For Immediate Release:
July 12, 2005

Contact:
Dawn Carr 757-622-7382

Montgomery, Ala. — Inspired by the words of civil rights leader Dick Gregory, who said, "Animals and humans suffer and die alike. … the same pain, the same spilling of blood, the same stench of death, the same arrogant, cruel, and brutal taking of life," PETA will launch a national tour of its thought-provoking "Animal Liberation" display in Montgomery tomorrow. The massive walk-through exhibit juxtaposes images of once accepted acts of cruelty to humans with images of present-day cruelty to animals. Why Montgomery? The city is called the birthplace of the civil rights movement because of the December 1, 1955, arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat on the bus, which served as a catalyst for the sweeping changes that followed:

Date: Wednesday, July 13
Time: 12 noon-1 p.m.
Place: 1 Court Sq.

The exhibit reminds observers that not long ago, it wasn’t just other animals who were persecuted because they were deemed inferior. The display includes images of slaves who were chained, beaten, branded, and forcibly separated from their families; Native Americans who were evicted from their ancestral lands; women who fought for the right not to be treated as their husbands’ property; and children forced to work long hours in dangerous and unhealthy conditions. Today, animals are chained and beaten to perform in circuses; poisoned and cut open in laboratories; and bludgeoned, drowned, and electrocuted for their skins. Mothers and their offspring are separated, auctioned off, mutilated, and killed for their flesh.

"Today, we all remember the abuses of the past as shameful and wrong yet forget that changes only came about after an uphill battle to open people’s hearts and minds to the plight of others," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "We’re calling for that same consideration now for feeling, thinking animals who are exploited, hurt, and killed for reasons that are no longer tolerable in a just society."

The exhibit will crisscross the country on a 10-week, 42-city tour. For more information about PETA’s Animal Liberation project and to view the photo panels, please visit PETA.org.