Stand-Up Comic Asks City to Follow the Lead of His Native Portsmouth
For
Immediate Release:
January
8, 2013
Contact:
Wendy
Wegner 202-483-7382
Newport News, VA -- On behalf of PETA, comedian, actor, and Portsmouth native Patton Oswalt has sent a letter to Newport News Mayor McKinley L. Price and to each of the city's council members urging them to follow the lead of more than 100 jurisdictions—including neighboring Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, and Hampton—and enact legislation that bans or significantly restricts the continuous chaining of dogs. In the letter, Oswalt points out that chaining dogs is not only cruel but also dangerous—chained dogs have been known to accidentally hang themselves, and, because chaining also leads to aggression, they are nearly three times more likely to attack than dogs who are not chained.
"There is no worse punishment for a dog than a life sentence at the end of a chain," writes Oswalt, who played Spencer Olchin in the sitcom The King of Queens and was the voice of the lead animated character Remy in the 2007 Academy Award–winning film Ratatouille. "Forcing man's best friend to exist in the same barren patch 24/7 deprives these highly social pack animals of proper socialization and the opportunity to move around and explore."
Dogs who are chained outdoors are forced to endure all weather extremes, and they spend their entire lives eating, sleeping, and eliminating in the same few square feet of space. Chained dogs are also defenseless, which makes them easy targets for thieves, dogfighters, and neighbors who are annoyed by the dogs' barking.
PETA's letter to Newport News Mayor McKinley L. Price and the City Council is available here. More information is available at PETA.org.