You’ve heard the fairytale version, but this summer, PETA fieldworkers found three real-life little pigs living like this 👇, unable to escape from the cramped, flooded pen they were trapped in. So what did our Community Animal Project (CAP) staff do? They made three little pigs’ fairytale dreams come true.
With the owner’s permission, our fieldworkers transported these pigs to a wonderful new home, one where they can enjoy open spaces, foraging, and real living.
These pigs are just three of the hundreds of animals PETA helped this summer. Keep scrolling to meet a few others CAP rescued during July, August, and September:
Saving Lives Through Prevention and Giving Guardians Like Lily’s Something to Smile About
Last quarter, the veterinary staff of our mobile spay/neuter clinics sterilized thousands of animals, including Bella Mae (below) and Lily (above), who were among the hundreds of animals we transported for free to and from their no-cost spay/neuter appointments. Bella Mae’s grateful guardian stares adoringly at her best friend after a spay surgery. After animal control removed more than 150 rabbits from the home of an overwhelmed local woman, PETA teamed up with two other shelters to sterilize and address the veterinary needs of the remaining animals on the property. Our mobile clinics staff spayed and neutered 12 rabbits, including this one, at no cost to their owner. Many of our sterilization surgeries and other services are performed free of charge for indigent families.
Twenty years ago, PETA’s Mobile Clinics Division was born—and this year, it celebrated the sterilization of 194,000 animals and counting. Thanks to the steadfast support of our wonderful members and supporters, our mobile clinics will continue to offer low- and no-cost spay/neuter surgeries, helping to prevent the births and inevitable suffering of hundreds of thousands of unwanted dogs and cats in Virginia and North Carolina.
Young Hazel and Hundreds of Other Animals Were Given a Chance at a Better Life
Hazel was kept in an outdoor pen (left) until PETA fieldworkers talked to her owner about giving her a chance to join a family who would welcome her into their hearts and home. Hazel was relinquished to PETA, and we transferred her to the Norfolk SPCA, where she was quickly adopted (right). After years of visits and persistence by PETA fieldworkers, Snoop is no longer condemned to a lonely existence tethered outside (left). We transferred him to the Virginia Beach SPCA, one of our partner shelters, where he was adopted (right).
For Humans Who Needed Help Keeping and Caring for Their Animal Companions, PETA Was There, Too
One of the hundreds of requests for assistance that we received this quarter was for Zuul, who was chained outside and unable to escape when another chained dog broke loose and attacked him. We responded right away to the family’s call for help. Our mobile clinics staff cleaned and treated his wounds, in addition to neutering him, all at no cost. Zuul—now living indoors—is recovering well. His family is among the nearly 300 PETA helped to keep their animal companions in July through September alone. PETA fieldworkers continued to help animals like Blackie (above) by ensuring that they had access to food, water, shelter, and shade. We also gave away free bags of kibble, administered treatment for parasites, trimmed nails, repaired doghouses, provided water buckets, and replaced short, heavy chains with 15-foot lightweight tie-outs. Lady had been chained amid trash, without any shelter to protect her from the elements … … until she became one of the two dozen “backyard dogs” who received new wooden doghouses from PETA last quarter.
Animals Ready for a Loving, Permanent Home Strike Gold, Thanks to PETA
Sharon was chained on a property (left) that we have been visiting since 2018. In January 2021, her owner died of COVID-19, and out-of-state family members left her and two other dogs—one of them Pancake (below)—tied up outside the vacant house, checking on them only sporadically. If not for our regular visits and care, these animals surely would have died. When we finally secured their relinquishment in July, a PETA fieldworker, who was dedicated to this sad case, welcomed Sharon into her home (right). Sharon now enjoys the comforts of life as an indoor dog with a family that includes other PETA adoptees. The two other dogs sustained significant psychological damage from chronic neglect and isolation. One was so terrified that she could not be touched and was euthanized for humane reasons. Pancake—who had lost at least a third of her bodyweight, had sustained significant hair loss, had a severe flea infestation, and was covered with toxic ash from a nearby burn pile on the day she was rescued—was placed in a foster home to help her learn about life outside that hellish property. She is heartworm positive (as is Sharon), and both dogs need extensive dental work and specialized veterinary treatment. Pancake is recovering in foster care and is looking for a permanent adoptive home that can accommodate her lifelong special needs. LEFT: A PETA fieldworker comforts Pancake in the field | RIGHT: Pancake in her new harness, enjoying life with her loving foster family
As sweet as maple syrup, Pancake never stops wagging her tail. All she needs now is a special family that is ready to turn their home into the “international house of Pancake.” If you have a craving for a never-ending stack of canine devotion, flip open your phone and put in your request to gobble up Pancake at [email protected].
CAP Didn’t Just Help Pigs, Dogs, and Rabbits This Summer—It Made the World a Kinder Place for Bookworms, Too
Through PETA’s Barks & Books program, we distributed children’s books this quarter with animal-friendly themes to kids we met in the field and at our spay/neuter clinics. This summer, PETA staff also built and installed our second “little free library” in an underserved rural area in partnership with award-winning author Shelia P. Moses. We will keep it stocked with books that help children develop their reading skills as well as empathy and kindness toward others.
Diamond’s guardian brought her cancer-stricken dog to PETA’s shelter for end-of-life services. For those who can’t afford this vital service, we offer no-cost euthanasia. Diamond’s guardians filled out postcards asking their state legislators to safeguard our ability to offer this assistance. In July, August, and September, hundreds of CAP’s constituent families (like Diamond’s) sent postcards to their elected officials regarding our services, including end-of-life care. When elderly pit bull mix Sheba stopped eating and drinking and became immobile, her guardians asked us to end her misery. A kind local resident contacted us after finding a brown tabby kitten (left) who had sustained horrific injuries to her face, with deep, maggot-infested wounds. We quickly ended her suffering. At another property, we spotted this dying orange kitten (right), who was too weak to stand up, missing an eye as a result of a severe untreated infection, and completely blind in the remaining eye. He, too, was promptly released from his suffering. This summer, PETA euthanized hundreds of feral cats who were suffering from conditions that included advanced upper respiratory infections, missing eyes, broken jaws, BB gun wounds, feline leukemia and panleukopenia, and ulcerated, infected, and ruptured eyes and paw pads.
Like dogs and small children, cats who are allowed outdoors without supervision are vulnerable to the dangers posed by cars, other animals, cruel people, and diseases. Free-roaming cats also pose a threat to wildlife, killing billions of birds and small mammals every year.
To learn more about the ways PETA fieldworkers make the world a more compassionate place for companion animals, check out Breaking the Chain—watch it on Prime Video:
There’s a good chance that after you’ve read CAP’s summer synopsis and watched Breaking the Chain, our field team is one you’ll want to be a part of. If that’s the case, please consider applying! We’re looking for diligent, hardworking, kind, professional, physically able individuals who care about animals—and who don’t mind getting their cargo pants a little (or a lot!) dirty.
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