July 2003
PETA received evidence of an alleged incident during which Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., employees deliberately caused the mutilation and death of two kittens who were trapped inside a trailer. Employees apparently refused to manually unload the trailer in order to spare the kitten they allegedly knew to be trapped. When the cargo was finally unloaded, two kittens had been mangled in the machinery.
PETA urged authorities to conduct a thorough criminal investigation and file appropriate charges. We also posted action alerts on our Web site. As a result, Toyota spent $80,000 to prevent animals from being crushed in machinery by rebuilding and sealing the section of the trailer that allowed room for the kittens to crawl in.
