For at least three long years, Nigel's "home" was a dark, waste-filled, and dank garage in Hampton, Virginia. Chained to a wall, the dog was never let out of the garage—ever—and was forced to live amid his own urine and feces.

The chain had become rusty and corroded after years of being dragged through his waste, and his feet were covered with sores and urine burns. His eyes oozed pus, probably from irritation caused by ammonia fumes from the urine-covered floor.

After the home was foreclosed on, Nigel's owner moved out—but Nigel was left behind. His owner stopped by occasionally to dump some kibble into a plastic tub. A compassionate neighbor alerted PETA's Community Animal Project to Nigel's plight, and our fieldworker, finding the elderly dog surrounded by pools of urine and piles of feces, unable to reach his food, and with only brackish water to drink, immediately got permission to free him from his prison and swore out cruelty charges. After taking Nigel outside to give him some food, she realized that his back legs were so atrophied from lack of exercise that he could barely stand.

Because of Nigel's advanced age, his many serious medical problems, and his having gone mad from years of solitary confinement in what was essentially a filthy, stinking cave, it was decided that this terrified old fellow had endured enough, and he was euthanized to end his suffering. 

This week, Nigel's owner went before a judge. After seeing the photographic evidence that PETA's fieldworker had provided of Nigel's horrific living conditions, the man pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced him to 90 days in prison but suspended the jail time as long as he stays out of trouble. He was also ordered to reimburse PETA for Nigel's medical care and, most importantly, was prohibited from ever owning animals again.

What You Can Do

If you ever suspect an animal is being abused or neglected, alert the authorities right away. Your call could free an animal like Nigel from solitary confinement and get his or her owner sentenced to jail instead.

PETA gets requests from people for free doghouses for dogs of all shapes and sizes. But when our fieldworker laid eyes on 7-pound Chloe, she did a double take: This little dog was chained up outside! 

Unable to bear the thought that the tiny Chihuahua would spend the rest of her life outdoors simply because her guardians said that they couldn't housetrain her, our fieldworker decided something had to give. Small short-haired dogs like Chloe are especially susceptible to hot and cold weather, so she would be miserable outside. She might not even survive the upcoming hot summer months.

What a relief that Chloe's family agreed that she would be safer and happier indoors. When we ran an adoption ad, we heard from a sweet woman who had recently lost her Chihuahua because of complications from diabetes. Since our potential adopter described herself as a retired, "stay-at-home dog mom" able to housetrain her properly, we knew Chloe was in luck.

Sure enough, Chloe has mastered housetraining in her new home and is sticking to her new mom like glue, even claiming a satin pillow on the couch as her special spot. Sounds like the magnet on her new mom's refrigerator that reads, "I'm owned by a Chihuahua," isn't far off base.

Back in February, PETA sent out a news release about the number of sick, injured, elderly, and otherwise unadoptable animals we had to euthanize during the previous year. PETA openly publishes these figures every single year and simultaneously calls on the government and citizens to help promote anti-chaining ordinances (many of the dogs our caseworkers encounter are aggressive or horrifically neglected after having been chained outside for their entire lives), to help reduce the cost of euthanasia of old and ill animals who belong to people with a low income (these account for many of the animals PETA helps), and to implement sterilization programs and laws to reduce the homeless-animal crisis.

In other words, old news is now being regurgitated with a vindictive spin by—among others—a front group for Philip Morris, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, cattle ranchers, and other animal exploiters that kill millions of animals every year—and which do so not out of compassion but out of greed. Before falling prey to the hysteria, please have a look at BermanExposed.org and ConsumerDeception.com.

PETA's statistics are also often used, as they are being used now, in a truly perverted way by some "no-kill" evangelists to try to turn people away from the "evil" of what is actually a dignified, merciful release from suffering. They never give a complete picture, and they always use inflammatory language and labels like "puppies" and "kittens," even if the animal was a 17-year-old dog who was unable to breathe properly because of a heart condition. Such people are sure that if you shuffle enough animals around from shelters to hoarders' basements or just throw stones at shelter workers and call them "psycho" and so on, people will join their number. But they offer no realistic solution to the multiple tragic problems associated with easily acquired and easily discarded "pets."

Anyone who reads our website or receives our newsletters, in which we discuss this issue regularly, knows that PETA has a division that does hands-on work with animals. We run a shelter but in the most merciful way. We help—because no one else will—the animals who are society's rejects in the area near our Virginia headquarters. These animals are aggressive, feral, on death's door (often with large tumors hanging from their bodies), or otherwise unadoptable. We have published many blog posts about our caseworkers' heartbreaking work over the years, and more information can be found at PETASaves.com. 

It's important to note that the figures used by anti-PETA campaigners are deliberately chosen because they are just the euthanasia figures. They do not include perspective—i.e., the more than 10,000 dogs and cats PETA provided with no-cost to low-cost spay and neuter surgeries and other veterinary services in the last 12 months alone, the hundreds of animals delivered to large high-traffic shelter facilities for adoption, the counseling and aid services that PETA provides in order to enable people to keep and properly care for their animals, and the animals we have put up for adoption, like the cat currently featured on our website, whom we nursed back to (almost) good health and who is still seeking a permanent home.

