Written by PETA
Tonight on NBC, the cocktails will flow and the bunny tails will wiggle as the network debuts The Playboy Club, a period drama about the "living, breathing fantasy world" which stars vegan PETA celebrity supporters Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Leah Renee. But bunnies (Playboy and otherwise) aren't the only ones with rampant sex drives—for unaltered dogs and cats living in the "playboy club" of the streets, life is anything but a fantasy. That's why we've asked NBC to air our frisky "Sex and the Kitty" public service announcement during the show—to give viewers a good laugh while showing them that spaying and neutering saves lives.
One unaltered female cat and her offspring can produce a whopping 420,000 cats in just seven years. The result is more animals added to the millions that are already homeless. Animals left to fend for themselves on the streets often suffer from lingering and painful diseases, starvation, exposure, or neglect or are hit by cars, attacked by other animals or cruel people, stolen by laboratory dealers, or used as bait by dogfighters.
Ending the animal homelessness crisis is everyone's responsibility. The solution is easy and practical: spay and neuter all companion animals.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
© Michael Pettigrew | Dreamstime.com
The White House is launching a new site where citizens can post petitions, and if a petition gets 5,000 signatures in 30 days, it will be reviewed by Administration officials and receive a response. This is a great opportunity to help animals, so PETA will be posting a petition asking for mandatory nationwide spay/neuter regulations in order to put a stop to the tragedy of animal homelessness, and we need your help!
Please go to the site right now and sign up to be alerted when it goes live. When that happens, find our petition, called "Stop Animal Homelessness at Its Roots," and sign it. Then get everyone you know to sign it too.
The media has already shown interest in this, so if we can grab the lead, not only can we put this life-or-death issue on the national agenda, we'll also get it in front of the American people—and America's animals will be the winners!
Written by Jeff Mackey
Every day, PETA's fieldworkers rescue homeless and unwanted cats who are battle worn and weary after months or years on the streets or in the woods. Kind-hearted people often feed homeless cats to give them at least a little relief from the constant hunger that gnaws at their worm-filled bellies. But food alone doesn't protect cats from the dangers and hostility that exist on the streets.
Two cases just this week exemplified the hard lives of homeless animals:
This cat, who had apparently been homeless for quite a while, had no teeth—leaving the cat with limited defenses and making it nearly impossible for her to get adequate nutrition.
This feral kitten was so weak that he could barely move. He was emaciated and suffering from a raging upper respiratory infection that prevented him from being able to see or smell his food. Without PETA's intervention, he likely would have starved to death.
Many people feed neighborhood cats without knowing how the cats live and die when not at the food bowls. I'd be a millionaire (and donate it all to PETA!) if I got a nickel each time a cat-feeder told me, "There used to be a white one, but he doesn't come anymore" or "I haven't seen the momma in awhile" and similar sad stories. They break my heart because I know that the cats who aren't showing up met a horrible fate under the wheels of a car, in the mouths of dogs or other animals, or at the hands of cruel people. That is, if they didn't succumb to one of the many ailments that kill cats on the streets when they don't get treatment. Even a simple urinary tract infection quickly becomes deadly for homeless cats.
If you care about homeless and feral cats, please be strong for them and rent or purchase a humane box trap (read PETA's full instructions on trapping feral cats) and bring them to a reputable open-admission animal shelter, where they might find a loving home if they're friendly or at least a peaceful release from a hostile world if they can't be adopted. It beats the alternative.
If you absolutely can't do this, at least work with a local spay-and-neuter clinic to sterilize the cats and re-release them onto the battlefield. They will still have hard lives, but they won't bring more kittens into a world where no homes for them exist and life is a struggle.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
One of the main obstacles to spaying and neutering for many elderly and low-income people is transportation. Most buses and trains don't allow animals on board, so how can someone without a car get their animals to the vet? PETA's mobile clinic staffers solve that problem by providing free transportation for anybody who asks. In May alone, PETA provided round-trip transportation to dozens of animals and sterilized 860 animals in need near our Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters.
Trixie's doting guardian no longer drives and was so grateful for our help getting Trixie to her spay appointment.
Boo Boo's guardians cried tears of joy when we offered to spay Boo Boo and her feline sister free of charge.
