Local 6-Year-Old Nabs Award for Animal Oxygen Mask Fundraiser

PETA Recognizes Carly Gray for Helping Her Local Fire Departments Save Animals

For Immediate Release:
November 4, 2019

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

A Hero to Animals award is on its way from PETA to 6-year-old Carly Gray, who recently set up lemonade stands at her church to raise money to buy animal oxygen kits for Hampton Roads fire departments.

Carly was inspired to take action when her grandmother sent her a video of animals being saved by oxygen masks, and she has since raised enough money for three kits. When asked how other kids can help animals, she said, “You could raise money to buy them food because there are a lot of hungry animals. Or you could volunteer at a shelter. … My advice is just to do something, even if it’s something little, because my mom says little things add up and everything you do can make a big difference.”

“An oxygen mask designed to fit on the face of a dog or a cat can mean the difference between life and death for an animal who has been exposed to smoke,” says PETA Director of Student Campaigns and Influence Rachelle Owen. “PETA is recognizing Carly and her fundraising efforts for proving that people of all ages can be heroes to animals.”

PETA encourages families to include their animal companions in their emergency plans, including by putting a sign on their doors or windows to alert rescue workers to the presence of dogs, cats, and other companion animals. Families can order stickers from the PETA Catalog or make their own.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org. For more ways kids can help animals, check out PETAKids.com.