Dog Abandoned in Sealed Box in Bitter Cold Prompts PETA Video Warning About Dangers of No-Kill Policies

For Immediate Release:
December 12, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Following reports that a dog was found in a taped-up moving box with no air holes outside a local animal shelter in freezing cold weather, 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.”

Pennsylvania SPCA shelters—including the one in Philadelphia where the dog was abandoned—follow “no-kill” policies and only accept surrendered animals who meet “certain criteria.” Earlier this year, in Lancaster County, a woman who reportedly tried to surrender a dog to the SPCA earlier in the day was arrested after abandoning the dog near a police station. And in Delaware County, 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 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.