PETA received a call from a floral manager of a Tops Market, a grocery-store chain with more than 130 stores scattered across the East Coast, about a product she was to begin selling in her store called "Betta Fish Arrangement," a small vase containing a betta fish and a plant. We immediately sent a letter to Sal Baio, president of the produce and perishables department, who makes the final purchasing decisions regarding all products in that department. We also sent a copy of the letter to the CEO of the company, as well as Ahold, USA, which is Tops Markets, Inc.'s parent company.

We received a call soon after from Mr. Baio, indicating that he had not intended to promote a cruel product and, until receiving our letter, had not viewed "Beta Fish Arrangement" in that way. He said that the item would immediately be pulled out of all 70 stores that were already selling it and that he would stop the order for the rest of the stores and agreed not to sell this or similar products in his stores in the future.

In June 2002, after almost two years of working with PETA, the Food Marketing Institute and the National Council of Chain Restaurants released their first-ever retail farmed-animal welfare guidelines. The guidelines cover a wide range of issues, from anesthetized mutilation of dairy cows to farm-to-slaughterhouse transportation. While basic, these guidelines are historic in that the entire grocery and chain-restaurant industries have agreed that there are standard practices in the meat industry that are clearly abusive toward animals.

Watch undercover video of factory farms and slaughterhouses.

In September, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and other organizations petitioned the EPA to require manufacturers to conduct toxicity experiments on animals for air fresheners. PETA submitted comments analyzing data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers that show that the number of exposure incidents reported for air fresheners is actually relatively small compared to similar reports for other products. PETA also noted that an opinion issued by the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks concluded decisively that with one exception, air concentrations of hazardous chemicals resulting from the use of air fresheners were below known limits for adverse health effects and within the range of typical indoor air concentrations. Fortunately, the EPA agreed with PETA's formal comments and denied the petition, sparing thousands of animals!

Many generous contributors are shocked to learn that some "environmental" and "conservation" groups, such as those responsible for this petition, use people's donations to support activities that hurt animals and accomplish little or nothing to protect the environment. If you are a member of or donate money to environmental or conservation groups, you may wish to click here to be sure that your donations are not being used to support activities that harm animals!