Of the animals SNIP performed surgeries on in May, 40 were pregnant females and 102 were feral cats, adding up to thousands fewer unwanted babies. You can help support PETA's vital spay-and-neuter program by making a donation to our fleet of mobile spay-and-neuter clinics. And you can help in your own area by volunteering with spay-and-neuter initiatives and offering to transport animals to the vet.
Are you the kind of guy who does everything with his dog? Are you a team player? If you're considering getting your cat or dog "snipped" and have thought about getting "fixed" yourself, PETA wants to reward you for helping to end human and animal overpopulation by picking up the tab for your vasectomy. We give out thousands of spay and neuter surgeries every year, but never before like this! Visit our "Win a Vasectomy From PETA" page to see how to get your free "snip" in a snap.
Star light, star bright, adopting animals left and right.
Denise Richards is in love again—with her new rescued buddy, Chocolate Chip. When the homeless terrier mix appeared on a dog-themed episode of The View that Richards was co-hosting, she curled up in the actor's lap—and never left. That did it for Richards, and soon Chocolate Chip was on a sweet trip to L.A. to meet her new fur siblings.
Emmy Rossum, star of the new Showtime drama Shameless, isn't ashamed to admit that she's a sucker for a cute stray-cat strut. While in Chicago shooting street scenes for the show, Rossum encountered a bedraggled stray cat, scooped her up, got her some much-needed veterinary care, and carted her off to L.A. to live happily ever after.
Speaking of saving lives, today is Spay Day! You can help end the animal overpopulation crisis by texting "PETA" to 27722 in order to donate $10. Message and data rates apply.
After reading the last few posts about animal homelessness, euthanasia, and hoarding, some people might be wondering what they can do to help. Perhaps a few of you have even considered starting your own animal rescue group. If so, thank you for caring so deeply, but please—help us focus attention on stemming the flow.
Think of it this way: The animal overpopulation crisis is like water flooding into a sinking ship. We don't need more people bailing; we need to fix the gaping hole in the bottom of the boat! When it comes to ending animal homelessness, the most humane and sustainable solution is to pour our time, money, and effort into having animals spayed and neutered. Preventing more animals from being born stops the problem at its source. Here are some creative ways that we can work toward a no-birth nation:
Another crucial component of ending animal homelessness is educating the public about why it's so important to adopt animals instead of buying them from pet shops or breeders. If you are considering adding a cat or dog to your family, your decision will literally mean life or death for an animal waiting in an animal shelter. If you choose to buy from a breeder or a pet store, an animal at the local shelter must be euthanized. Please, always choose to save a life by adopting your animal companions from animal shelters or reputable adoption groups.
PETA has teamed up with dozens of celebrities—including Justin Bieber, Yvonne Strahovski, Lance Bass, Kellan Lutz, Joanna Krupa, Audrina Patridge, Patricia Arquette, and others—for pro-adoption public service announcements (PSAs). You can help encourage people to adopt animals, never buy, by sponsoring or obtaining free placement for one of these PSAs in a newspaper or magazine.
Thank you for caring. Animals like these are counting on compassionate people like you:
Like so many other rabbits, Bobbi was acquired on a whim and surrendered after her owners discovered how much time and effort are required to care for a rabbit. PETA found Bobbi a loving home, and she now enjoys playing with three other rabbits and sleeping in a bed with her new family.
Julie was once trapped at the end of a chain—one of the worst punishments possible for a dog, especially a collie—but PETA's fieldworkers convinced her owners to surrender her and helped place her in a wonderful home with a family who adores her.
As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and nowhere is this truer than when it comes to spaying and neutering dogs and cats. That's why I'm so excited to announce that 2010 was a banner year for PETA's mobile clinics, which spayed and neutered a record 10,683 animals. That includes 919 feral cats and 478 pit bulls (135 of whom were sterilized at no charge to their guardians). In addition, 1,372 surgeries were performed on the animals of indigent families. Our clinics have sterilized more than 69,000 dogs, cats, and rabbits in the last decade!
All those spay/neuter surgeries will prevent the births of hundreds of thousands of kittens and puppies who would have otherwise likely struggled for survival on the mean streets or been euthanized simply because there aren't enough good homes.
PETA's clinics also provide spay/neuter services to local animal shelters and rescue groups to ensure that none of the animals who are adopted contributes to the overpopulation crisis by having puppies and kittens!
