It’s in the Cards! Wendi McLendon-Covey Foretells Bad Omens for ‘Outdoor Cats’ in New PETA Video

For Immediate Release:
October 29, 2024

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Wendi McLendon-Covey doesn’t need a crystal ball to know that her cat Butters is safer indoors—but a little divination never hurts! Ahead of the premiere of her new sitcom, St. Denis Medical, McLendon-Covey stars in a new campaign for PETA reminding guardians that allowing cats to roam outdoors could cut their future short. In an accompanying video, she gives Butters a tarot card reading—and reveals the many ways that fortune favors cats who stay safe and warm inside.

“Oh, the longevity card! Because you have an extra decade on this sweet Earth since you live indoors and not outside in a bush,” McLendon-Covey says in the video. “The lifesaver: We are saving over 40 animals a week by you staying the f*** inside. You’re welcome, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and lizards!”

PETA notes that in addition to terrorizing, maiming, and killing billions of birds and other small animals every year in the U.S., cats allowed to roam outdoors are at risk of ingesting poison, contracting fatal diseases, enduring violence and abuse at the hands of cruel people, succumbing to weather extremes, being attacked by predators, being hit by cars, or falling victim to many other dangers. Toys, climbing structures, scratching posts, and other enrichment items allow cats to enjoy full and stimulating lives indoors.

“Isn’t it fun to be an ‘innie’? No extreme weather, no cars to run over you, no creepy neighbors doing anything weird with you,” McLendon-Covey says. “Just pure love and joy all up in this place.”

In an additional video spot, McLendon-Covey takes viewers on a tour of her home’s catio, where Butters and her other cats can enjoy fresh air and sunshine without endangering themselves or wildlife. PETA offers a free catio-building guide as well as a “cat guardian’s bible” written by PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, available for purchase here.

McLendon-Covey is part of a long list of celebrities—including Kathy Griffin, Lisa Ann Walter, Nikki Glaser, Brian Cox, Sarah Silverman, and Ron Perlman—who have teamed up with PETA to promote kindness to animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.