The "no-kill" shelters in the area surrounding PETA's headquarters, like many such places that sing the "no-kill" refrain for fundraising purposes, actually not only refuse admission to animals (because they are constantly "too full") and reject dogs and cats who are injured, sick, or dying but also refer these "undesirable" animals to PETA, which bears the veterinary or euthanasia costs. For more information on this topic, visit PETASaves.com.

People who are shocked to learn how many healthy or adoptable animals have to be euthanized annually or are questioning PETA's euthanasia record should ask themselves if they are spaying and neutering their own animal companions, helping people with a low income "fix" theirs, adopting from shelters instead of buying from breeders and pet stores, funding education campaigns about proper animal care and adoption (among other things), and demanding higher animal-protection standards in their own communities. They should also look carefully at the photographs of the animals who come out of the impoverished areas that PETA serves. Of course, they should definitely not be eating or wearing animals or their skins, using products tested on animals (who are usually killed at the end of the tests), or engaging in any activity that results in killing animals not out of mercy but for selfish reasons.

PETA is proud to continue to stand tall and roll up its sleeves to help animals. 

When people talk about PETA's euthanasia statistics, those aren't just abstract figures to me—my dog was one of those animals. Kodah, aka "Bug," was technically "taken into custody and euthanized within 24 hours." It was more like euthanized in minutes. That's because she was dying.

Kodah-Bug was diagnosed with cancer on a Friday and went downhill quickly. By 1 a.m. the next night, she was suffering, struggling to breathe. I called PETA, and without a moment's hesitation, someone met me at the building in the wee hours of the morning. The PETA staffers who are certified to perform euthanasia are the most caring, compassionate, gentle people I know. My sweet girl deserved the most peaceful and painless end possible. She found it at PETA.

Almost a year after Kodah's passing, a PETA worker found a dog running loose on the streets. She was a starving, terrified stray who had to be lured with food morsels over the course of several hours. I fostered Emma for several months, getting the word out by putting up fliers, posting her picture on social media, and blogging about her and her need for a good home. No takers. Luckily for her (and me), I was in a position to adopt her. What would have happened to Emma had PETA not rescued her?

PETA's euthanasia numbers are decried by "no-kill" fanatics and others in order to upset people. But behind those numbers, there are animals who need help, and they wouldn't get it elsewhere. No one seems to talk about the much higher numbers of animals helped by PETA's spay-and-neuter program—PETA has sterilized more than 90,000 animals for free or at a fraction of a standard vet's office fee since 2001, preventing millions of animals from being born into a world already overflowing with homeless ones. But those numbers aren't as "sexy." "PETA Saves Countless Dogs and Cats From Abandonment, Abuse, and Neglect" just doesn't have quite the same shock value.

Unfortunately, PETA's mobile spay-and-neuter clinics can't get to all the animals in need, and there just aren't enough good homes out there for the millions of animals who need them. The shelters are full, and people keep buying from breeders or giving up their animals when their lives change.

If you're angry about euthanasia, volunteer at an animal shelter or donate to PETA's spay-and-neuter efforts—go out and do something. No one should point fingers and complain because everyone is needed to do something good, to take action and make a difference.

Written by Kristen Stine

Poor little Olivia was a 5-pound skeleton with fur when a man found her wandering outside the warehouse where he works, just a few miles from PETA's headquarters at the Sam Simon Center in Norfolk, Virginia. She was suffering from an apparent sinus infection, which had caused her cheeks to balloon to the point that her eyes were just slits and she could barely see. On top of that, she was so weakened and anemic from prolonged, severe malnutrition that she was only a day or two away from needing a blood transfusion.

PETA rushed her to a veterinarian, and with round-the-clock care, she beat the odds and pulled through. She's now recuperating at PETA's Sam Simon Center, where she is already feeling well enough to display a natural aptitude for the Cat Charmer.

If you are interested in opening your home to a feline companion, Olivia comes highly recommended: PETA staffers bill her as a 3- to 4-year-old sweetie pie who gets along well with other friendly cats. No one claimed Olivia through the lost-and-found report that we filed, even though she obviously once had a home (she has been spayed and declawed), and she will be vaccinated and microchipped before she is adopted out.

Does Olivia sound like she could be your new best friend? Send an e-mail to Adopt@peta.org to find out more or to fill out an adoption application.

Steel-jaw traps don't discriminate—they'll snap their sharp metal teeth shut on the limb of anyone who is unfortunate enough to step on them. A raccoon in Portsmouth, Virginia, was one recent victim.

The innocent raccoon was scurrying through the grass in a quiet neighborhood when he suddenly collapsed, his body racked with pain. As the serrated teeth of a steel-jaw trap ground into his muscles, he began frantically trying to escape, even attempting to chew off his own limb. But as he thrashed, he became lodged in a resident's fence.

When the homeowners discovered the grisly scene, they immediately called both animal control and PETA. Our Community Animal Project fieldworkers rushed to the home and helped the animal control officer gently free the suffering raccoon from the fence and the cruel trap. The officer then whisked him back to the animal control office and quickly ended his misery. Unfortunately, none of the neighbors knew who had set the trap, and our fieldworkers couldn't find the culprit despite canvassing the neighborhood.

