Images of Sports Stars Ron Artest and Aaron Curry, Both Supporters of the Animal Birth Control Program, Adorn the State-of-the-Art No- to Low-Cost Veterinary Clinic
For Immediate Release:
May 12, 2011
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Norfolk, Va. — Joined by Simpsons creator Sam Simon, Anna Ware of the Holland M. Ware Charitable Foundation, and PETA staff and their animal companions, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim will cut the ribbon on the latest addition to PETA's fleet of mobile veterinary clinics:
Date: Friday, May 13
Time: 12 noon
Place: PETA building, 501 Front St., Norfolk
"Hampton Roads has more dogs and cats than it has good homes for," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "The way to tackle this crisis is by spaying and neutering—something that this new clinic will allows us to do more of."
Emblazoned with images of NBA superstar Ron Artest and top NFL defender and North Carolina native Aaron Curry, the massive, state-of-the-art new clinic will offer low-cost—and, for qualified residents, free—spay-and-neuter surgeries. Since it began operating in April 2001, PETA's spay-and-neuter program has sterilized more than 70,000 dogs, cats, and rabbits in the Hampton Roads and northeast North Carolina areas, preventing hundreds of thousands of animals from being born, lowering intake and euthanasia rates at local animal shelters, and sparing animals the stress and suffering of abandonment.
Ware's family foundation donated the custom-built clinic, contributing more than $360,000 to the project. Ware also donated $5,000 to PETA to sterilize at-risk pit bulls—the most abused breed of dog—for free. Simon is the founder of the Sam Simon Foundation, a Los Angeles–based animal rescue organization.
People whose dogs or cats need to be spayed or neutered are encouraged to call 757-622-PETA (option 3) from Virginia and 1-800-566-9768 from North Carolina to make an appointment with one of PETA's clinics. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
