PETA Representatives Lead Rescue in the War Zone

Images of kittens sniffing amid the rubble. Dogs seen running frantically down the streets. These scenes – reminiscent of cruel and illegal decisions made by American officials in the wake of Hurricane Katrina – are reality once more in Lebanon.

Animals don't belong to religious groups or have nationalities, and they own no bombs or tanks, yet they suffer in our wars. PETA representatives Jason Baker – a veteran of animal-rescue efforts in New York City following September 11 and in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina – and Michele Rokke are in the Middle East leading the only foreign-based animal rescue team helping terrified animals who are trapped in the war zone.

The Team's Latest Dispatch From Lebanon

Check back daily for the latest news and photographs from ground zero. Our team's latest report follows.

8 August, 2006: Kitten Is the Last One Out as Bombings Increase

“Bombs fell heavily on southern Beirut”, Jason reports. “It has become impossible to get into areas outside the city, where Israeli planes have dropped leaflets warning everyone to evacuate before everything will be levelled. We have left provisions for the black dog and his friends with an old man who remains here, and we have taken one kitten to a shelter in Amman, where she will be sterilised and re-homed. Now we are packing up to leave, but our hearts remain with the animals who cannot escape. War is truly a terrible thing for all forms of life.”

This is Jamelia, the kitten who left the war zone with her PETA friends.

Jason continues: “We wish our very best to CHAI, which is working on the Israeli side; to BETA, which is trying to help animals in Beirut and to the Humane Center for Animal Welfare in Jordan, which has taken in some of the animals we got out of Lebanon. And our thanks to the wonderful individuals – including those in the rescue services and the military on all sides of this hideous situation – who have helped animals caught up in the warfare. These individuals all did a better job than the rich governments who betrayed faithful animals and the people who cared for them”.

7 August 2006: Abandoned Cat Saved From the Streets

This cat, “Culchuh” – Farsi for “Cookie” – turned up at a grocery store two weeks after the first bombs fell. A woman in the store recognised her as having belonged to a family who had left the area. At any loud noise, Cookie would run into the store, only to creep back outside to beg again for food. PETA’s team took her to a rescue unit in Jordan, where she will stay until a new home can be found for her, and paid for her spay surgery and medical needs. Meanwhile, the media continue to cover the plight of animals in the war (but sadly, media in the UK and the US appear to be the exceptions).

Michele reports: “On the news, they’re reporting that fliers are being dropped from planes in Sidon (Saida) urging people to leave before the city is bombed. My heart breaks for the calico kitten and the two puppies I fed there earlier. They were waiting on a porch for their people to come home, and everyone who was left behind thought that would happen, but now we fear for them. We have no way of going back; the area is closed off”.

6 August, 2006: PETA Helps Officials to Aid Animals in Need

5 August, 2006: PETA’s Work Continues as the Bombs Fall

4 August, 2006: PETA’s Work in the Australian Media

3 August, 2006: ‘Amid the Horror, There Is Some Joy’

2 August, 2006: PETA Has Entered Bombed War Zone in Southern Lebanon

31 July, 2006: PETA Team Heads Into Beirut

PETA Europe and PETA US Call On Officials to Facilitate Evacuation of Animals

PETA Europe has sent an urgent letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair begging him to instruct the Ministry of Defence to help evacuees take their animals with them to safety and attracting international media attention to the government's failure to serve all Britons trapped in Lebanon. Mike Hancock, MP, has taken up this issue with Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett and has also fired off a letter to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

PETA US has sent an urgent letter to Brig. Gen. Carl Jensen – the military commander in charge of US evacuation operations in Lebanon – begging him to instruct his officers to help evacuees take their animals with them to safety and attracting international media attention to the government's failure to serve all Americans trapped in Lebanon. PETA US made a similar request of Canadian Minister of National Defence Gordon O'Connor.

PETA also dashed off a letter to Siyabonga Ponco, chargé d'affaires of the South African Embassy in Cairo, urging him to permit South African nationals who are being evacuated to take their companion animals with them rather than forcing them to abandon their animals in the rubble to starve. The plea stemmed from an e-mail message that Ponco sent to PETA in which he suggested that evacuees with animals should “not demand more than they could be given” – implying that a request to help South African citizens take their beloved cats, dogs and birds with them would be asking too much.

Israeli and Lebanese Animal Protection Groups Work for Animal Victims

One of PETA's early volunteers, Nina Natelson – the founder of Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI) – has rescue teams on the ground on the Israeli side of the current conflict.

PETA has sent funds to support CHAI and Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and we commend the work of all citizens who help any being in need.

How You Can Help Today

Make your animals' safety a priority: Be prepared! Take a few minutes while conditions are secure to plan ahead and make arrangements for your animal companions' safety in case of emergencies.

Please immediately urge Prime Minister Tony Blair not to break the law by encouraging abandonment of companion animals. Ask him to ensure the safety of all Britons in future disasters and emergencies by ordering that citizens be allowed to evacuate with their animal companions:

The Right Honorable Tony Blair
10 Downing Street
London SW1A
UK
020 7925 0918 (fax)
PM.gov.uk (e-mail available through Web site)