Photos: Some of the Freezing-Cold Animals PETA’s Field Team Has Helped

For Immediate Release:
January 31, 2019

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

As frigid weather grips the nation, PETA’s rescue team is working around the clock to help animals in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina to survive. The team is providing chained and penned “outdoor dogs” who have no other way to escape the cold and bitter wind with sturdy doghouses and straw bedding. Neither is a substitute for a real home in which dogs can share the sofa, but both make a world of difference—sometimes the difference between life and death—to them.

When temperatures fall, stakes rise. Below are photos and stories of just a few of the animals the team has helped this winter:

A PETA fieldworker spotted little Ping Pong tied up outside amid garbage bins, piles of aluminum cans, and an old car in subfreezing temperatures—with no shelter whatsoever. Learning that the rural property had been abandoned, PETA enlisted the help of the sheriff’s department, and a deputy seized the neglected young dog. PETA was given custody of the pup after the hold period and is now caring for this playful young pug mix while he waits for the loving home that he deserves.

When PETA’s fieldworkers found Brownie, she’d been tethered to a dilapidated plastic doghouse by a very short leash, and her water had frozen over. The team members provided her with a long, lightweight tether and a sturdy PETA doghouse. They replaced her drinking water and explained to her owners that they must refresh it every few hours during subfreezing temperatures. PETA’s team will continue to check on her.

PETA fieldworkers discovered Crystal outdoors suffering from a massive, infected wound caused by a collar that had become embedded in her neck as she grew. They rushed her to an emergency veterinary clinic, where she was hospitalized. The vet estimated that the collar had become embedded in 70 percent of her neck circumference—and she’d been living on borrowed time, as it would likely have cut into her trachea as she continued growing. Now, two surgeries later, she’s playing with toys at PETA’s shelter, sitting on laps, and learning to be a carefree puppy at last.

Leonard was hit by a car days before his owner finally contacted PETA. The fieldworkers rushed him to the hospital, where he was found to have a badly broken leg that needed to be amputated. Thanks to several PETA donors who funded his surgery, he’s now recuperating, he has a new family, and his indomitable spirit and zest for life are apparent.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in way”—cautions everyone to keep their animal companions safe and warm indoors and never chain them, pen them, or let them roam unattended outside.

More details about PETA’s work in the field can be found here.