PETA is offering a reward of up to $3,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction on cruelty charges of the person who stole a 10-month-old pit bull mix named Off-White from his elderly guardian on 88th Avenue in Ozone Park on Saturday afternoon and took off on a scooter. Together with the reward offered by Off-White’s family, the total claimable amount offered to help bring him safely home is now up to $5,000.
Police are investigating but don’t yet have any leads, so PETA is asking for the public’s help. Would you please share this information and surveillance videowith your audience?
“This dog is in danger after being snatched away from his distraught guardian,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA urges anyone with information to come forward so that Off-White can be reunited with his family and the dognapper held accountable and stopped from inflicting any more harm.”
Tipsters should contact the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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 on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
This morning, PETA sent a letter to Lone Star Park and the Texas Racing Commission urging them to move quickly to cancel two upcoming fireworks shows, citing the dangers to ultra-sensitive, skittish horses and reminding them of previous instances in which horses became so spooked by the explosions that they injured themselves, sometimes so severely that they had to be euthanized. PETA also points out that dogs, cats, and wildlife often flee to escape the blasts, becoming lost or disoriented and sometimes running into traffic, and that veterans and others with post-traumatic stress disorder can be distressed by the war-like booms.
“Fireworks frighten horses and put them in physical peril, with often deadly results,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA is calling on Lone Star Park to act responsibly by using special-effects pyrotechnics or drone shows that deliver all the fun of fireworks with none of the fright.”
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.
PETA’s letter to Lone Star Park and the Texas Racing Commission follows.
July 1, 2022
Matt Vance
Executive Vice President of Racing
Lone Star Park
Dear Mr. Vance:
Thoroughbreds and fireworks at the same track make for a dangerous combination.
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to urge you to replace the fireworks display planned for the Lone Stars & Stripes Fireworks Festival with a safer alternative, such as a drone or laser show. These options would both be celebratory and protect the horses who will be at Lone Star Park for the races on July 3 and 4 as well as the other domestic animals and wildlife in the vicinity.
As you well know, horses are sensitive, often skittish animals, whose first instinct when startled is to bolt. Even if they are securely contained in a stall, they can rear and injure themselves. Fireworks can cause even the calmest of animals to panic, attempt to flee, or even die from accidents caused by the terrifying noise. A horse in Kentucky was so terrified by fireworks before the Fourth of July that as he tried to run away, he fell, broke his hip, and later died. Numerous similar incidents have been reported, including one in which 68 horses were so frightened by fireworks that they ran into fences and other structures, causing many injuries.
In addition to the risk of injury, there is the indisputable fact that some horses will be frightened by the loud cracks and booms of the fireworks. Why put them through this stress?
We strongly urge you to cancel the planned fireworks display in order to protect the horses and all other animals in the vicinity. Thank you. We look forward to hearing from you.
Charlie Sammut, president of Monterey Zoo—part of Vision Quest Ranch—has just been indicted on two counts of wildlife trafficking by a federal grand jury in South Carolina related to the alleged trafficking of endangered red ruffed lemurs alongside Tiger King villain Bhagavan “Doc” Antle. The indictment makes it clear that a conviction would allow the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to find new homes for the animals involved.
Below, is a statement from PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Welfare Debbie Metzler:
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
After a number of terrified animals were harmed and some were even killed as a result of last year’s Fourth of July fireworks displays, PETA is sending out a plea from Battlestar Galactica actor Edward James Olmos: Ditch the noisy, animal-endangering pyrotechnics.
Last year, a dog was killed in Highlands after improperly discarded Fourth of July fireworks caused a house to catch fire. And in Bryan, another dog got so spooked by fireworks the night before the holiday that he dug out of his yard and ran away.
“To animals, fireworks really do sound like ‘bombs bursting in air,’” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA encourages everyone to dance, cheer, and celebrate however they see fit as long as the festivities leave animals in peace.”
PETA urges animal guardians to take the following precautions to protect their dogs and cats whenever fireworks go off:
Keep cats and dogs indoors. Never leave animals tethered or chained outside—they can hang themselves if they leap over a fence while trying to run from the noise. Animals can also injure themselves while trying to climb out of pens.
Never take animals with you to watch fireworks displays! If you know in advance that there will be fireworks in your area, stay home with your animals and try to keep them calm.
Close your windows and curtains. To help drown out the sounds, turn on fans and air-conditioning units as well as the TV or a radio that’s tuned to a classical music station.
Purchase a ThunderShirt, which can help your dog or cat cope with the stress of the fireworks. Other ways to keep animals calm include playing specially designed music from iCalmPet and giving them a natural supplement called melatonin, which is widely available at low cost. (Consult your veterinarian first.)
Make sure that your animal companion is microchipped and wearing a collar or a harness with an up-to-date identification tag, just in case.
If it’s cool enough outside, take dogs for a long walk or a romp in the dog park before fireworks start in order to help tire them out.
If you witness someone setting off illegal fireworks, call the authorities right away.
Wildlife and companion animals aren’t the only ones affected: Veterans and others suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder can be deeply disturbed by fireworks, too. PETA’s tips (and helpful yard signs, available here) can help make this a safer holiday for everyone.
The group’s TV spot is running on FOX 26’s 5 p.m. news. It’s also running in Long Island, New York, and Hampton and Warminster, Ontario. PETA’s TV spot featuring Scandal star Bellamy Young is running in Boston; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Des Moines, Iowa; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
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.
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