PETA Recounts Work to Combat Animal Homelessness During 2020 Pandemic

Group Spent Over $2.5 Million Feeding, 'Fixing,' and Furnishing Free Veterinary Care to Animals in Virginia and North Carolina

News provided by

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Jan 28, 2021, 20:26 ET

NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Regrettably, many animal shelters and veterinary clinics reduced services during the COVID-19 pandemic, but with determination, PETA helped more companion animals than ever. The group spent over $2.5 million in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, providing free services, including delivery of food, medication, and other supplies; counseling to enable people to keep their animals; and veterinary care and end-of-life help for low-income families dealing with ill, aged, aggressive, or dying animals. Glimpse PETA's community work here.

Now, PETA is appealing to government officials and the public to help us end the homeless-animal crisis via prevention by having animals spayed or neutered, helping others do the same, adopting and never purchasing animals, and reporting neglect. Millions of dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters annually—and many others are abandoned to suffer and die on the streets, especially during the pandemic, when many shelters have closed their doors to incoming unwanted animals.

In 2020, PETA's work in impoverished areas—as profiled in Breaking the Chain, the new documentary produced by Oscar winner Anjelica Huston—included the following:

"Fixing" 12,565 animals on its mobile clinics, preventing millions from being born into homelessness
Transporting, for free, more than 800 animals to and from its clinics for guardians without transportation
Providing more than 3,000 families with free veterinary and counseling services
Delivering 210 sturdy free doghouses and straw bedding to dogs tethered or penned outside 24/7
Providing more than 7,000 "outdoor dogs" with free flea and flystrike prevention, water buckets and fresh water, food, and much-needed affection
Placing 874 animals in loving homes or delivering them to other animal shelters for potential placement

"Animals suffer every day, from freezing to death on a chain to suffering without vital veterinary care," says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "PETA's doors are always open to any animal in need, and we push hard for the homeless-animal crisis to be addressed at its root—with accessible spay and neuter surgeries for all."

PETA is the only animal shelter in the region that takes in all animals—without restrictions, appointments, waiting lists, or admission fees.

For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

SOURCE People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)