From Chained to Cherished: See This ‘Backyard Dog’ Now! (PETA Video)

For Immediate Release:
January 14, 2021

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

A PETA video released today celebrates the rescue of a gentle shepherd mix who spent years chained up outside, alone in a muddy backyard. PETA’s fieldworkers visited her as often as they could and provided her with fresh food and clean water, gave her a custom-built doghouse, got her spayed for free, and gave her the only affection she’d ever known. But some days, she acted so timid and depressed that she wouldn’t even come out of the doghouse.

All that changed when her owner finally agreed to let PETA find her a new home. Now, Wolfie von Fluffer Bottom—or Wolfie for short, named by her new best friend, 8-year-old Connor—lives indoors with a family who loves her. Being safe in a warm home, where she can cuddle on the couch and play with Connor and her new dog brother, was all that she needed to bring her out of her shell.

A recent University of Leeds study shows that watching “cute” videos of animals can lower stress and anxiety!

“A life on a chain is no life at all for any dog, so PETA hopes Wolfie’s happy ending will inspire people to look out for neglected ‘backyard dogs’ during this tough winter and beyond,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—notes that companion animals should always live indoors. “Backyard dogs” and “outdoor cats”—like those featured in Breaking the Chain, the new documentary produced by Oscar winner Anjelica Huston—often go without adequate food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, and they’re no better equipped to survive freezing temperatures than humans are.

More information about PETA’s work to help dogs and cats is available here, and more photos of Wolfie are available on PETA’s blog.