Amanda Seales for PETA: Stop Buying Breathing-Impaired Breeds!
Joined by Rescued Pup, Actor Urges Fans to ‘Strut That Mutt’ and Adopt
For Immediate Release:
February 15, 2023
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Smart, funny, and adopted! That’s how comedian and actor Amanda Seales describes her one-eyed rescued dog, Geordi—named after Star Trek’s Geordi La Forge—in a new PETA PSA that celebrates mutts. In an accompanying video, the Insecure star asks, “Why are people spending thousands of dollars on designer dogs who can’t breathe?”
Seales explains that bulldogs, pugs, and other flat-faced dogs are breathing-impaired breeds (BIB) who “require extensive and expensive medical care, just to help them take in air.” Going for a walk, chasing a ball, running, and playing—the things that make dogs’ lives joyful and fulfilling—are impossible for many, because they’ve been bred to have “aesthetic” deformities.
“By adopting from a shelter and not supporting breeders, you can send the message that breeding dogs to suffer is not the vibe,” says Seales with a snap. “Plus when you adopt, you can find an awesome mutt like Geordi.”
Around 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. at any given time. Many animal shelters—under pressure to avoid euthanasia at all costs—are turning dogs away when they inevitably reach capacity, leaving the most vulnerable animals with nowhere to go. Those who reproduce make the companion animal overpopulation crisis worse. That’s why PETA asks everyone to adopt instead of buying from breeders or pet stores and advises guardians to have their animal companions spayed or neutered.
“The real bottom line is that a dog is not an accessory,” adds Seales in an exclusive interview.
Seales joins a long list of celebrities—including RZA, Jhené Aiko, Cam Newton, Jermaine Dupri, and Kat Graham—who have teamed up with PETA to promote kindness to animals.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
