Video of Raccoon Rescue Prompts PETA Offer

Ads to Remind Everyone to Protect Wildlife by Crushing Cans, Sealing Jars

For Immediate Release:
August 3, 2018

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

After a viral video showed a man in a Plano parking lot rescuing a raccoon whose head was stuck in a can, PETA sent a letter today asking Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere to help promote responsible recycling by placing the ad below on the city’s garbage trucks and garbage containers. The ad, available here, shows a raccoon in the same predicament as the one who was rescued next to the words “Don’t Let This Happen Again. Please Crush Cans and Screw Lids on Jars to Keep Our Animal Friends Safe.”

“Aluminum cans, plastic cups, and open jars can be death traps for hungry or inquisitive animals if they aren’t disposed of properly,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “By running PETA’s responsible-recycling ads, Plano can reduce the life-threatening risk that these items pose to wildlife and even to dogs and cats.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—encourages everyone to keep all garbage in tightly sealed chew-proof containers, rinse out aluminum cans and put the tops inside so that they can’t cut animals’ tongues, crush cans and cups, screw lids on jars, and cut open empty cardboard and plastic containers so that small animals can’t get their faces or heads trapped inside them.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Plano Mayor Harry LaRosiliere follows.

August 3, 2018

The Honorable Harry LaRosiliere

Mayor of Plano

Dear Mayor LaRosiliere,

I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide, including thousands across Texas, regarding a video of a man who rescued a raccoon whose head was stuck in a can in a parking lot in your city. Please, will the city do its part to help wildlife while promoting responsible recycling by placing PETA’s “Don’t Let This Happen Again” signs on city garbage trucks and garbage containers to remind citizens to crush cans before disposing of them? We’ve even rescued dogs whose heads were trapped, and these signs can really save lives.

We all recognize that recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and combustion facilities, conserves natural resources, and helps reduce greenhouse-gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But aluminum cans, plastic cups, and open jars and bottles that are not disposed of properly can become traps for hungry or inquisitive animals. Simply placing these potentially lifesaving signs on your recycling trucks and bins and in city buildings, such as near trash chutes or on containers, would encourage environmental stewardship and compassion.

I would be pleased to send over a supply of the signs. We urge you not to waste this opportunity. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid E. Newkirk

President