New PETA Billboard Calls Out Dog-Buying Celebs

For Immediate Release:
November 11, 2020

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

You’d never know that there are millions of homeless dogs and cats in the U.S.—a crisis worsened by the pandemic—from the newly purchased “purebred” puppies that have popped up on the Instagram pages of Channing Tatum, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, J Balvin, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Charles, and others. That’s why a new PETA billboard makes a pointed appeal from “Max the shelter dog,” calling out stars and influencers who, through their irresponsible purchases, are fueling pet store and breeder sales while so many dogs waiting in shelters and suffering on the streets have nowhere to call home.

An appeal from Max recently appeared in The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m trying to keep my spirits up, but to be honest, it’s getting harder and harder to keep my tail wagging,” he writes. “I guess I just want to know what’s wrong with me. Sure, I may not be a puppy—but I still have years of life ahead of me and so much love to give.”

PETA notes that around 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. at any given time. An estimated 10% of those end up at animal shelters, where many have to be euthanized because there simply aren’t enough good homes for them.

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way,” and the group opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s billboard is located at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard.