Dog Abandoned Near Highway Prompts PETA Video Warning About Dangers of No-Kill Policies

For Immediate Release:
November 5, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Following reports that a dog was found tied to a fence near a busy highway along with a note that her abandoner couldn’t afford the “surrender fee” charged by a local animal shelter, PETA’s new urgent video warning is hitting local airwaves, showing the deadly consequences of shelters chasing the “no-kill” label and refusing to take in animals in need. The gut-wrenching spot highlights a scenario that has become common across the U.S. as animals are being turned away from shelters and calls about stray, suffering, and dying animals are being deliberately ignored, all so shelters can be considered “no-kill” and boast of misleadingly high “live release rates.”

The Newark animal shelter where the abandoned dog was ultimately brought has admitted that it has a “waiting list” for owners desperate to surrender an animal—which stretches into February 2026. Earlier this year in Pennsylvania, a man was reportedly arrested after authorities discovered a dog at his home dead from an attack by 10 other severely neglected, emaciated dogs at his property. The suspect told officers that he “knew this would happen” and had been trying to surrender the animals to area shelters—which follow “no-kill” policies”—and had even made threats to various agencies in the hopes that they would come collect the animals.

“‘No-kill’ policies harm communities, leaving the most vulnerable animals suffering and abandoned on the streets,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “That’s why PETA urges animal shelters to accept all animals in need without fees, waitlists, or other barriers—and everyone can help by always getting their animals spayed or neutered.”

The only way to end the companion animal overpopulation crisis is to stop breeding more animals, which starts with legislative restrictions on breeding and making spay and neuter services affordable and accessible to all.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.