October 2008 After receiving complaints about a SEGA promotional video featuring a chimpanzee, PETA wrote to the company, urging it to discontinue the ad and refrain from using great apes in future advertising efforts. SEGA quickly removed the video from its Web site and promised not to produce any future ads featuring great apes.
October 2008 We were contacted by a fair organizer in Havana, Florida, about a planned “frog jump” contest at the annual Pumpkin Festival. Festival organizers had planned to use frogs from a local pond for this misguided event. We let them know that the event would be traumatic and potentially deadly for the wild frogs. Going … Read more »
October 2008 When PETA received complaints about a “Kiss-a-Pig” contest at Flowery Branch High School’s pep rally, we immediately contacted the principal and voiced concerns about how the pig was roughly handled. We informed him that these cruel events do not teach children compassion and kindness–they teach that animals are merely objects for our amusement. He … Read more »
October 2008 After receiving complaints about a greased pig chase scheduled to take place at the Delta Fair and Music Fest in Cordova, Tennessee, PETA immediately contacted the fair’s organizers. After writing a letter to the organizers explaining how greased pig chases are terrifying for the pigs and dangerous to both the pigs and the humans … Read more »
July 2008 After receiving complaints about a Hunter Fans advertisement featuring an elephant balancing on a circus ball, PETA wrote to the company and urged it to discontinue the ad and refrain from using exotic animals in future advertising campaigns. Hunter Fans quickly responded and immediately removed this ad from circulation.
July 2008 After receiving complaints about a Verizon commercial featuring two aggressive pit bulls chained in a junkyard, PETA immediately contacted the company. Explaining that the ad sends an extremely damaging message to the public–that it is acceptable to chain dogs and use them as cheap burglar alarms, depriving them of their basic needs–we asked Verizon … Read more »
July 2008 When PETA learned that the New Hampshire Motor Speedway was planning to feature live elephants at a pre-race event, we immediately contacted the executive vice president of the track and informed him about the abusive tactics inherent in training elephants to perform. We pointed out that forcing these highly intelligent animals to perform at … Read more »
July 2008 Mercy General Health Partners and Hackley Hospital in Muskegon, Michigan, intended to celebrate their merger as Mercy Health Partners with a live butterfly release. PETA alerted hospital administrators that butterflies are extremely delicate and that using them in this manner can be deadly. PETA has received reports of butterflies arriving dead, becoming disoriented and … Read more »
July 2008 PETA filed a complaint against the University of Texas’ Michael E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine & Research, a chimpanzee research center that allowed six chimpanzees to escape over a five-month period, including a chimpanzee named Tony who was shot and killed. In response to the complaint, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined the … Read more »
July 2008 Back in August, we wrote to Zappos.com about the fur products it was selling, urging it to adopt a fur-free policy. At the time, the company said that it would look into the issue to gauge people’s thoughts on it. So to help speed up that process, we launched an online marketing campaign, getting … Read more »
July 2008 After PETA alerted the Morris Animal Foundation to the abuse of dogs who were undergoing cruel kidney-transplant experiments, which the foundation was funding at Auburn University, the foundation launched its own investigation. As a result, funding to the university has been suspended and the foundation has decided that it will never again fund work … Read more »
July 2008 When PETA was made aware that Toronto nightclub This Is London planned to feature live kangaroos and wallabies at an Australian-themed party, we quickly called and wrote to the club”s management. We let them know that a nightclub is no place for animals, who would surely be made to endure harmful stress and confusion. … Read more »
July 2008 Anyone out there who loves to shop without getting off the couch and also hates to see animals suffer will love the fact that the Home Shopping Network (HSN) – which reaches 90 million U.S. homes – has adopted a permanent fur-free policy. In a letter to PETA, HSN CEO Mindy Grossman wrote, “We … Read more »
July 2008 When PETA learned that Fitwize4Kids, a national healthy lifestyle center for children, was participating in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus’ CircusFit program, we immediately contacted Fitwize CEO Warren Gendel. We informed him of the tragic animal deaths for which Ringling is responsible and the abusive training methods that the circus routinely uses. … Read more »
July 2008 After receiving complaints, PETA contacted the management of Six Flags Theme Parks to dissuade them from repeating a 2007 Fright Fest stunt in which patrons were challenged to eat live Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Six Flags responded that all its parks will be leaving the cockroaches alone this year and moving on to “Fright Fest … Read more »
