Little Rina Comes in From the Cold

When Rina was found by PETA fieldworkers, she was caked in mud, shivering in a pen filled with trash, and soaked to the bone by winter rain. Her water bowl, a dirty pot, was frozen over. The water had turned to muddy slush and had frozen overnight, making it impossible to take even a sip. When PETA’s fieldworkers found her, she clung to them for warmth.

After convincing her owner to surrender her, PETA’s fieldworkers whisked Rina away; bathed, warmed, and comforted her; and then transferred her to a partner animal shelter. Rina, now adopted by a family who adores her, is the joyful, loved dog she always deserved to be.

Found: Forgotten Dogs Who Know No Love

PETA’s fieldworkers travel miles in scorching heat, freezing cold, and pouring rain to reach animals who have been forgotten – penned or chained outside 24/7 in poverty pockets of rural Virginia and North Carolina. Many have nothing but a flimsy crate or a plastic trash can turned on its side in which to seek some meager shelter from storms. Others’ only “protection” is to crawl under an abandoned car or a house – if their chains are long enough. This isn’t a life any dog deserves, but PETA is determined to make a big difference for every lonely, neglected dog we find. Fieldworkers talk to owners, offer advice on how to care for animals, and urge them to let these dogs into the warmth of their homes. Some people won’t budge an inch, and in those cases, fieldworkers deliver sturdy, insulated wooden doghouses stuffed with straw, free of charge, that offer at least some protection from the snow, ice, and biting cold.

PETA fieldworkers also give each dog a toy, their first ever. Although these items can’t compare to the companionship and comfort of living indoors, they provide a bit of happiness and can lessen the misery of aching bones and being outside in freezing winter weather. We’ve distributed over 8,000 doghouses to neglected dogs since starting our program.

Working to Ban Chaining

We find chained dogs everywhere in our service areas, and every one of them is denied a real life and can only watch as the world goes by. That’s why we’re working to pass a no-chaining bill in each jurisdiction – an uphill climb in an area where even legislators see nothing wrong with keeping a dog in the far corner of their property, tied to a stake in the ground for life.

Blackie was found ankle-deep in mud and shivering from the cold when PETA staffers discovered her. They provided her with a sturdy doghouse and moved her to a soft, grassy patch in the yard. It was all they could do under the law. Bear had nothing but a pile of garbage for shelter until PETA gave him a new doghouse. The fencing materials cost a lot, but home improvement giant Lowe’s received PETA’s Compassionate Business Award for generously donating them to support our work to unchain dogs in North Carolina, where the company is based. Its donation will help provide relief to future Blackies and Bears who would otherwise have spent their entire lives at the end of a cold, heavy chain.