It’s been a busy year for R&B singer Jhené Aiko, with Drake and Childish Gambino collaborations to her name and her first studio album, Souled Out, set to drop in just a few weeks.
But that didn’t stop the “To Love & Die” singer from sitting down with peta2, PETA’s youth division, to shoot a brand-new ad campaign that features her snuggling with a rescued cat next to the words “Adoption Is Love. Save a Homeless Dog or Cat.” The ad, available here, was shot by JSquared Photography in Los Angeles.
Aiko was inspired to get involved with peta2 after she and her young daughter adopted a cat from their local animal shelter—and as Aiko explains in an exclusive video interview with peta2, she didn’t hesitate to go straight to an animal shelter.
“There are so many animals in the shelters that need homes,” she says. “I just feel like it’s better to give those animals a second chance, rather than go out to a breeder or a shop.”
Six to 8 million unwanted dogs and cats enter animal shelters every year in the U.S., and half of them must be euthanized simply because there aren’t enough good homes for them. Buying an animal from a pet store or breeder robs a homeless animal of his or her chance at finding a loving home.
The less fortunate never even make it to a safe haven—they’re left to fend for themselves on the streets, where they’re often subjected to abuse by cruel people, are injured by cars, or succumb to starvation or disease.
peta2—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—joins Aiko in stressing another important step to fighting animal homelessness: “Once you do adopt your pet,” says Aiko, “it’s really important to get them spayed or neutered, just to keep control over the population of so many dogs and cats.”
Aiko joins a growing list of celebrities—including Rocsi Diaz, Angela Simmons, Kid Ink, Ke$ha, Jay Sean, and many more—who’ve teamed up with peta2 to promote kindness to animals.
