In Michigan, birth control may be controversial when it comes to humans, but when it comes to dogs and cats, it's a no-brainer. As a bill that would restrict birth control heads to the governor's desk, PETA is proposing to erect this billboard in the state capital:

It is estimated that 6 to 8 million unwanted animals enter our nation's animal shelters every year, and only about half leave them alive because of a lack of good homes. Countless others never make it to shelters and die on the streets or at the end of a chain.

The key to ending this suffering is spaying and neutering animals to prevent them from producing litter after litter of unwanted animals.

You can help by supporting PETA's fleet of mobile spay-and-neuter clinics, which have spayed and neutered more than 80,000 animals at low to no cost in the 11 years since the first clinic rolled out of our parking lot, preventing the suffering of hundreds of thousands of unwanted puppies and kittens.  

And if you have the time, money, and resources to care for an animal companion, please adopt from a shelter—never buy an animal from a pet store or breeder. 

Once upon a time, there was a sweet little girl named Coco. Like Cinderella and Snow White before her, Coco faced true hardship. When Prince Charming PETA's fieldworkers found her, she was chained to a trampoline—which served as her only "shelter"—and her coat was badly matted, as you can see:

The fieldworkers, though, instantly recognized the princess beneath the tangled fur and, with some persistence, persuaded the owner to surrender the little poodle. She was whisked away to be bathed, groomed, spayed, and vaccinated before finding her happy ending: being placed into a wonderful home. She now has more than an acre of kingdom fenced-in area to explore and enjoys watching TV, staring at herself in the mirror, and—most of all—snuggling with her human family. Here she is today, in royal repose:

Here's the moral of Coco's story: You don't have to be a godmother with a magic wand. For abused, neglected, and abandoned animals, a helping hand can turn a potential tragedy into a fairy tale—and adoption provides the "happily ever after."

What You Can Do

PETA is always looking for people who can give animals loving homes. If you are an East Coast resident and are interested in adopting a companion animal from PETA, contact Adopt@peta.org. No matter where you live, please never buy an animal from a pet store or breeder—for a real fairy-tale ending, always adopt from an animal shelter or rescue.

People who recently purchased mice, hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs from a pet store might have gotten more than they bargained for—such as vomiting, chest pain, testicular pain, meningitis, paralysis, fluid on the brain, or even children born with birth defects.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating an outbreak of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infections in mice shipped to pet stores throughout the country earlier this year. Mice with LCMV can infect other rodents and even people who come into contact with them.

And guess which company shipped out some of the infected mice?

None other than Sun Pet, Ltd.—the PETCO and PetSmart supplier whose Georgia warehouse PETA investigated in 2009 and 2010. Our undercover investigator documented filthy, severely crowded conditions; unsalable animals killed in a crude, filthy makeshift gas box; and sick animals deprived of veterinary care. One worker put live hamsters into a bag and then bashed the bag against a table in an attempt to kill them. 

The Georgia Department of Agriculture put the facility on probation following PETA's investigation.

Infected rodents shed LCMV in their urine and saliva, and it also becomes airborne in filthy, cramped conditions such as those that PETA documented at Sun Pet's warehouse. For animals, it can cause weeks or even months of lethargy, loss of appetite, weight loss, inflammation, and eventually death.    

The CDC is encouraging people who experience symptoms of LCMV to see a doctor. The agency isn't being overly cautious: In 2005, three people died after receiving allegedly infected organs from a donor who had purchased a hamster with LCMV from PetSmart. One of the victims' widows sued PetSmart for negligence. We all knew animals paid the price for the cruelty and filth that are rampant in the pet trade. Now we see again that consumers might be paying it, too.

This is just one more reason to avoid sleazy animal dealers by never buying mice, hamsters, rabbits, fish, birds, or any animal from a pet store or breeder and by steering others who are considering getting an animal toward animal shelters. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furryscalyman/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department is pushing hard to ensure that, if he is convicted, a West Virginia pet-store owner currently facing felony cruelty-to-animals charges never gets within arm's reach of an animal again.

Authorities reportedly found lots of dead animals, including kittens, a dog, a reptile, mice, and rats, during a search of 27-year-old Aaron Ashley's Pets Plus store in Fairmont, West Virginia, on February 9. Ashley allegedly chose to kill them via hypothermia when they got sick! He is also accused of starving animals and knowingly selling puppies infected with parvovirus, which is often deadly.

How many more examples does anyone need of the disgusting practices that are being unearthed in the backrooms at pet stores and animal dealers: Animals are bashed against floors and walls, stomped on, drowned, put into the freezer alive, and denied food, water, and even basic medical treatment for illness and injury. In 2008, a PETA undercover investigator videotaped a Fairfax, Virginia, Petland employee scooping live rat pups into a plastic bag and slowly freezing them to death. And at U.S. Global Exotics in Arlington, Texas, a few months ago, PETA's undercover investigator found that employees killed hundreds of sick, injured, and dying animals the same way.

And while this lot turns a buck churning out more animals, millions of dogs and cats die in animal shelters for lack of a good home. Please fight this cruelty by never buying anything from stores that sell animals, always adopting animals from shelters, and opening other people's eyes.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Donny Osmond may have taken home the disco-ball trophy last night on the Dancing With the Stars finale, but Joanna Krupa, the stunning Polish model and cha cha champ, just became this fan's favorite, thanks to this ad:

In a sneak peak of our ads with Joanna and Rugby, the two of them reveal how people can their earn wings on earth—by deciding to adopt, rather than buy, companion animals. Every time a dog or cat is purchased from a pet store or breeder, an animal in a shelter loses his or her chance for a forever home.

And to think, this is only the beginning—a racier version will be released after Thanksgiving. Check back with PETA.org for all the naughty details.

Written by Karin Bennett

DailyHamster / CC

OK, so a bit of good news for bunnies. For years, PETA has been pushing PETCO to end the sale of animals in its stores. This week, the company finally announced that it will no longer sell rabbits in it stores. The phase-out begins immediately. By early 2009, the only rabbits at PETCO will come from animal shelters or rescue organizations. Mad props to the House Rabbit Society, whose efforts helped make this happen!

This is an important step in the right direction, because dogs and cats aren't the only animals left homeless in mass numbers by breeder- and "pet" industry–driven overpopulation. Rabbits are often bought on the spur of the moment—especially at Easter—by people who are unprepared for the huge responsibility of caring for them. By working with shelters and rescue societies to adopt rabbits instead of selling them, PETCO has joined a number of other companies that have already made the responsible decision not to add to the bunny overpopulation crisis.

But still …

PETCO, like PetSmart, continues to sell countless other animals who are bred, born, and warehoused in cruel animal mills such as Rainbow World Exotics (RWE). We met with PETCO last January before breaking our RWE investigation to show its representatives footage of the horrific conditions we found during our investigation at RWE. Though PETCO pledged to make some improvements, it continues to buy small animals from RWE.

RWE and other suppliers are so awful, and animal shelters and rescues are bursting at the seams with animals of all shapes and sizes. We hope that PETCO will continue to move in the right direction and soon stop selling all animals in its stores—and that PetSmart, Petland, and others will follow in PETCO's footsteps.

Written by Jeff Mackey