Diana Penty poses with Biscuit, a World for All dog up for adoption, in time for Be Kind to Animals Week (5 to 11 May) to raise awareness of the plight of dogs in animal shelters for good homes in a new PETA India campaign to discourage pet purchases. Penty posts photos of her new puppy, Vicky, her “teammate for life,” to her nearly 5 million Instagram followers.
PETA India’s “Adopt Don’t Shop” ad features Diana Penty.
Adopting Vicky was the best decision of my life, and Indie dogs are great! Penty calls them caring, fun, smart, and resilient. “My friends at PETA India and I, are asking everyone who has the time, space, resources, and loving hearts to help give an animal a new life by adopting one from the street or a local shelter.”
Penty says street cats and dogs in India endure daily. Many starve on scraps. Others are killed by cars, have shattered bones and septic wounds, or are hurt by harsh individuals. Many animals wait in shelters because there aren’t enough good homes, and buying them from breeders or pet stores intensifies India’s homeless animal dilemma.
PETA India warns buyers that “pedigree” dogs, sold in pet shops and by breeders, have been purposely bred to have small noses and drooping backs, making them prone to breathing problems, hip dysplasia, heart defects, epilepsy, and eye and ear infections. Indian “community” dogs are sturdy, resilient, and healthy, with a great temperament.
PETA India promotes companion animal sterilization, saying “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”. Sterilization is a simple, cheap surgery that prevents animals from being born to suffer on the streets. Visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram for more details.