Steel-jaw traps are some of the cruelest and most ineffective methods of wildlife control in existence. PETA offers a wealth of information on how to easily and humanely keep raccoons and other animals at bay without endangering other wildlife, companion animals, and people. 

As we mentioned previously, PETA's Community Animal Project (CAP) fieldworkers are out and about in Norfolk and the surrounding communities, helping animals hurt or stranded by Hurricane Sandy. And it's not just dogs and cats who need help. Take, for example, this unfortunate pelican.

The exhausted fella was obviously worn out after being tossed around by the storm. A kind soul who spotted him called PETA, asking what kind of food she could give him, convinced that nobody would be able to get out to help the grounded bird since her street had become impassible.

Well, CAP doesn't know the meaning of the word "impassible." When local animal control representatives said that they weren't sure they'd be able to get out there, PETA's staffers drove through the gusty winds and heavy rains to get this big guy and transport him to the Virginia Beach SPCA. Our good friends there will give him the needed rehab so that he can be released once the coast is clear.

Stay tuned for more news from the front lines. And to help keep PETA's work for animals afloat, make a donation today.

Update: Midnight has been adopted! Her gloomy past behind her, this free-spirited gal has now been renamed Indie. Her new family reports that she is relishing the safe, comfortable indoor life and that she acts like she has known her canine sister, River, who is also a PETA rescue, for years. Indie has discovered catnip, and she is so photogenic that her new family has started an all-Indie scrapbook. If you are interested in adopting a PETA rescue, e-mail us at Adopt@peta.org.

Originally posted September 20:

Midnight the cat had been trapped in a tree for 10 terrifying days. Her owners couldn't be bothered to lift a finger to help her. She had likely been frightened up the tree and didn't know how to get back down, which should have been apparent after the first few hours. A concerned construction worker reported the stranded, distressed cat to PETA.

Seeing as the people responsible for her seemed not to care one bit, one of our Community Animal Project fieldworkers climbed about 35 feet up the tree, secured Midnight in her arms, and made the slow, careful descent. After 10 days without food or water, Midnight was lucky to be alive and was shaken and severely dehydrated, but once on the ground, the grateful cat began to purr. Her owners never allowed Midnight inside and had no plans to do so now, even after her brush with death, but they agreed to allow the fieldworker to find her a new home where she would be safe indoors.

Now Midnight is settling in at PETA's Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters and is waiting patiently for the right adoptive family. She will be microchipped and spayed before adoption. If you are ready to make a lifetime commitment and give Midnight the safe, loving home that every cat deserves, please e-mail Adopt@peta.org.

Each month, PETA's mobile spay-and-neuter clinics alter many hundreds of animals, preventing hundreds of thousands of unwanted ones from being born. Every animal we help has a story. Here are a few of the many patients who made it a September to remember:

1. 

Frieda's guardian is 80 years old, but his love for his dog keeps him young at heart. He was thrilled that we could spay Frieda and even give her a ride to and from our clinic.

2. 

Blue isn't blue anymore. This beautiful pit bull, who lives indoors with her guardian, had sustained an eye injury. Blue's guardian had planned to breed her, but since she didn't have the money to treat Blue's injury, she agreed to let us spay the pup if we would treat her eye. Now Blue is pain-free and litter-free.

3. 

RJ is a bouncy, happy pup. We transported this young 80-pound ball of energy to our clinic, and now we are happy that he is not contributing to the animal-homelessness crisis.

4. 

Cotton wasn't a big fan of being driven to our clinic and getting her free spay surgery, so this feisty kitten was super-happy to get back into her guardian's waiting arms.

5. 

Magic is feeling a lot more magical after PETA gave him a lift to our clinic, a flea bath and flea medicine, and a little "snip" surgery.

While we don't know exactly how Emma's life began, her story starts the way that too many dogs' stories do: She was wandering the streets, homeless, thin, petrified, and alone. Her luck changed when a PETA Community Animal Project (CAP) staffer found her on a neighbor's front stoop, soaking wet and trembling, and cajoled the terrified dog into a fenced-in yard. Eventually—with lots of patience and tempting food—the CAP staffer got the pup leashed and into the car.

She was rail-thin from scavenging for scraps on the streets and was so terrified of people that she cowered and shook when anyone came near. But after a few days of hearty eating, a spay surgery, and other veterinary care—and a lot of TLC from her foster family—Emma began to emerge from her shell.

As luck would have it, a wonderful family whose dog had just passed away was searching for a new canine companion, and when they met the blossoming 2-year-old, it was love at first sight. As she headed to her new home, Emma seemed to understand that her days of being homeless and unwanted were long gone.

Now, Emma is a different dog from the one PETA first rescued: adventurous, confident, and full of life. She spends so much time perfecting her doggie paddle that she could be training for the Olympics, and her list of "likes" reads like a personal ad: swimming, boating, going to the dog park, running, and taking long walks. But little Emma doesn't need a personal ad—she's already found the loves of her life.