‘Hot Dog! We Want Our Freedom, Too!’ PETA’s Message to Challenge Pink’s Hot Dogs Fans on July Fourth

For Immediate Release:
June 30, 2026

Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382

As Angelenos prepare to celebrate America’s independence this Saturday, PETA is urging Pink’s Hot Dogs customers—and all hot dog eaters—to give cows and pigs their freedom, too, by sparing their lives and choosing from the now-wide array of vegan hot dogs available across the country, including the plant-powered Patt Morrison hot dog at Pink’s. A new sky-high message near the eatery’s original North La Brea Avenue location will remind everyone to consider who might go into their hot dog bun—individuals who indisputably suffered a terrifying and violent death—and urge them to make animal-friendly food choices instead.

“If you think about it, cows and pigs value their lives just as we all do, and don’t want to be killed, so we’re asking everyone to give this a thought and choose to leave animals off the bun,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA wants everyone to get fired up about liberty and justice for all, and reject cruelty in the food industry.”

Pigs are soothed by music, and cows mourn when a loved one dies or when they’re separated from each other. But in the meat industry, they’re crammed into filthy sheds or kept on crowded feedlots and subjected to tail docking, castration, and other mutilations with no pain relief. Eventually, they’re forced onto transport trucks for a terrifying journey to a slaughterhouse, where workers shoot them in the head with a captive bolt gun and slit their throats—often while they’re still conscious.

Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year, dramatically shrinks their food-related carbon footprint, and slashes their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone looking to make the switch.

PETA’s message can be seen near the intersection of North La Brea Avenue and Melrose Avenue, in view of Pink’s Hot Dogs at 709 North La Brea Avenue.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a cow is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.