The Most Disturbing Cruelty PETA Exposed in 2015
1. Worldwide Abuse of SeaWorld’s Orcas
This year, PETA asked veterinarian Dr. Heather Rally to evaluate the condition of captive marine mammals at SeaWorld’s San Antonio and Orlando locations, as well as at Loro Parque, a Spanish marine park that SeaWorld loaned orcas to in order to open its orca exhibit. A Loro Parque trainer was also killed by an orca while a SeaWorld supervisor oversaw the training session. Dr. Rally found that many orcas have collapsed dorsal fins and dental trauma—neither of which is common in the wild—and extensive rake marks from aggressive attacks. At Loro Parque, trainers were observed locking orcas in holding tanks and ignoring them.
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SeaWorld Is Abusing Orcas Internationally#SeaWorld moved their orcas with cranes & flew them THOUSANDS of miles…So that Loro Parque could open its new orca exhibit in #Spain: http://peta.vg/1n1oYou can see mucus coming out of one’s eyes 🙁
Posted by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) on Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Following these findings and pressure from PETA—including more than 120,000 e-mails and letters from concerned PETA supporters—the California Coastal Commission imposed a condition on SeaWorld’s permit to build new tanks in San Diego that would bar SeaWorld from breeding captive orcas at the facility. If SeaWorld moves forward with its Blue World project, it will ultimately end captivity for long-suffering orcas in California.
2. Cruelty, Racism, and Alleged Sexual Assault in Military Training
After PETA broke its eyewitness investigation documenting the mutilation of live pigs during trauma training courses held by Deployment Medicine International (DMI), the company was barred from receiving any federal contracts for the next 15 years. This is significant because DMI was a leading provider of this cruel training, and the federal government was DMI’s largest client, awarding it more than $10 million in contracts in recent years.
3. Whole Foods ‘Happy Meat’ Supplier Exposed
In 2015, a PETA observer worked for more than two months at one of Whole Foods’ meat suppliers. Whole Foods touted this farm as being spacious and having an enriched environment to enhance the welfare of the pigs. Yet the pigs observed by our eyewitness were never given the opportunity to set foot on the farm’s lush, green grass. They spent almost all their time crammed into crowded sheds on concrete floors, and the only time they ever got to be outside was when they were trucked from one shed to another, put on a scale to be weighed, or sent to slaughter.
PETA’s eyewitness also documented workers hitting pigs who were being loaded for slaughter, tightly packing more than 20 pigs into a metal trailer on a hot day, and lifting 70-pound pigs by their ears. There were also two dead pigs diagnosed with highly contagious salmonellosis. Join over 50,000 other concerned customers, and sign our petition urging Whole Foods to stop duping consumers with dubious “humane meat” claims.
4. Sick Calves Torn Away From Their Mothers for Daisy Sour Cream and Cottage Cheese
Cows—even those who were in labor or had just given birth—were kicked, whipped, or jabbed with pens or knives. Workers twisted their tails, which can cause severe pain and even break their tailbones. “You gotta do what you gotta do,” shrugged one worker. A supervisor left cows with their heads locked in stanchions for over two hours, forcing them to stand virtually motionless and unable to access water, despite the fact that lactating cows need to drink up to 35 gallons of water a day. The only way to ensure that no animals suffer for your sour cream, cheese, milk, ice cream, coffee creamer, and yogurt is to go vegan.
5. Crocodiles and Alligators Factory-Farmed for Hermès ‘Luxury’ Goods
From Texas to Zimbabwe, PETA investigators documented the appalling conditions in which animals are raised and killed for “luxury” Birkin bags, belts, and watchbands. Alligators are packed into dank pools, and crocodiles are crowded inside barren concrete pits—for months or even years before finally being slaughtered for their skins. A PETA investigator documented violent slaughter techniques, including crudely hacking into the necks of some alligators and trying to scramble their brains with metal rods—all in the name of “luxury.” Some animals were still conscious, kicking and flailing, even minutes after workers had tried to kill them.
In light of this damning evidence of abuse to animals used for “luxury” products, please demand that Hermès stop selling items made from crocodile and alligator skins.
6. Pain, Fear, and Death at Primate Products, Inc.
A disturbing PETA eyewitness investigation revealed that workers violently handled, terrorized, and systemically neglected monkeys at Primate Products, Inc. (PPI). The notorious Hendry County, Florida, primate dealer imports, warehouses, and sells monkeys destined for experiments and has been awarded federal contracts worth more than $13 million—including by the National Institutes of Health, the Army, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Following PETA’s investigation, a team of six U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors confirmed PETA’s findings, citing PPI for at least 25 violations of nine animal-welfare regulations, and the USDA has opened an investigation into PPI. View the reports here and here.
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