35 Things That Aren’t Happening Today Because of PETA

A lot has changed over the last 35 years. PETA began with two people working in a spare room—now, it’s the most powerful force for animal rights in the world, with more than 5 million members. A lot has changed for animals, too. Here are just a few of the things you’ll never see again because of PETA’s work:

1980’s

PETA’s first undercover investigation resulted in an end to crippling experiments on monkeys, the first-ever police raid on an animal-testing laboratory, the first animal experimentation case ever heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the first-ever prosecution and conviction of an animal experimenter on cruelty-to-animals charges.

silver_spring_sad_monkey_3

PETA exposed and shut down the U.S. Army’s plan to shoot dogs at an indoor firing range, leading the military to ban the use of dogs, cats, and primates in wound experiments and training.

1983 - DoD Wound Lab Shut Down Pigs Shot

In an unprecedented move, PETA closed a Texas slaughterhouse operation in which 30,000 horses were trucked in and left to starve in frozen fields without shelter.

PETA stopped Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from shipping stray dogs from Mexico to California to be used in experiments.

Sad, Homeless Dog

1990’s

After PETA exposed the backstage beating of orangutans by Las Vegas entertainer Bobby Berosini, his wildlife permit was suspended and his show closed.

Berosini Collage

Following PETA’s campaign, NASA pulled out of the Bion mission experiments—a joint U.S., French, and Russian program in which monkeys wearing straitjackets were to have electrodes implanted into their bodies and be launched into space.

1996-1

PETA closed Taiwan’s drowning tanks, which were used to kill stray and unwanted dogs. Taiwan also passed its first-ever law against cruelty to animals.

Joey, a dog available fr adoption

All car-crash tests on animals stopped worldwide following PETA’s campaign against General Motors‘ use of live pigs and ferrets in crash tests.

GM Kills

Nielsen Farms puppy mill in Kansas was shut down and “permanently disqualified from being licensed” after PETA’s investigation of the facility revealed rampant sickness, abuse, and death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl4vKZXmS5Y

PETA’s campaigns have prompted fur-free assurances from more than 900 companies, including Calvin Klein, which became the first major designer to stop using fur after PETA invaded its office, and Ralph Lauren, which pulled fur from store shelves and donated its fur items to refugees in Mongolia.

Calvin Klein Disruption and Ralph Lauren donations
Left: AP Photo/M Lennihan

2000’s

Gap Inc., J.Crew, Liz Claiborne, and other major retailers agreed to stop selling leather from China and India after a heartbreaking PETA investigation of the leather industry.

2000-1

This polar bear and five others were underfed, whipped, and forced to perform in sweltering temperatures. Because of PETA’s efforts, they were confiscated.

2002 polar bear

Hundreds of thousands of animals were saved after PETA persuaded chemical companies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to drop plans to kill them in painful chemical tests.

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PepsiCo, McDonald’s, Burger King, Capital One, AT&T, Honda, PUMA, Keds, Pfizer, Volkswagen, and The Hershey Company pulled their commercials featuring chimpanzees and other primates following PETA’s campaign.

Happy Chimpanzee Eating an Apple

Sixteen elephants who had been forced to perform by the Hawthorn Corporation, an elephant-rental company, were relinquished and transferred to a sanctuary after PETA submitted evidence of their suffering.

2003 Hawthorn Corp Elephant Chained

POM Wonderful, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, and others stopped testing on animals after PETA uncovered evidence that they were funding cruel experiments.

POM Angry Bunny

More than 26,000 animals were rescued from an exotic-animal dealer following a PETA investigation. It was the largest animal seizure in history.

2009-1

H&M became the first retailer to ban exotic skins from its stores worldwide after receiving PETA’s video exposé, which revealed extreme suffering in the exotic-animal skins trade. This paved the way for Ann Inc., PUMA, L Brands, Adidas, Overstock.com, Nike, Cole Haan, Arcadia Group, Adolfo Domínguez, and Mango to ban the sale of exotic skins as well.

Crocodile

As many as 4.5 million animals were spared from chemical tests in a massive European Union testing program after PETA provided documentation of duplicative testing. This may be the largest victory for animals that has ever occurred.

Bunny Rabbit in Flowers

2010’s

Almost every major airline in the world—including Air ChinaChina Eastern AirlinesChina Southern AirlinesEl Al AirlinesHainan Airlines, Philippine Airlines, TAM Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, Vietnam Airlines, and others—stopped shipping monkeys and other primates to laboratories and laboratory suppliers following PETA campaigns.

