Animals have voices. They cry out when they are being skinned alive for their fur, being beaten and forced to perform painful tricks, or having their throats cut before being hacked apart for their flesh. Animals express their pain, but often, people don't understand or they choose not to listen.

As animal advocates, we must raise our voices alongside animals' and put into words what they can't. Whether we are calmly explaining to someone at the dog park that his or her dog might be yelping because the animal's prong collar hurts or telling a friend that her mascara was smeared into a bunny's sensitive eyes, we have to speak up. Animals need us to.

If you haven't yet made a New Year's resolution, how about this: Never remain silent when an animal is hurting. Just one small voice can—and often does—save animals from cruelty and abuse. How will you use yours?

Authorities recently rescued 108 animals from three homes in Duncanville, Texas, where dogs and cats were found stacked in filthy, hair-encrusted, rusty cages and confined to rooms in which urine and feces coated the floors—allegedly up to a foot deep. According to news reports, the door to one room to which dogs were confined was sealed shut with industrial tape and hidden behind a curtain, and the dogs had been deprived of adequate food, water, and care.

The woman responsible for these cats and dogs was apparently busy acquiring unadoptable animals from at least one local animal shelter and running a "rescue" group.

Cases like this are common and remind us how animals suffer when people warehouse homeless dogs and cats for years—with no chance for them to run, play, or feel the grass beneath their feet—as a "solution" to quick and painless euthanasia. Animal shelters that shirk their responsibility by handing over animals to anyone who says that they'll take them—as shelters across the country are doing to make their euthanasia rates look better in the face of pressure from the irresponsible snake-oil salesmen who call themselves "no kill" supporters—share the blame for the suffering of animals at the hands of hoarders posing as "rescuers." Beware, beware, beware!

Avoiding euthanasia at all costs is not humane, and it is not a solution to the animal overpopulation crisis. Until the flood of homeless animals is stopped through spaying and neutering, euthanasia will remain a mercy for unadopted and unadoptable animals. Spaying and neutering are the keys to keeping animals out of shelters—and out of "rescues" that are worse than death.

We may never know how more than a dozen pigeons, crows, seagulls, and other wild birds ended up crammed into filthy cages in a hoarder's home, but when PETA heard about the birds—who were spotted piled on the sidewalk after the hoarder was evicted—our Cruelty Investigations Department took action.

After PETA contacted animal control and alerted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to potential violations of the state cruelty statute and federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, all the birds—some of whom appeared to be sick and suffering from heat exhaustion—were seized, and officers launched an investigation.

Not only is it illegal to possess most wild birds without a permit issued by the USFWS, these animals were also victims of hoarding, a mental illness in which the hoarder compulsively acquires more animals than he or she can properly care for. Animals are often "warehoused" in filthy cages and carriers and denied clean water, adequate food, and veterinary care. Accumulated waste and filth often lead to infections and the spread of parasites and contagious diseases.

If you ever suspect someone may be an animal hoarder, immediately contact law-enforcement officials—following up if necessary to make sure that action is taken. PETA's report on hoarding contains more information about how to protect animals.

This poor mother dog was so emaciated that she barely had the strength to nurse her six puppies. She was confined to a bare wooden box located behind a pizza parlor and was weighted down with a heavy chain.

After a member of Hoovers Hause All Dog Rescue spotted one of the pups wandering near the busy street beside the restaurant, she soon discovered the mother dog and called the sheriff's department. But catch this: Law enforcement gave the owner two to three weeks to put weight on the mother dog. Hoovers Hause All Dog Rescue had a better idea—the group posted pictures of the dogs on Facebook and asked people to get the sheriff's department to act now.

When a PETA supporter alerted us to the situation, we asked the poster to try to persuade the owner to give the dogs over to her. Bingo! All the dogs were whisked off to a veterinarian (likely the first time the mother dog had ever received medical care). The rescue group paid for the mother dog's heartworm treatment and agreed to care for her and her puppies while screening potential adopters.

The owner had told police that the mother dog was so thin because she had been poisoned, but with simple helpings of good food, this lucky rescued girl has already gained 8 pounds. PETA is now urging officials to pursue cruelty charges.

If you see anything on social-networking sites that suggests an animal could be in danger, please contact authorities—and, if they are unresponsive, call PETA.

UPDATE: PETCO CEO Jim Myers announced that the company will not reopen the Johnson City store where approximately 100 animals died in flooding last month. The company is reportedly looking for another location in the village, but outraged residents don't want a PETCO store anywhere nearby. The district attorney's criminal investigation of PETCO employees' actions and the animals' deaths continues.

The following was originally posted on September 19, 2011:

PETA joined dozens of animal advocates who participated in a protest calling for PETCO to leave Johnson City, New York, after the multibillion-dollar company opted to abandon hundreds of animals—about 100 of whom drowned during massive flooding from Tropical Storm Lee.

Despite highly publicized flood warnings and mandatory evacuation orders, the company had the gall to call the flooding "completely unpredictable" and intentionally left the animals behind, which Johnson City Mayor Dennis Hannon called "absolutely disgusting." Nearly 100 animals, including birds, guinea pigs, ferrets, hamsters, mice, and reptiles, suffered and died as a result. Cars that passed the 70 demonstrators honked and waved in support, showing that Johnson City residents are ready for PETCO to start packing.

