Please enjoy this article from the latest issue of our magazine, PETA Global. To begin your subscription, become a PETA member today!
Every day and night, in all weather extremes, PETA’s fieldworkers answer the call to help animals in need. “Ride along” with Ashley Beard as she takes us with her on a typical day.
8 a.m. – I load the PETA van with supplies and head out to a rural North Carolina county so impoverished that it doesn’t have a humane society or a veterinary clinic. PETA fieldworkers like me are the only hope for the animals there.
10:30 a.m. – My first stop is the home of a pit bull named Layla who is chained 24 hours a day. PETA has gotten chaining banned in numerous other communities – and is working on this one! Like many forgotten “outside dogs,” Layla is still wearing the collar that was put on her as a puppy, which is now far too small and has rubbed her skin raw. I replace it with one that fits properly and then gently but firmly remind her owners that she isn’t a lawn ornament: She’s a sensitive, social individual who needs to live indoors with her only family – them.
11:15 a.m. – I stop to check on Scarface, a pit bull who lives indoors with his devoted, elderly guardian. A few months back, I transported him to the PETA clinic for treatment of a skin infection, so I want to make sure he’s doing well. I give him some toys, which he pounces on like a kid at Christmas. Last year, PETA provided more than 3,000 animals with free food and medical treatment, a vital service appreciated by impoverished guardians.
12:30 p.m. – I pull up at Luna’s place, as I try to do at least once a month. She’s a pit bull confined to a tiny pen and one of the thousands of dogs PETA has provided with free doghouses to give them a fighting chance against the bitter winter cold. Her owners give me permission to let her out of her pen while I clean it and fill her water bucket. She has a blast racing around and rolling in the grass – such a simple thing brings her so much joy.
Luna reminds me of Bella, a puppy who had only an overturned trashcan for “shelter” when I found her. I set her up with a free PETA doghouse and stuffed it with straw to provide some insulation.
2:30 p.m. – I pick up a cat named Sunrize to take him to one of PETA’s mobile spay/neuter clinics, which sterilize over 12,000 animals a year, preventing more births that would exacerbate the homeless-animal crisis. Sunrize’s guardian is legally blind and uses a wheelchair. She is so grateful for this service that she presents me with a picture that she painted herself!
3:30 p.m. – Today is a banner day for Addie. This pup has spent years on a chain, but her owner has decided, at last, to set her free and allow PETA to find her a new home! I’m so happy about it that I snap a selfie with her and actually break into song during the long drive back to PETA’s headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.
10 p.m. – I’m on call tonight, responding to calls to PETA’s 24-hour emergency hotline, which fields reports of animals in dire need. I answer a call about an elderly pit bull who has been struck by a car and is seriously injured. The dog’s owners were going to shoot him but thankfully decided to contact PETA instead. I race out and help this poor old guy peacefully over the rainbow bridge.
Every day and every animal is different. While I may not be able to help them all, like the fable about the many starfish who had washed up on the beach and were thrown back into the ocean one by one, I can help Layla, Scarface, Luna, Sunrize, Addie, and many others.
