Local Teen Nabs Award for Raising $14K to Help Senior Dogs

PETA Recognizes Meena Kumar for Being a Hero to Elderly Animals

For Immediate Release:
August 20, 2020

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

A Hero to Animals Award is on its way from PETA to 14-year-old Meena Kumar, who understands the importance of having a home, as she was adopted herself! Her empathy led her to save up her money for years so that she could donate it to Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, which helps find loving homes for disadvantaged, elderly dogs like Mingo, who spent most of his life lonely and neglected in a small pen until he was rescued.

When Meena was 9 years old, a neighbor introduced her to Muttville—and she was immediately struck by the importance of adopting animals, especially older ones who are often overlooked by families wanting puppies. She was inspired to help—and through her hard work sitting for companion animals, she earned $7,000 to donate to Muttville, which her father’s employer then doubled.

Now, Meena has turned her attention to animal companion health and recently joined a volunteer group that provides senior dogs with low-cost medication. “You are never too young to start thinking of ways to help animals,” she says. “Helping animals is very fulfilling. I guarantee that helping them will help you become a better human being.”

“Thanks to Meena’s diligence and huge heart, loyal and loving older dogs will be taken care of,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg. “PETA is recognizing this inspiring Bay Area teen for proving that young people can be terrific friends to animals who need them.”

Around 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. at any given time. An estimated 10% of the country’s homeless-animal population is taken in by animal shelters each year, and many must be euthanized as a result of chronic neglect or because there aren’t enough good homes for them. That’s why PETA joins Meena in urging everyone to adopt animals from shelters and never buy a cat, dog, rabbit, or any other animal from a breeder or pet store.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.