‘Grim Reaper’ to Haunt Local Slaughterhouse
As the Novel Coronavirus Infects Thousands of Workers Nationwide, PETA Calls for Tyson, Other Slaughterhouses to Shut Down
For Immediate Release:
May 15, 2020
Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382
On Saturday, a “Grim Reaper” holding a scythe with the message “Slaughterhouses Kill Animals and Workers” will lead protesters as they stalk the Tyson slaughterhouse in Center, which is showing no mercy for animals or workers by remaining open despite reportedly facing a state investigation after the majority of the county’s COVID-19 cases were tied to the plant.
When: Saturday, May 16, 10:30 a.m.
Where: 1019 Shelbyville St. (at the intersection with Industrial Cove), Center
“Filthy, wet, blood- and offal-soaked slaughterhouses are breeding grounds for diseases that can jump from animals to humans—and they’re the least safe workplaces in the world,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “As COVID-19 spreads like wildfire from worker to worker, PETA is calling for slaughterhouses to shut down and stay closed, for everyone’s protection.”
The novel coronavirus originated in a Chinese “wet market,” where live and dead animals are sold for human consumption; swine flu began on a U.S. factory farm; and other influenza viruses have been traced to chickens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that approximately 75% of recently emerged infectious diseases affecting humans originated in other animals.
Last month, PETA sent Tyson a letter offering to help with the cost of retraining its employees to produce exclusively vegan meat.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