Monkey Shipping Crates

The HBO horse-racing series Luck was canceled after PETA went public with evidence obtained by whistleblowers showing that three horses had died during production.

More than 250 cats and dogs were rescued from Professional Laboratory and Research Services, a North Carolina–based contract animal-testing facility, after PETA released its shocking undercover investigation. This was the second time in U.S. history that a laboratory has been forced to surrender animals and shut down following a PETA investigation.

Bolivia, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Mongolia, Pakistan, Panama, the Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates all stopped using animals for emergency medical training after PETA donated lifelike human-patient simulators to them.

Trinidad ATLS course with TrauMan

 

Dozens of top advertising agencies—including McCann Erickson, BBDO, J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, DDB Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide, Leo Burnett Worldwide, and Grey Global Group—banned the use of great apes in their ads after learning from PETA that animals suffer behind the scenes.

Nearly 16,000 rats and mice and 600 reptiles, many of whom were dying, were seized from waste-filled cages at Global Captive Breeders, LLC, after a PETA undercover investigation led to the largest animal rescue in California history.

Global Captive Breeders Investigation Rat

The U.S. military ended its use of monkeys in the Army’s cruel chemical-attack training course after intensive campaigning by PETA.

2011-5

Thanks to scientists from PETA India, PETA U.S., and PETA U.K., India made it illegal to test cosmetics on animals and to sell cosmetics that have been tested on animals elsewhere within their borders.

cosmetics-test-rabbit

PETA persuaded leading brands like General Mills, Kroger, Dannon, Chipotle, Nestlé, Harris Teeter, Denny’s, and Dunkin’ Brands to adopt policies that encourage their suppliers to end cruel dehorning practices, in which calves’ horn tissue is painfully burned or gouged out of their skulls.

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The U.S. military banned the mutilation of animals in several medical training areas following a vigorous PETA campaign.

Baby Goats

Utah struck down a law that forced animal shelters to sell dogs and cats to animal laboratories on demand after PETA released its undercover investigation of laboratories at the University of Utah that experimented on animals bought from shelters.

cat experiments at University of Utah

More than 110 companies, including H&M, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger, stopped selling angora rabbit wool after PETA released the first-ever exposé into the angora-wool industry. At PETA’s behest, Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer, donated its 20,000 remaining angora garments to Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Angora Rabbit on grass

Cats like Rainbow and Mango, who had holes drilled into their skulls, metal restraint posts screwed into their heads, and steel coils implanted in their eyes, were placed into loving homes after PETA helped shut down cruel and archaic brain experiments at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

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Outdoor clothing company Patagonia and Stella McCartney have stopped buying wool from the Ovis 21 network in Argentina following a gut-churning PETA video exposé showing that lambs were exploited for “responsibly sourced” wool on “sustainable” farms. After a meeting with PETA, Kering also agreed to stop sourcing from Ovis 21 for all brands, including Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Brioni, Christopher Kane, Gucci, Volcom and Saint Laurent.

Wool Investigation

Hundreds of thousands of animals were spared when the Environmental Protection Agency incorporated PETA recommendations for non-animal test methods into its endocrine disruptor testing program.

Cute rat

Ben the bear was rescued from abhorrent conditions at a North Carolina roadside zoo and transferred to a retired-wildlife sanctuary in California after a long and hard-fought battle by PETA and others. Including Ben’s rescue, PETA saved more than 40 bears from concrete pits and dismal pens between 2012 and 2015.

In March 2015, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced that in response to growing public concern about “how the animals are treated,” its elephant performances would end by 2018. This came after decades of PETA protests against cruelty to elephants in circuses, capturing Ringling’s abuse on video, and releasing photos of the circus’s violent baby-elephant training taken by a former Ringling trainer. However, in January 2017, Ringling announced that the saddest show on Earth for wild animals would end. On Sunday, May 21, in Uniondale, New York, it held its final performance. More than three decades of PETA protests and exposés documenting that animals were beaten, left to die, and much more had reduced the circus’s attendance to the point of no return.

PETA’s work and all of these victories wouldn’t be possible without compassionate individuals who never stay silent when it comes to animal abuse. Please consider becoming a PETA member today.

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