George Lopez: Give Animals the Gift of a Loving Home—Always Adopt, Never Buy

Comedian Stars in New PETA Video Asking Fans Not to Buy Animals While Millions Wait in Shelters for a Home

For Immediate Release:
December 13, 2018

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Just in time for the gift-giving season, TV icon George Lopez is taking aim at people who purchase dogs from pet stores or breeders in a new video for PETA. Every year after the holidays, shelters see a spike in homeless animals as people find themselves unable to care for the surprise puppies and kittens they received as presents. Lopez, who’s adopted five dogs from shelters, insists that if the whole family is ready to choose a companion for life, they should always adopt—and the actor isn’t afraid to shame anyone who buys and lies.

“I’m sick of seeing people post pictures of themselves and their purebred—¿cómo se llama?—bichon…. … and they say they adopted the dog,” he says. “They didn’t adopt it. They bought it. Where did they adopt him from? Puppies’R’Us? Huh? … [W]hen you buy a dog from a breeder, a dog in a shelter loses the chance of finding a good home.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—notes that every year, more than 6 million dogs and cats end up in U.S. animal shelters, and about half of them have to be euthanized because there aren’t enough good homes for them all.

Lopez is part of a long list of celebrities—including Kate del Castillo, Jesse & Joy, Edward James Olmos, Eva Mendes, and Joaquin Phoenix—who have teamed up with PETA or its affiliates to promote kindness to animals.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.