PETA has run into a doggone problem in spreading a message to pet owners across D.C.
Less than a week after the animal rights organization placed nearly two dozen sidewalk decals at busy parks and intersections in the District, the city’s department of transportation has asked the group to peel them up.
The posters, which warn dog owners against walking their pups on concrete during extremely hot times of day, were stuck to pavements on Thursday without permission, according to D.C Department of Transportation spokesperson Terry Owens.
He told DCist on Tuesday that the transit agency asked PETA to remove the signs for their “Protect Dogs’ Paws From Hot Pavement” project, citing a D.C. law that states: “Without a permit from the Mayor, no person shall place any letters or advertising device in or upon any sidewalk, in any manner whatever; either by projecting images or shadows upon the sidewalk by means of lenses or reflectors, or both, or in any other manner.”
PETA spokesperson Brooke Rossi told DCist that they inquired about the permits but were told they couldn’t get any. So they decided to take a risk. “Knowing that the ads were instantly removable and cause no damage, we proceeded,” she said.
She confirmed that it’s now the end of the road for the 20 posters that show a dog with a bandaged foot and read “Hot Streets Can Burn Dogs’ Feet.” They were placed next to dog parks and shops from Shaw and Columbia Heights to the H Street Corridor and Capitol Hill.
“Even though the ads were only on D.C. sidewalks for a short time, they reached a lot of people who tweeted about them, and reminded everyone that a dog’s sensitive foot pads can burn within seconds when temperatures are as high as they’ve been during heatwaves,” Rossi told DCist.
A heat wave in June had District residents scouring for cool air for about four days.
Rossi said while the posters will be removed in D.C., they’re placing them in other cities this summer, sending letters to editors, writing comments online, sending out hot weather tips in areas experiencing high temperatures, and placing banners on fences, including one outside their office near Dupont Circle.
