New PETA Ad in ‘Washington Times’ Calls for Birth Control for 8-Week-Olds

In Wake of Lifting of ‘Morning-After’ Pill Age Restrictions, Group Reminds Readers That There’s No Plan B for Cats and Dogs

For Immediate Release:
June 20, 2013

Contact:
Kaitlynn Kelly 202-483-7382

Washington — In response to the Obama administration’s recent decision to drop the fight to set an age limit for purchasing the Plan B One-Step “morning-after” pill over the counter, PETA has decided to keep the controversy brewing—but with a twist. The group has taken out an ad in The Washington Times that’s sure to grab readers’ attention. The ad—which appears in the main news section of today’s edition—shows a young teenage girl holding a kitten and reads, “Birth Control Before She’s 15? Yes!” It goes on to explain, “Cats and dogs can be fixed when they are 8 weeks old. There is no Plan B for animals.”

“Dogs and cats can’t take a ‘morning-after’ pill any more than they can use a condom—and that’s why millions of them end up in animal shelters every year,” says PETA Associate Director of Campaigns Lindsay Rajt. “There’s no Plan B for cats and dogs, kittens and puppies—spaying and neutering are the only ways to stop the homeless-animal crisis.”

One unspayed female cat and her descendents can produce a whopping 370,000 cats in just seven years, and one unneutered male dog can father nearly limitless litters. Every year, 6 to 8 million cats and dogs end up in U.S. animal shelters, and roughly half of them must be euthanized because there simply aren’t enough good homes. Unwanted dogs and cats who never make it to an animal shelter are often abandoned and must fend for themselves on the streets, where they succumb to starvation, disease, injuries, or abuse at the hands of cruel people. The solution is simple: spaying and neutering.

PETA also strongly encourages all prospective dog or cat guardians to save a life by always adopting from an animal shelter, rather than buying from a breeder or pet store, which only exacerbates the homeless-animal crisis.

For more information, please visit PETA.org. To see the ad and learn more about the vital importance of spaying and neutering, please click here.

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