Opportunity to Name Virginia's Roads Could Benefit Communities Through Social Messaging
For Immediate Release:
March 22, 2012
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Richmond, Va. -- Virginia's legislature has just voted to sell naming rights to some of the state's roads, and PETA is hoping to be one of the first to take advantage of the new opportunity by encouraging residents to drive their dogs and cats to a veterinary clinic. In a letter sent today to the chairperson of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), PETA, whose headquarters is in Norfolk, requests a reduced rate to rename a road "Spay Today Way." Fixing roadways prevents accidents, and fixing cats and dogs does, too: People can prevent more homeless animals from ending up on Virginia's streets or crowded into Virginia's animal shelters, where taxpayers must pay for their care and, regrettably, often their destruction.
"When people spay and neuter their dogs and cats, it reduces the homeless animal crisis and saves Virginia taxpayers from having to keep animal shelters operating," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "PETA's Spay Today Way would remind residents to drive on over to their veterinarian and get that dog or cat fixed."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Sean T. Connaughton, Virginia's secretary of transportation and chairperson of the CTB, follows.
March 22, 2012
The Honorable Sean T. Connaughton
Virginia Secretary of
Transportation
Chair, Commonwealth Transportation
Board
Dear Secretary Connaughton:
I am writing on behalf of Virginia-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 3 million members and supporters, including thousands in the Commonwealth. We were excited to learn of the opportunity to name Virginia roads, and we want to be among the first applicants. As the Commonwealth Transportation Board is setting road name prices, would you consider allowing PETA to rename one of Virginia's roads "Spay Today Way" at a reduced, nonprofit rate?
As you know, I'm sure, spaying and neutering is crucial to helping decrease the deluge of unwanted dogs and cats born each year who are left to struggle for survival on the streets or turned over to severely crowded animal shelters at taxpayer expense. Millions of these animals must be killed because there are not enough good homes to go around. Communities spend large sums of taxpayer dollars each year coping with problems that spaying and neutering can solve, such as rounding up stray or abandoned animals, feeding them, and housing them.
A "Spay Today Way" would be a fun way to remind motorists about the lifesaving benefits of spaying and neutering dogs and cats and about their responsibility to have their own companion animals sterilized. Please contact me to discuss this exciting possibility. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President