PETA Asks Park and Rec. to Post ‘Deadbeat Dog Dad’ Ad

For Immediate Release:
June 14, 2021

Contact:
Tapi Mbundure 202-483-7382

Dallas is reeling from a homeless-dog crisis, with shelters full to overflowing. So today, PETA sent a letter to Dallas Park and Recreation Administration Director John Jenkins asking him to post an ad at dog parks across the city encouraging people to chip in to reduce the problem by neutering their pups. The group points out that by doing so, Jenkins could feed two birds with one scone: He’d help combat the companion animal overpopulation crisis and give Big D locals a laugh ahead of Father’s Day.

“Dogs can’t use condoms, so it’s up to us to stop them from having litter after litter of puppies,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA’s ad points out that for every dog who is neutered, countless others won’t be born into a world already bursting at the seams with homeless ones.”

PETA has also posted the ad on benches and a bus in Corpus Christi and on the side of an interstate in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Dallas dog parks are Bark Park Central, White Rock Lake, Wagging Tail, and NorthBark.

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.

PETA’s letter to Jenkins follows.

June 14, 2021

John Jenkins

Director

Dallas Park and Recreation Administration

Dear Mr. Jenkins:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide—including many thousands across Texas—ahead of Father’s Day, with a suggestion to address the companion animal overpopulation and homelessness crisis across the state. To help combat dog homelessness, would you please post our “Don’t Let Your Dog Be a Deadbeat Dad—Get Him Neutered Today” ad in and around the Bark Park Central, White Rock Lake, Wagging Tail, and NorthBark dog parks?

Animal shelters must euthanize millions of wonderful, deserving dogs and cats every year because of neglect, abuse, abandonment, and a shortage of good homes. Countless other animals don’t even make it to shelters and are left to struggle for survival on the streets, where many starve, die of untreated injuries and illnesses, get hit by cars, or fall prey to animal abusers.

The average litter size in dogs ranges from one to 12 puppies, and some larger breeds can have up to 15 puppies in a single litter. A male dog who isn’t neutered could potentially mate with any unspayed female he comes into contact with, so the number of puppies a male dog can produce is limitless. Since animal shelters already take in more than 6 million animals every year, it’s imperative that we do all that we can to reduce the number of homeless animals.

We’d love to work with you to promote animal birth control in Dallas. I’d be pleased to send over as many of these posters as you’d like. Thank you for your consideration—I look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President