PETA Sets Out to Place World's Longest Banner on World's Tallest Building

At 1,903 Feet, Banner Would Draw Attention to Australia's Cruel Live-Sheep Ships That Set Sail for the Middle East

For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2010

Contact:
Lindsay Rajt 757-622-7382

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- On behalf of the group's 2 million supporters around the world, PETA has sent a letter to Emaar Properties--the developer of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building--requesting permission to hang the longest banner in the world from the skyscraper. The banner would feature the message "Ban Australian Sheep Imports!"

"Sheep who have had a hard life in Australia face a harrowing journey on huge open-decked ships that sail on rough seas in all weather conditions," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Scared sheep are crammed by the tens of thousands onto multitiered ships bound for the Middle East. While confined to the ships, they become mired in their own waste and endure storms and heat for up to three weeks."

For more information and to view an artist's rendering of the banner hanging from the building, please visit PETA's blog.

PETA's letter to Emaar Properties follows.

7 January 2010

Vinod K Gomber, CEO
Emaar Properties PJSC

Dear Mr Gomber,

On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters worldwide, I would like to congratulate you on the opening of Burj Khalifa. With all eyes on Dubai and the world's tallest building, we would like to offer your company a unique opportunity to use the glistening surface of Burj Khalifa to unveil the world's longest banner. Our banner (artwork attached) would be approximately 580 metres long and would feature the words "Ban Australian Sheep Imports!" in order to call attention to the abysmally cruel practice of shipping live sheep by sea from Australia.

Millions of sheep, many of whom are discarded by the Australian wool industry, are shipped to the Middle East for slaughter every year. They are loaded onto ships that are often highly unseaworthy or barely seaworthy and endure a petrifying and gruelling journey that can last up to three weeks. Along the way, they endure storms and heat while confined among their own waste with up to 100,000 other animals. In one year alone, more than 35,000 sheep died en route to the Middle East after becoming stressed, ill and injured; suffering from salmonellosis and inanition (failure to eat); or being inadvertently trampled to death by other sheep.

The Burj Khalifa has already broken several records on its opening day. Permitting PETA to unveil our new banner would add another record to your roster - and would also send an important message to the world about the cruelty of shipping live animals out of Australia. Please contact me to discuss this proposal further. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President