April 5, 2016
In February, PETA’s fleet of mobile clinics performed a record-breaking 1,304 spay and neuter surgeries in just 29 days! Thanks to our work last month, nearly 1,100 indigent families didn’t have to scrape together the funds to keep their beloved companions from contributing to the animal overpopulation crisis. A total of 739 more cats won’t be creating litter after litter of kittens to be abandoned to already severely crowded shelters, and 565 dogs are no longer at risk of bringing puppies into a world without the loving homes to care for them all. Your support during our recent Spay Day campaign helped make this vital program’s success possible and powers our work to perform more life-changing surgeries in 2016 than ever before.
Here are a few of the many animals we helped during the last month alone:
When our fieldworkers met Oreo—a sweet pup from rural North Carolina—his only protection from cold spring rains was a muddy crawl space under a back porch. Our team quickly arranged for him to receive a sturdy new straw-filled PETA doghouse—one of 16 delivered to dogs in need during that week alone.
Lucy’s owner told us that he had been keeping her confined to a small backyard hutch because he didn’t want anyone to steal her. We got her out of that barren, lonely box and set her up with a proper doghouse with space to stretch out. We’ll continue to watch over her to make sure she’s spayed and never again confined to that decrepit hutch.
Rusty, an 11-year-old pit bull mix, has had a large, painful tumor growing from the base of his ear for about a year. Unable to afford to have it assessed, treated, or removed by a veterinarian, Rusty’s owners were desperate for help when it suddenly ruptured and wouldn’t stop bleeding. Another local animal shelter referred the family to PETA. Unfortunately, Rusty was in no shape for surgery given his age and deteriorating health. His owners decided that euthanasia was the kindest thing for him in order to alleviate his suffering, and PETA provided that service free of charge.
When PETA fieldworkers checked in on Brownie—a chow–pit bull mix in North Carolina who had spent much of his life chained outside—they found him clearly in pain and behaving aggressively. Large patches of his skin were red and raw, and his face was swollen and draining pus and other fluid after a fight with another dog. The severity of his untreated injuries and advanced heartworm disease led his owner to decide that euthanasia would be the most compassionate thing for him, and he was released from his suffering.
Finally, since first providing her with a PETA doghouse in 2007, our fieldworkers have been regularly checking in on Fluffy. Wherever her owners moved, this friendly dog would be found chained outdoors, despite our repeated counseling. We gave Fluffy a doghouse in an effort to make her life a little less miserable. Poor Fluffy’s filthy, matted fur and heartworm disease were just some of the consequences of nearly a decade of neglect. Last month, after a fieldworker on a routine visit learned that her owners planned to move her to yet another lonely backyard, her owner finally agreed to give the long-suffering dog to PETA.
Once she arrived at the PETA office, her whole world changed. For the first time in her life, she had a chance to play with new dog friends and enjoy the company of people who would give her the affection that she’d been denied for so long. Now renamed Edith, she just loves everything about her new “forever home” with a fieldworker who had been visiting her for those many years. The caring and generosity of PETA supporters like you are what allows our team to help hundreds of animals like Edith each month. Thank you for supporting this vital work for animals.