Video: Jerome Flynn Urges ‘Game of Thrones’ Fans to Stop Buying Huskies

For Immediate Release:

11 April 2019

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 222; [email protected]

VIDEO: JEROME FLYNN URGES ‘GAME OF THRONES’ FANS TO STOP BUYING HUSKIES

Ahead of Show’s Final Season, Actor Warns That Direwolf Lookalikes Are Bought on a Whim, Dumped When Novelty Wears Off

London – Ahead of the upcoming final season of Game of Thrones, series star Jerome Flynn appears in a new PETA campaign urging fans not to buy huskies or any other animal on impulse. In recent years, there has been a spike in the number of huskies being abandoned or handed over to shelters, which experts attribute to increased demand for the breed because of its physical similarities to the show’s direwolves.

“While people may have good intentions, acquiring dogs on a whim has dire consequences,” says Flynn. “Animal shelters around the world are reporting a surge in the number of abandoned huskies because the casual acquirer, drawn to the dog’s appearance, failed to take into consideration the amount of time, patience, and money required to care for these animals properly.”

For those who do have the resources to take care of an animal for life, Flynn has one request: “If you have carefully considered bringing a four-legged companion into your family, you can save a life by adopting a dog – or preferably two so they can keep each other company – from your local animal shelter.”

Every year, hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats end up in animal shelters across the UK, and many have to be euthanised simply because there aren’t enough good homes for them. That’s why PETA, like Flynn, encourages would-be guardians to adopt animals and never buy them from breeders or pet shops, which contribute to the overpopulation crisis.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. The group notes that since Game of Thrones premiered in 2011, animal-rescue centres in the UK have reportedly seen a 420 per cent increase in the number of huskies needing rehoming. Blue Cross, a charity that rehomes companion animals, reports that the number of abandoned or unwanted wolf-like dogs, including huskies, has been steadily rising over the past few years. In the US, two breed-specific rescue groups in California have seen the number of animals they take in double over the last two years.

Flynn, a long-time vegan who previously starred in a PETA campaign exposing the horrors of Britain’s meat industry, is part of a growing list of celebrities who have teamed up with PETA and its international affiliates to promote kindness to animals – including his Game of Thrones co-stars Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey as well as Andy Serkis, Jude Law, and Gillian Anderson.

For more information on the homeless-animal crisis, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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