2010 was a booming year for PETA's clinics, but I know already that 2011 is going to be even better, because PETA has secured funding for a third mobile clinic! The yet-to-be-named state-of-the-art clinic will join PETA's SNIP and ABC clinics, which work around the clock to fight the overpopulation crisis in PETA's own backyard.
Want to help? Check out PETA's ABC pages to learn how to promote animal birth control in your own community and reduce the number of homeless animals who need to be rescued in the first place. Please also join PETA in calling on elected officials to pass mandatory spay/neuter laws in your state, county, and town. Together, we can become a no-birth nation—which is the only way to become a "no-kill" nation.
Today, PETA released its statistics on the number of animals it took in, found wonderful homes for, and had to euthanize in 2010. The number of animals who are discarded by people each year is staggering, and that won't change until our laws do, so PETA is once again calling on governors across the U.S. to end animal homelessness by pushing for laws that would require dogs and cats to be sterilized unless their owners purchased an annual breeding permit, the cost of which would fund low-cost spay-and-neuter services. Would you join us by asking your governor to join this effort?
Numbers can't begin to tell all these animals' stories. Have a look at just a few of the animals we've helped, and then read about all that PETA does to end the suffering of animals in its own backyard in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
PETA's fieldworkers are on duty around the clock, often getting up in the middle of the night and driving for miles to respond to emergency calls about suffering, abandoned, neglected, and abused dogs and cats. On weekends, PETA's volunteer winter "straw teams" comb neighborhoods looking for dogs who are kept chained or penned outdoors in bone-numbing cold. They urge the dogs' guardians to take their forgotten companions indoors. If they refuse and are not in violation of current cruelty-to-animals laws, PETA's fieldworkers begin a long-term commitment to improving these neglected animals' lives. They provide the dogs with doghouses; straw bedding; food; clean water; lightweight tie-outs to replace heavy, tangled chains; deworming medicine; flea, tick, and fly repellent; free veterinary care; spaying and neutering surgeries; and priceless moments of love and companionship.
PETA also coordinates the rescue of dogs like Rambo, who was left without food or water and was horribly emaciated and starving inside his filthy pen, and Sheba, who was found suffering from severe wounds caused by a metal chain that had become deeply embedded in her neck. In these cases and many others, PETA saw to it that cruelty charges were filed against the animals' owners.
Who knows how much longer poor Sheba would have suffered had it not been for PETA's intervention?
Many of the animals who are signed over to PETA, such as this poor dog and cat, are at the end of their lives or have suffered long-term neglect:
Turning away cats and dogs like these just to avoid having to euthanize them doesn't help unwanted, suffering, and dying animals. If PETA, like a disturbing number of shelters today, valued its statistics more than the well-being of individual animals who need help, animals like Tupac would be left to endure slow, agonizing deaths instead of being gently released from suffering in the arms of those who were probably the first and only people to ever truly care about them.
When PETA received Tupac, he was about 20 pounds underweight, and his ribs and spine were protruding. His head was swollen to twice its normal size from a massive growth that reeked of infection and was oozing with sores and maggots. A vet recommended euthanasia, which was, without a doubt, the most merciful thing that anyone could have done for him.
While a disturbing number of animal shelters are turning their backs on animals so that they can call themselves "no kill" shelters, PETA will always do what's best for animals who need help—even when doing so is difficult and unpopular.
Check back tomorrow to learn about the amazing strides that PETA is making to reduce animal homelessness. I can't wait to share it—PETA's mobile clinics sterilized more than 10,000 animals in 2010 alone!
Bob Barker would probably be proud to call the Ludlow apartment building in New York City home. That's because the Ludlow requires residents to spay or neuter their companion animals before they are allowed to move in.
Says Archie Gottesman, the chief executive of Edison Properties, which owns the Ludlow, "We just wanted to emphasize the pet overpopulation problem. It may not save the entire population. But it may have more of an effect."
Spaying and neutering is a cause that is close to Gottesman's heart. She spends her spare time trying to find forever families for homeless dogs and cats and sees the victims of animal overpopulation every day.
Most of us have lived in apartments where the landlord requires a pet deposit, but how much better would it be if all landlords required people to spay and neuter?
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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