‘Too Hot for Spot and Tot’: PETA Launches Local Ad Blitz
For Immediate Release:
July 1, 2021
Contact:
Tapi Mbundure 202-483-7382
Fort Myers ranks 21st among the country’s top 50 hottest cities, so PETA has just launched an ad campaign at gas stations across the city, warning drivers that leaving dogs and children in hot cars can quickly turn lethal.
“In the time it takes to run a quick errand, a parked car can reach an internal temperature in the triple digits,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is reminding everyone that the safest place for our most vulnerable family members is indoors, where it’s cool.”
Already this summer, seven dogs and five children have died inside hot cars. In the last year, at least 49 animals have died from heat-related causes and another 102 animals were rescued just in time—and since these numbers include only incidents reported in the media, the actual figures are surely far higher.
Anyone who sees a dog or a child in a parked car should take immediate action: Write down the vehicle’s color, make, model, and license plate number and rush to have the store page the owner. If they can’t be found, call 911—and if authorities are unresponsive, do what it takes to save a life. PETA offers an emergency window-breaking hammer for intervening in life or-death situations.
The ads will run until July 11 at the following locations:
- Chevron, 4821 Buckingham Rd.
- Chevron, 3005 Cleveland Ave.
- Chevron, 13031 Metro Pkwy.
- BP/Amoco, 19051 S. Tamiami Trl.
- Marathon, 2101 Crystal Dr.
- Mobil, 11571 Gladiolus Dr.
- Citgo, 4387 Palm Beach Blvd.
- Sunoco, 11401 McGregor Blvd.
- Super Stop, 3485 Fowler St.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
