sex Talk" ad promoting a lifetime of abstinence for cats and dogs by having them spayed or neutered. The ad, which features a couple who encourage their teenage daughter to go out and get pregnant, makes a satirical comparison to teen sex to highlight the millions of cats and dogs who face an uncertain future in severely crowded animal shelters. According to news reports, Palin had been scheduled to give her presentation during the university's Sexual Responsibility Week, but many students objected to paying her out of student-generated funds.

"Preventing unwanted pregnancies can be as simple as having a talk with your kids; preventing unwanted pregnancies in cats and dogs is as simple as having them spayed or neutered," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "No one should be bringing more animals into the world when millions of animals are literally dying for lack of good homes." 

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA's letter to WUTV follows.

February 2, 2011

Station Manager
WUTV

Dear Station Manager:

On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters, including thousands in Missouri, I'm writing to ask you to run PETA's lifesaving public service announcement (PSA), called "Sex Talk," on WUTV. We heard about the controversy surrounding Bristol Palin's now-canceled appearance to talk about abstinence during Washington University's "Sexual Responsibility Week." Our "Sex Talk" PSA would provide students with an important message about sexual responsibility and abstinence when it comes to cats and dogs.

PETA's 30-second spot features a couple who encourage their teenage daughter to get sexually active. When the horrified girl asks, "But what if I get pregnant?" the parents urge her to "pop out all the kids you can … we can leave them in the shelter, dump them in the streets—whatever." The ad concludes with a message about how to stop so many animals from being euthanized in animal shelters: "Parents shouldn't act this way. Neither should people with dogs and cats. Always spay or neuter." To view the ad, click here.

An estimated 6 to 8 million dogs and cats end up at animal shelters in the United States each year—and up to 4 million of them must be put to death for a lack of good homes. PETA is pushing animal birth control because one unspayed female cat and her offspring, if left unsterilized, can create a whopping 420,000 cats in just seven years, and one unneutered male dog can father limitless litters. Unwanted dogs and cats who never make it to animal shelters are often abandoned to fend for themselves on the streets, where they are often subjected to cruelty and suffer from starvation, diseases, or injuries.

It's hard to stop college students from having sex, but we can all help fight the companion-animal overpopulation crisis by getting our dogs and cats spayed and neutered. Please contact me for more information at your earliest convenience. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President