Introducing PETA's ABC Campaign

In the US, homelessness is not just a human problem. U.S. animal shelters must put to death nearly 4 million dogs and cats every year because of simple math: too many animals and not enough worthy adoptive homes. You can help prevent this; it's as easy as ABC—Animal Birth Control!

Never Breed or Buy. Always Adopt. Always Spay and Neuter.

Please join countless other kind people who are practicing animal birth control. Find out how you can help, and please pledge to practice animal birth control.

Every year in the United States, open-admission animal shelters across the nation are forced to put to death roughly half of the 6 million to 8 million unwanted dogs and cats who pour into their overwhelmed facilities. Wonderful, healthy, social, loveable animals lose their lives because of simple math: too many animals and not enough homes.

Every animal bred and born—on purpose or by accident—and every animal purchased from a breeder or a pet shop fills a home that could have taken in a dog or a cat dying for a home at a local shelter. Never breed or buy from breeders or pet stores, and always practice your ABCs—Animal Birth Control—to work toward the goal of a "No-Birth" nation.

The Goal: A 'No-Birth' Nation

The only way to make our communities "no-kill" is to work toward a "no-birth" nation through legislative measures that mandate spaying or neutering unless a proper permit is purchased, with permit revenues used solely to subsidize sterilization surgeries for low-income families and citizens. For a list of jurisdictions that have passed such laws, please click here.

Until people spay and neuter their animals, euthanasia will remain a tragic necessity. No one wants to have to euthanize animals—least of all those who hold the syringe—but every day, animal shelter workers see fates far worse than a humane death: animals who are cruelly killed by mean people; animals who are chained, neglected, and starved; animals who perish on the streets, where they are considered a public health threat and a nuisance; and more.

Be Part of the Solution: Practice Your ABCs!

Sign our pledge saying that you will never buy an animal from a pet store or a breeder and that you will practice your ABCs! If you already have an animal companion in your family from a pet store or breeder, that's OK! Pledge not to buy again and to practice your ABCs!

Be an ABC volunteer! We are looking for volunteers to help citizens make life-saving spay/neuter services a reality for their animals and their communities. If you want to get more involved in your community, e-mail us for more information!

To receive more ideas on how you can help animals, join PETA's Activist Network.