Billboard Asks Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore to Tweet and Help Dogs in Puppy Mills

PHILADELPHIA, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Main Line Animal Rescue is sponsoring billboards in Los Angeles and asking celebrity Tweeters to help spread the word about puppy mills.  A billboard on the corner of Lankershim and Moorpark reads "Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore please tweet all your followers and tell them about puppy mills. The dogs desperately need your help."  Ashton Kutcher has almost 7,000,000 followers on Twitter and Demi Moore has over 3,600,000 followers.  The pair also share their home with several rescued dogs.  "You can see how much they love their dogs from their tweets," said MLAR volunteer Gina Lasky.  "A few celebrity tweets could help hundreds of thousands of dogs confined to our nation's puppy mills."  A web site supporting the campaign, www.dogsinacage.com provides basic information on the factory farming of puppies in this country.   If the Kutchers agree to tweet about puppy mills and the benefits of adopting a shelter pet, a donation of $5000 will be made to the Demi and Ashton Foundation to fight human trafficking.    

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110524/DC08436)

Animal advocates everywhere were thrilled last month when award winning actress/singer Cher used her Twitter site to let her followers know Missouri's Prop B, a successful ballot initiative designed to improve conditions for dogs in Missouri's commercial dog breeding facilities, was under attack.  The legendary performer was clearly outraged by the size of the cages used to house dogs in Missouri's puppy mills.  Animal rescue organizations credit the entertainer as one of the first celebrities to use Twitter to educate people to the inhumane treatment of puppy mill dogs and applaud the singer's efforts.  It is estimated that one third of the dogs bred in Missouri's notorious puppy mills are sold in pet stores in Southern California.  

MLAR and author/animal advocate Jana Kohl decided to sponsor the billboards in light of recent events in Missouri and in response to an audit of the USDA which exposed horrific conditions in many federally licensed dog breeding facilities.  In one kennel dogs were so starved they had resorted to cannibalism and federal inspectors did nothing to help them.  "When special interest groups manage to overturn laws, and when federal inspectors disregard our existing laws and fail to protect these animals, then all we can do is raise public awareness and hope people do the right thing once they understand how much these animals suffer," said Bill Smith, MLAR founder.  "Thousands of puppy mills would close tomorrow if consumers simply adopted dogs from shelters rather than buying dogs bred in puppy mills and then sold in pet stores or over the Internet."  

Main Line Animal Rescue sponsored a billboard in Chicago asking Oprah to do a show on puppy mills three years ago.  Oprah's groundbreaking puppy mill show led to the passage of new laws designed to improve conditions for breeding dogs in over a dozen states and led to increased adoption rates in animal shelters throughout the United States.  MLAR also plans to ask Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga to tweet their fans as well.  

CONTACT:  Bill Smith, Main Line Animal Rescue, +1-610-933-0606 [email protected]

SOURCE Main Line Animal Rescue