Urgent Information From PETA: Air-Quality Safety Tips to Protect Animals
For Immediate Release:
June 8, 2023
Contact:
Brittney Williams 202-483-7382
With millions of Americans under air-quality alerts due to the forest fires that have burned over 9 million acres in Canada, PETA is swiftly sending out air-quality safety tips to protect animal companions—who, like humans, are at risk of experiencing health problems brought on by dangerous air-quality levels. Some animals, including birds, those with preexisting heart or lung conditions, and breathing-impaired dog breeds, such as bulldogs, boxers, pugs, and Boston terriers, are especially vulnerable.
Guardians of companion animals can minimize risk by following these tips:
- Keep animals indoors with the windows closed
- Let dogs outside only briefly to relieve themselves
- Avoid all outdoor activities, such as running with dogs
- Walk animals only after the dust and smoke have settled
“If humans are feeling the effects of the wildfire smoke, then other animals are, too,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA urges everyone under an air-quality alert to keep their animals inside as much as possible until the danger has passed.”
People should also ensure that their emergency preparedness kits contain supplies for their animal companions, including several days’ worth of food, bottled water, and litter for cats. PETA’s lifesaving wildfire-preparedness public service announcement featuring actor Dean Winters is available here.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
