MÖTLEY CRÜE's JOHN 5 (and his dog) urge you to “always adopt! never buy” in new PETA campaign
30-08-2024
Guitar virtuoso John 5 is an expert when it comes to good licks — and he’s declaring, in a new campaign for PETA, that the best ones come from adopted dogs. Ahead of his upcoming solo tour, the former ROB ZOMBIE and current MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist appears alongside his affectionate rescued dog Churro, urging everyone to adopt dogs and cats from shelters and never to buy animals from pet shops or breeders — which churn out litter after litter of puppies and kittens into a world already bursting at the seams with homeless ones.
In an accompanying video spot, John 5 shares how his family adopted Churro — a hairless Chinese crested mix — after he had been abandoned as a puppy and left in a box in the desert.
“It’s heartbreaking to even think about. We had to get Churro — there were no ifs, ands, or buts,” John 5 says in the video, which can be seen below. “We were lucky enough to adopt him, and he’s just the best. … We literally can’t go anywhere without him — he’s always with us. He’s just a part of the family.”
Churro‘s story highlights the fact that virtually any breed of dog can be found in a shelter or through a breed-specific rescue group. With around 70 million homeless dogs and cats in the U.S. at any given time, animal shelters across the country have been overrun for years. Some shelters with misguided policies are warehousing dogs for months or even years and turning away animals, leaving the most vulnerable ones with nowhere to go — and those who reproduce make the companion animal overpopulation crisis worse. That’s why PETA urges shelters to accept all animals in need, advises guardians to have their animal companions spayed or neutered, and asks everyone to adopt animals instead of buying them from breeders or pet stores.
John 5 is part of a long list of celebrities — including Kathy Griffin, Lisa Ann Walter, Ron Perlman, Tom Hardy, John Stamos, Ryan Eggold, Theo Rossi and Cristin Milioti — who have teamed up with PETA to promote adoption.
PETA — whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” — points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook or Instagram.
MÖTLEY CRÜE has released the official music video for its new single, “Dogs Of War” earlier this year. The track was made available via MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s new deal with Nashville’s Big Machine Records. Created by Nick DenBoer, the visual features the rowdy quartet in an apocalyptic wasteland, full of classic CRÜE debauchery.
Watch “Dogs Of War” below.
“It’s always great getting back in the studio with the guys in the band,” CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx says. “We know you’re gonna like this one.”
Bob Rock, who produced the new single, as well as MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s famed 1989 album “Dr. Feelgood”, adds: “Working with the band on the new song was the easiest session I have ever had with them… The CRÜE is the best they have ever been! And they have plenty of new stuff in store.”
“We want to keep putting out new music, too, so we don’t get stagnant,” CRÜE singer Vince Neil told Billboard. “We recorded ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)’ by the BEASTIE BOYS and we recorded this song, too, and I thought it turned out pretty good.
“There’ll definitely be new music out next year, for sure,” Neil added, “’cause we recorded a couple of other songs, too. Maybe we’ll release one of those by the end of the year, but I can’t say. But we want to keep putting out new music — not, maybe, an album but a few songs here, a few songs there, and that’s good.”
Neil described “Dogs Of War” as “like old school meets new school. It’s got that old-school vibe about it, but it’s new music. Nikki came up with it and he sent me the music and I thought it was really cool. So I started singing it and we got in the studio and it turned into the song I think the fans are really gonna like it.”
MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s new deal with Big Machine Records sees the band working together again after making the 2014 project “Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe”, which featured CRÜE tracks covered by country stars RASCAL FLATTS, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE, Darius Rucker and more. Big Machine also partnered with MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist John 5 for the release of his 2021 album “Sinner”.
MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s last studio album was 2008’s “Saints Of Los Angeles”, which was followed by a 2009 “Greatest Hits” compilation.
In 2018, MÖTLEY CRÜE recorded four new songs for “The Dirt” movie, including the single “The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Feat. Machine Gun Kelly)”, “Ride With The Devil”, “Crash And Burn” and the band’s own spin on Madonna‘s “Like A Virgin”.
“‘The Dirt’ movie got us a whole new generation of fans,” Neil said. “We want to keep putting new music out. We don’t want to stagnate.”
“We self-released ‘Too Fast For Love’ on our own Leathür Records label,” Neil added of the band’s 1981 debut. “It cost $3,000 to make and was done in three days. It was a glorified demo tape, but we were the record label until we got signed by Elektra. We haven’t been on a record label for 20 years. But Scott shares our philosophy and he’s a brilliant guy.”
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