365 Outdoor Nabs Award for Lifesaving Anti-Fireworks Billboard Blitz
Compassionate Company Protects Animals by Posting PETA’s ‘4THeir Sakes, 4get the Firecrackers’ PSA Ahead of July Fourth
For Immediate Release:
June 27, 2018
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
A Compassionate Business Award is on its way from PETA to Chicago-based company 365 Outdoor for running PETA’s lifesaving anti-fireworks public service announcement (PSA) on 19 billboards across the city in the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July and during the holiday. The PSA shows a dog, a cat, and exploding firecrackers alongside the words “4THeir Sakes, 4get the Firecrackers! Fireworks Terrify Animals.”
During fireworks displays, dogs have jumped fences, broken chains, torn through screens, and even leaped through glass doors in panicked attempts to escape the blasts. Animal shelters become flooded with lost animals, some of whom never make it back to their guardians. Fireworks can also be deeply disturbing to the elderly and people living with post-traumatic stress disorder and can aggravate the symptoms of those suffering from respiratory problems.
“Thanks to the compassion of 365 Outdoor, countless Chicagoans will be exposed to billboards projecting the important message that fireworks and animals don’t mix,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s ad encourages folks to help make America’s birthday a happy occasion for everyone simply by forgoing explosive firecrackers in favor of kind forms of entertainment.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—encourages families to protect their animal companions by keeping them indoors (and, if possible, staying with them), never leaving them tethered outside, closing the blinds, and turning on a loud fan, soothing music, or the television to help drown out the frightening noises. Guardians can also purchase a ThunderShirt to help ease animals’ stress and should ensure that their animal companions are microchipped and wearing collars with current identification tags.
365 Outdoor will receive a framed certificate and delicious vegan chocolates from PETA.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
