Speak Softly and Carry a Bolt Cutter: PETA’s Chris Klug Is All (Heart) Muscle

When Hurricane Harvey submerged neighborhoods and left animals starving and stranded, PETA lead field outreach worker Chris Klug jumped in to help – literally. PETA’s rescue team is as brave as a Navy Seals unit, and he and other members of the team immediately drove 19 hours to search for survivors. “It felt like a war zone,” he remembers. “Our boat was so overloaded it seemed like it might sink – but turning back was never an option.”

A dark shape bobbed ahead – a Rottweiler, barely above water. Chris hauled the soaked, shivering dog aboard; the dog collapsed from exhaustion. A veterinarian confirmed that he wouldn’t have lasted much longer without that quick action.

A Thousand Rescues – and Counting

The same could be said for many of the 1,000+ animals Chris has slogged through floods, blizzards, and blistering heat to reach – from starving sheep to a pelican strangled by fishing line. He’s deployed to flooding in Baton Rouge and in the aftermath of multiple hurricanes, assisted shelters in Puerto Rico, and joined PETA’s spay/neuter events in Mexico. He also helped respond to grim conditions at Isaiah 11 Ministry – a self-proclaimed “rescue” that hoarded dozens of cats, dogs, and pigs – leading to their rescue and a criminal investigation.

But most days, Chris works the backroads of rural North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, where poverty is high, resources are virtually nonexistent, and countless dogs are chained outdoors 24/7. Many struggle to survive without adequate food, water, or shelter, and not all of them make it. Chris wheels sturdy wooden doghouses onto properties, replaces heavy chains with lightweight tie-outs to relieve some of the burden on dogs’ necks, treats parasites, cleans filthy water buckets full of algae, gives desperately needed attention – a pat, a stroke, a kind word – and changes lives. Everyone on the team is a lifeline.

Rusty’s Retirement

Chris worked hard at one of those lives: Rusty’s. For nearly a decade, he visited Rusty inside the tiny dirt pen where he was chained, bringing food, toys, and insulating straw. He worked on the owner to let Rusty go to a real home, but his owner refused. “Every time I saw Rusty, I had to hold back my anger and keep working to get him,” Chris recalls. “I even brought his owner cookies once. It’s easy to get angry, but trust is often what gets the animal out, and I had to build that trust in the owner.”

Chris succeeded against all odds. One day, Rusty’s owner relented. The team threw Rusty a retirement party – “pupcakes” and all – and Chris drove him more than 1,800 miles to his new life in Florida, where he is relishing his golden years, safe, warm, and loved.

From Hardcore Riffs to Heavy Lifts

Even as a child, Chris knew that being strong didn’t mean harming others – it meant protecting them. On fishing trips with his dad, he would quietly unhook fish and set them free. “I didn’t want to be the reason someone suffered, no matter the skin they were in,” he says. Chris seemed destined for a career in music, playing in hardcore metal bands and later earning his master’s degree in classical guitar. But his heart called him to animal protection. At one of his gigs, he found a PETA pamphlet and went vegan the next day. “It just made sense,” he says. He went on to work at farmed-animal sanctuaries and as an animal control officer, then learned about PETA’s Community Animal Project. “PETA was actually making a difference for chained dogs,” he says, “and I wanted to be a part of it.”

The job takes lots of muscle and not only heart muscle! Chris rucks, rides, and runs to stay strong. But there’s no “off the clock.” On one jog, he spotted a student abandoning a rabbit in subfreezing temperatures – a death sentence for a domesticated animal. After a frank talk, the student gave Chris the rabbit, named Stormi, and he’s now safe in the care of one of Chris’ colleagues.

And there’s Lucy. For years, she was chained by a lumber yard, bitten bloody by flies, and sick with heartworms. When her owner died, PETA took her in. Now, she’s “queen of the house” with Chris and his partner, Emily. “After long days of seeing dogs chained and lonely, Lucy reminds me what change looks like, and I give her a hug,” he says. “As long as animals are left to suffer, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

See Chris and PETA’s field team in action! Watch Breaking the Chain, from executive producer Anjelica Huston.