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A 14-year-old Pennsylvania student named Avery Sontheimer has raised over $17,000 for animal shelters across the country—all while battling cancer. She’s a fighter and an inspiration to young people everywhere, showing that when you care about something, you have to act.

Avery’s Story

So far, Avery’s Pawsitive Change project has sent 2,000 letters along with $5 or $10 gift cards to animal shelters and encourages the charity’s nearly 7,000 Facebook fans to support shelters, too. PETA is honoring the young activist with our Hero to Animals Award. We celebrate this wonderful, selfless girl who is making the world a better place by caring for others. Her determination and passion for helping animals make us all want to be better activists, too.

Thanks to Avery’s extraordinary courage, kindness, and commitment, animals in shelters are getting some much-needed support. PETA admires her efforts and wishes her a cancer-free future, and we hope she meets her goal of one day operating her own animal shelter.

The Homeless-Animal Crisis

Around 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. at any given time. An estimated 10% of those end up in animal shelters, where many must eventually be euthanized for reasons including injury, illness, old age, emotional and psychological damage, and a lack of good homes. That’s why PETA advocates for adoption and urges guardians to get their animal companions spayed or neutered.

Because a growing number of animal shelters have begun to turn many animals away, more and more are ending up on the streets, where they reproduce and create even more homeless animals. Dogs and cats are domesticated animals, who depend on humans to meet their needs for food, water, veterinary care, shelter, and safety and cannot thrive or survive for long on their own.

You Can Help Cats, Dogs, and Other Companion Animals, Too

We can all take a page out of Avery’s book and raise money or donate to help animals, get our own animals spayed and neutered, call authorities when we see animals suffering in our community, and inform others about the importance of adopting animals and never buying them.

Are you 13 to 24 years old and interested in helping animals? Join Students Opposing Speciesism (SOS) and start taking action for animals today!

The post This Teen Raised Thousands of Dollars to Help Homeless Animals—We’re Inspired! appeared first on PETA.

As we enter a holiday weekend honoring Martin Luther King Jr., PETA is sharing an important conversation about social justice that took place among our staff and PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. Our hope is that it will encourage similar discussions in households across the country.

We hope you will read it all and join us in respectful dialog about the points it raises.

Perhaps it has never been more vital for every caring person to think critically, to discuss their thoughts, and to take action to combat injustice.

Conversation at PETA

The post An Important Conversation About Social Justice appeared first on PETA.

“If you wouldn’t eat your dog, why eat a pig?” That’s the bold message on a new PETA Latino billboard that just went up across the street from a Natural Grocers store in Phoenix. The group is pushing folks to enjoy a vegan feast this year for Nochebuena, a Christmas Eve holiday celebrated in the Latinx community. PETA Latino’s vegan Nochebuena message reminds everyone that the best way to celebrate the spirit of the season is to extend peace and goodwill to all—animals included.

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Eat Pigs for Nochebuena

It’s speciesist to believe that pigs should be treated any differently from dogs. When it comes to having feelings, loving their families, and valuing their lives, pigs are no different from puppies or humans.

But in today’s meat industry, mother pigs are squeezed into narrow metal stalls barely larger than their bodies and kept almost constantly pregnant or nursing. Pigs’ tails are chopped off, their teeth are cut with pliers, and males are castrated—all without any pain relief. At the slaughterhouse, they’re hung upside down—sometimes while still conscious—and bled to death.

There’s nothing festive about this suffering.

Enjoy a ‘NocheVegana’—PETA Latino Will Help!

PETA Latino stands ready to help people celebrate a humane holiday. We offer vegan recipe guides for Nochebuena and the entire holiday season along with a vegan starter kit filled with more recipes, shopping tips, and guidance on making the switch.

Note: The billboard is located at 646 W. Indian School Rd. in Phoenix.

The post Bold PETA Latino Billboard Rocks Phoenix With Vegan Nochebuena Message appeared first on PETA.

The post Bean Is Celebrating His First Christmas Indoors With a Loving Family appeared first on PETA.

Another abusive breeder has been busted! After PETA alerted authorities to cruelty, neglect, and suffering at a Pennsylvania guinea pig– and rabbit-breeding mill, owner and breeder Joshua Stoltzfus was charged and convicted of two counts of cruelty to animals. Best of all, he agreed to shut down his facility and not possess any animals for two years!

This victory comes after PETA tipped off local humane law–enforcement officials earlier this year to a disturbing U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report in which Stoltzfus admitted to killing guinea pigs by “blunt force trauma”—in other words, bashing their heads in. As the inspecting veterinarian wrote, this method of killing likely caused the animals unnecessary pain and suffering. The report also notes that Stoltzfus let large amounts of feces, dirt, and grime build up in cages—resulting in filthy conditions and a disease risk.

PETA later provided a tip that the breeder had left a severely injured guinea pig with open sores on her back to languish in a cage. Local officials rescued her and another guinea pig and rushed them for veterinary care. Both animals have since recovered and been adopted into loving homes.

Guinea pigs are sensitive animals known to “popcorn”—hop joyfully—when they get excited. Rabbits have individual personalities, purr when they’re happy, and can live for 10 years or longer. Both types of animals require specialized care, and like cats and dogs, they face a severe overpopulation and homelessness crisis in which there’s a lack of responsible, loving guardians to care for them. There is simply no excuse for breeding or selling these fragile animals under any circumstance.

As multiple PETA investigations have revealed, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other small animals sold in pet stores come from filthy, abusive breeding mills not unlike the one Stoltzfus operated. And that’s exactly why PETA urges everyone not to buy animals from pet stores, breeders, or anywhere else—every dollar given to the exploitative pet industry contributes to animal overpopulation, homelessness, and suffering. But you can help break this cycle by pledging to adopt, not shop!

The post Breeder Convicted, Shuts Down Mill After PETA Tips Off Authorities appeared first on PETA.