PETA and Mayor Hannon called for a criminal investigation last week, and now that investigation is under way. Please join us in thanking Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen for taking the case seriously. E-mail him at gmollen@co.broome.ny.us or call his office at 607-778-2423. Please be polite in your correspondence with Mr. Mollen and his office.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Ducks and geese in North America are a bit safer, now that "celebrity" hunter Jeff Foiles has been banned from hunting for three years in Canada and two in the U.S. following convictions for cruelty to animals.

Foiles, who sells videos of his hunts online, was reportedly seen in one of his taped hunts holding up a wounded duck, wrenching the duck's neck, and opening the bird's mouth while making quacking sounds. According to a news report, "In another hunt videotaped the next day, Foiles manipulates a wounded duck for four minutes, whacking it on the head with a duck call, covering its head with an empty shell box and playing peek-a-boo. He later places his fingers over the bird's nostrils and holds its beak closed while asking 'Is this how you want to die?'"

schrodingersduck | cc by 2.0

Reportedly, a wildlife expert testified during Foiles' hearing that the birds he abused were "conscious, alive and suffering extreme pain and stress."

Considering that people who find it fun to torture and kill animals often take their issues out on human victims as well, we should all be thankful that Foiles is spending 13 months behind bars.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

It only takes one look to see that the pony below desperately needed help, but whenever authorities were called out to check on this miserable horse, they inexplicably found "no issues" with his condition and left him to suffer at the hands of his neglectful owners.

The pony was so malnourished that every rib jutted out, and his hoof was so grossly deformed (possibly from an untreated broken bone) and overgrown that it had folded under, forcing him to hobble around. The pony's owners left him to wander the streets and routinely took off for days at a time, leaving him to fend for himself. He had no food, no water, and nowhere to escape the elements.

Thankfully, when PETA and a wonderful local rescue group got involved, the owner quickly agreed to surrender the pony. His overgrown hoof was immediately trimmed, and he was adopted into a loving home within days! 

Update: The Blenheim District Court has sentenced Jason Godsiff to two years in jail for beating seals to death, including some animals who were just a few days old. Jamaal Large, who denies the charges, has not yet been tried.

Originally posted July 20, 2011

A New Zealand teenager has pleaded guilty to beating 23 seals to death with a metal pipe. Jason Godsiff said he killed the seals, including newborn pups, because he considered them "pests." Another man, Jamaal Large, has also been charged in the deaths, but has not submitted his plea. If convicted, both men face heavy fines and jail time for killing protected animals.

As appalling as their actions are, even more disturbing is the fact that had these men been in Canada, they would not face any charges. In fact, they would have been encouraged. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper can't seem to understand what people in New Zealand and all over the world already know: Bludgeoning seals to death is wrong. Despite international outcry and bans on seal products, the Canadian government continues to spend millions of dollars a year to fund their barbaric seal slaughter.

You can help by e-mailing Stephen Harper and letting him know that seals deserve protection everywhere that they are abused.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

A participant in a photo shoot became a model of compassion when she saved a goat's life. The goat was being used as a "prop," and the shoot took place on a scorching-hot summer day on a California ranch. The visitor found the goat lying on the ground with hooves that were so overgrown that he was unable to stand up or reach food and water.

The witness contacted PETA, and we quickly alerted animal control. And voilà! The goat was surrendered to animal control within 24 hours. It likely took months for the hooves to grow so painfully long, but the goat's owner claimed that he "didn't notice." (Yet the photo shoot participant noticed them with one glance.) PETA is asking for cruelty charges.

After a long overdue hoof trim and some TLC, the goat was put up for adoption, his photo prop days behind him.

You don't have to be an expert to tell that an animal might be suffering. If something doesn't look right, it probably isn't right, so please speak up!

Written by Michelle Sherrow

PETA is calling for a criminal investigation and appropriate charges after PETCO left hundreds of caged animals to die in its Johnson City, New York, store in massive flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee.

Despite highly publicized flood warnings and a mandatory evacuation order from the town's mayor, PETCO's vice president of animal care (a misnomer if we ever heard one), Marcie Whichard, had the nerve to call the flooding "completely unpredictable" and admitted that "the decision was made to keep the animals in the store."  Hundreds of birds, guinea pigs, ferrets, hamsters, mice, reptiles, and other animals were abandoned, forced to try to keep their heads above water as floodwaters rose. Nearly 100 animals died. One can only imagine the terror and suffering that these animals experienced, all because PETCO—a multibillion-dollar company—could not be bothered to make provisions for them.

This is not the first time that animals have suffered and died at PETCO's hands. The company has a history of chronic animal-welfare problems, including buying the animals it sells from massive mills that warehouse animals in filthy, severely crowded conditions; withhold veterinary care from sick, starving, and injured animals; throw live animals into the trash; and much, much more.

Please help obtain justice for the animals PETCO abandoned to drown by politely urging Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen to launch a criminal investigation into PETCO's actions. Call his office at 607-778-2423 or e-mail him at gmollen@co.broome.ny.us. And please never buy animals or anything from stores like PETCO that see animals as nothing more than a way to make money.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post