Two PETA staffers were delivering straw bedding to cold "outdoor dogs" in rural Virginia when they spotted a thin young beagle dangerously close to the highway. The staffers had barely gotten out of the car when the friendly dog came bounding up to them. He was wearing a collar with a phone number, so the staffers called the owner after first taking the pup back to PETA's Norfolk headquarters for a much-needed warm bath and good meal.

The man said that he no longer wanted the dog—whom he had never even bothered to name—because, as the saying goes, "That dog don't hunt." (It's not uncommon for hunters simply to abandon unwanted dogs.) But the owner was willing to drive an hour and a half to our headquarters to retrieve the dog's collar.

PETA staffers knew that the gentle dog with the soulful eyes would make someone an ideal animal companion. Not long after he was vaccinated, neutered, treated for Lyme disease and internal parasites, and put up for adoption, Augie found his perfect forever home with a PETA staffer and his family.

The staffer has a 14-year-old son who is now Augie's best friend. And Augie comes to work at the PETA office, brightening everyone's days with his buoyant personality.

As it turned out, the dog who had been cast aside because he wasn't a good hunter had no trouble sniffing out a lovely new life. 

The story is a common one but still heartrending: Deuce's owners bought him as a puppy, but when he got big—although still full of energy and enthusiasm—instead of giving him gentle guidance and abundant exercise, they kicked him out of the house and chained him to a tree.

A Chain Is Not a Home

Fortunately for Deuce, one kind soul saw that he was tied up in the mud without shelter on a rainy day and took pity on him. After other rescue organizations refused to help Deuce, PETA was contacted and immediately arranged to have the pup picked up—the uninterested family surrendered him to the rescuer—and taken to a reputable animal shelter.

That would be enough of a tail-wagger for many animals who are facing a similar plight, but Deuce's good fortune continued: Shortly after arriving at the animal shelter, he was adopted by a loving family, and now he spends every day indoors as a cherished member of the household.

What You Can Do

Both dogs and cats are happier and safer indoors. Please, if you spot an animal left outside, be ready to help—and don't take "no" for an answer!

Her story is a haunting reminder of why it should be illegal to chain dogs. Storm was just 2 years old when she strangled to death at the end of her chain after being chained up outdoors like a rusty old bicycle and left unsupervised. After calls about Storm's horrific death flooded our office, PETA wrote to the mayor of the town in which she died, Portsmouth, Virginia, asking him to introduce "Storm's Law," an ordinance that would ban or seriously restrict chaining.

Storm's owners claim to suspect foul play, but cruel people—who often poison or shoot dogs because they are annoyed by their barking or steal them for use as "bait dogs" in dogfights or to sell to laboratories for experimentation—are only one of the many dangers that chained dogs face. Obviously, Storm should have never been chained in her sad little mud patch to begin with.

PETA receives hundreds of reports of chained dogs, like the one pictured here, every year.

Dogs can strangle or injure themselves when their chains become tangled, or they can be attacked by other animals. Often deprived of food, water, veterinary care, and shelter, chained dogs routinely suffer from a range of maladies, including malnutrition, dehydration, flea infestations, mange, and untreated injuries, and can freeze to death or die of heatstroke.

And dogs aren't the only ones who suffer the ill effects of chaining. Subjecting a social pack animal to a life of isolation contributes to aggressive behavior, making chained dogs three times as likely to bite.

More than 120 jurisdictions have passed laws banning or restricting chaining. If, like Portsmouth, your area still allows dogs to be chained, please use PETA's tips to get a chaining ordinance passed.

Realtor to the stars and Million Dollar Listing celebrity Chad Rogers has a million-dollar idea: Encourage people to adopt their animal companions from animal shelters and donate to PETA's doghouse program. In an exclusive interview, Chad—joined, of course, by his canine family member, Starla—talks with PETA about doing both:

Chad spends his days brokering some of the biggest real-estate deals in Hollywood, but at the end of the day, his dog, Starla, takes center stage in his life. He encourages people to adopt animals rather than buying them because every dog deserves a loving home. "There's thousands and thousands of pets all over the world that need homes," Chad says, "so why not go to a shelter and get a dog? I mean, that's the best thing that you could possibly do for another dog's life."

Starla is a star in her own right, capturing the title of America's Cutest Canine in a national contest. Chad and Starla took the prize money and invested in real estate—for dogs. They donated the entire prize to PETA's "Angels for Animals" program, which provides cold and lonely "backyard dogs" with sturdy, custom-built doghouses.

Will you be an "angel" for a cold "outdoor dog" this winter? If so, tell Chad and Starla about it on Twitter.