Look at Apple Jack, Snowball, and Princess Now!

Seven days a week, in all weather extremes, PETA’s fieldworkers travel hundreds of miles across Virginia and North Carolina—the area surrounding our Norfolk headquarters—improving the living conditions of animals who are kept constantly chained or penned, isolated and deprived of everything that’s important to them. These are just a few of the animals who want to say, “Thank you!” for your generous support of PETA, which funded much-needed help for them in January.

Last month alone, we spayed or neutered 1,171 animals for no or low cost, helping to abate the homeless-animal crisis. We supplied free transportation to and from the clinics for families who couldn’t get the animals there themselves, eliminating one of the barriers that often keeps people from having their dogs and cats spayed or neutered.

Animals who benefited from these services in January include Angel and Sparky …

… Tipsy …

… Roshe …

… Spiderman …

… Bella …

… Skye …

… Tenure …

… Cookie and Tip …

… and Jojo.

Roxy and Bella each received not only a free spay surgery (with transportation to the appointment) but also a free sturdy new doghouse to help them survive the cold winter months.

While staffers were dropping off one canine client at home after her spay appointment, they noticed that the neighbors were waving furiously to get their attention. They were horrified when they saw why. The neighbors’ dog’s face was barely visible because her fur was so badly matted. Snowball’s delicate skin was raw and irritated from the tight, tugging mats, and she was caked with dirt. Her owners admitted that she hadn’t been groomed in more than three years. PETA persuaded them to give the pup to us and rushed her to the Norfolk SPCA, one of our placement partners, for emergency care. There, she got quick relief in the form of a badly needed grooming session and immediately found a loving foster home, where she now rules the roost.

After PETA provided Scarface with desperately needed medical care for a flea infestation and a miserable skin infection, he was sent back home to heal up and is much more comfortable now.

Zoor, Devo, Sheba, Duchess, and Princess all got new custom-built doghouses to replace their useless crates, straw to help them stay dry in rain and snow, clean bowls of food and water, lightweight tie-outs, and toys to help them pass the time.

PETA fieldworkers’ efforts have prevented many animals from dying or enduring extreme cruelty on chains, like this dog did.

Our fieldworkers were in rural North Carolina helping animals in need when they discovered a dog on a heavy chain who was lying motionless in the dirt. When they checked for a pulse, their fears were confirmed.

They quickly called the sheriff’s department. After documenting evidence at the scene, police allowed PETA to take the deceased dog’s remains to a veterinarian to determine the cause of death. The necropsy revealed that she had been malnourished and died of asphyxiation, strangled by the industrial-size chain.

PETA and law-enforcement officials are working to track down the perpetrators who callously chained this animal and left her to die. Anyone with information that may help the case is urged to contact the Gates County Sheriff’s Office.

In January, many families contacted us for end-of-life assistance that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford for their animals. Meliko’s family brought the beloved 15-year-old pit bull to PETA after cancerous tumors grew all over her face, throat, and skull. The tumors had grown so large that she was unable to eat and had become emaciated.

The family of 16-year-old shih tzu Mackie contacted PETA when an advanced infection that was causing his skin to peel off didn’t get better with treatment. He was nearly bald, rapidly losing weight, going blind, and becoming severely lethargic. Surrounded by his family, he was freed from suffering.

Elderly Sadie Mae was in anguish from a massive cancerous tumor that enveloped her face, causing swelling, pain, and pressure on her eyes, mouth, ears, and brain. When she stopped eating and drinking, her family asked PETA to end her suffering.

PETA came to the aid of feral cat Sweetie, whose paw pads had ulcerated and ruptured from a severe and excruciating infection.

And we helped Bobo, a pit bull relegated to a chain for his entire life and used as a cheap alarm system until he was struggling with advanced, deadly heartworm disease.

Fieldworkers discovered geriatric husky Sheba dying alone in a hole that she had dug for herself under the doghouse that they had given her. Her elderly owner told us that the sweet pup hadn’t been able to stand up for days and that she had intended to call us. We made sure that the dog didn’t die in the same sad way she’d lived: alone and trapped on a chain without joy, respect, or affection. Rest peacefully, Sheba. You will never be alone or frightened again.

Every time they pay a visit to a chained dog, fieldworkers urge the owners to bring the animal indoors where they belong—or at least to let us take them and give them a chance to find a loving indoor home, through PETA or one of our valued shelter placement partners. This month, PETA and our partner shelters were able to unchain many dogs, including Caine …

… Hobgood …

… Jones …

… Cam Cam …

… and Angel.

PETA’s fieldworkers also rescued sweet feline Miss Thang, who had been thrown outdoors to fend for herself, and took her to the Virginia Beach SPCA to find a loving home.

Once again, we ferried animals from the Danville Area Humane Society in rural Virginia to the high-traffic Virginia Beach SPCA to give them all a great shot at finding caring families of their own.

And after the owner of several chronically neglected dogs we’d helped over the years went into hospice care, his family contacted PETA and let us know that we could pick up the two remaining dogs on the property.

The Virginia Beach SPCA welcomed Rambo with open arms, and it wasn’t long before his big brown eyes were catching the eyes of interested adopters. Apple Jack was catching eyes, too—those of a PETA staffer and her partner. Soon, he’ll be heading to his new home near the beach in sunny Florida to meet his excited new family, including a canine big sister.

PETA’s fieldworkers give every animal they encounter the best that they can offer, and the generous support of our members makes their work possible. If you’re a PETA supporter, consider becoming an official member today for just $16 a year. We also offer gift memberships so that you can give your loved ones the present of helping animals in need.