April 2003 In October 2001, a tip from PETA led authorities to raid a New Jersey warehouse that was holding dogfights. Patrons bet more than $30,000 that night, and four dogs were injured during the fights and later euthanized. Police arrested 43 people, both alleged organizers and spectators. The dogfight fee collector was sentenced to six … Read more »
April 2003 Kroger customers alerted PETA that AquaBabies, small cubes in which fish and sometimes frogs or snails are imprisoned, were being sold at the supermarket chain. We contacted officials at the company’s headquarters, telling them that the tiny enclosures are inadequate and cruel and that animals are not decorations. We corresponded with Kroger officials for … Read more »
April 2003 When a Pittsburgh girl brought a stray pit bull home, the dog fatally attacked the girl’s cat. In response, the girl’s adult brother tethered the dog to a fence, doused her in lighter fluid, and set fire to her paws. He then encouraged a 10-year-old boy to add more fluid in order to consume … Read more »
April 2003 PETA learned that four sororities at the University of Texas at Arlington had participated in a greased-pig contest, which was held as a fundraiser for local charities. News reports indicated that the terrified pig was covered in petroleum jelly and repeatedly grabbed at and mishandled, “kicking and squealing,” by the participants. Pigs used in … Read more »
April 2003 When PETA learned that the Home Depot in Swatara, Pennsylvania, was using glue traps to capture and kill birds, we wrote the store to let them know about humane alternatives to the painful traps. We also asked the local humane society to send an officer to speak with the manager. Soon after the officer’s … Read more »
April 2003 PETA received a complaint from a former employee of Six Flags, the second-largest amusement park operator in the world. The whistleblower described horrific conditions at its Wild Safari facility in New Jersey, including an incident in which a baboon had been hit by a vehicle in the drive-through safari and dragged approximately 150 feet. … Read more »
April 2003 State health departments across the country keep sentinel chickens in barren cages as mosquito bait to help detect pathological organisms like the West Nile virus. PETA wrote to health departments in every state asking them to discontinue the programs, which involve regularly subjecting the birds to painful blood tests. Testing dead wild birds and … Read more »
April 2003 During congressional hearings on animal deaths at the National Zoo and on the importation of exotic animals for the pet trade, members of Congress asked questions that PETA had submitted for the witnesses.
April 2003 PETA was contacted by residents and students who were upset that three area schools in the Merced Union High School District had participated in a donkey basketball game that was held as a fundraiser for the district’s Future Farmers of America [FFA] program. Photos printed in local newspapers showed participants pulling and yanking on … Read more »
April 2003 PETA posted an action alert when we learned of plans by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to kill 1,500 mute swans who the agency said were an environmental hazard. Bombarded with public opposition and a lawsuit filed by the Fund for Animals, the state canceled the swan hunt. Read about how to deal … Read more »
April 2003 Following PETA’s testimony to the Appropriations Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both committees officially advised the Environmental Protection Agency to develop chemical-testing methods that reduce and/or replace the use of animals.
April 2003 PETA received complaints that Festival Foods in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, allowed Bridgeport Nature Center to operate in its parking lot. The Nature Center, in reality a traveling tiger exhibit, has been cited numerous times by the USDA for putting animals and the public at serious risk of injury, for transporting tigers in poorly ventilated cages, … Read more »
April 2003 Students from a Bel Air, Maryland, high school contacted us when they learned that their school planned to hold a donkey basketball game. We immediately contacted the school’s principal and the district superintendent to alert them to the cruelty associated with the spectacle. We sent an alert to our area members asking them to … Read more »
April 2003 PETA got an anonymous call about two iguanas being kept as decorations at a restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland. The complainant reported that the iguanas were being kept in a filthy enclosure and that they appeared ill. We immediately contacted officials at the local animal control bureau asking them to check on the welfare of … Read more »
April 2003 Visitors to Guam contacted PETA after spotting banners with Miller’s trademark promoting cockfighting at a local festival. We immediately contacted Miller to ask that the company disassociate itself from the cruel bloodsport and posted an action alert on the Web. After corresponding with PETA, Miller issued a statement to its distributor in Guam stating … Read more »
