PETA News

INDIA

And They’re Off! PETA India Stops Illegal Greyhound Races

The organizers of greyhound races in Haryana and Punjab, two states in India, were blatantly flouting the law, posting promotional ads for the illegal events. After PETA India alerted police, authorities prevented the races, sparing the dogs their unwilling role in a business chock-full of abuses. PETA India has successfully stopped dozens of these gambling spectacles, preventing dogs from suffering catastrophic collisions, broken bones, heatstroke, heart attacks, and a sorry life.

GLOBAL

Whole Foods Is Monkey Labor-Free – No Thanks to Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market – home of misleading labeling on “animal welfare” meats from factory farms – wouldn’t do the work to get monkey labor out of its supply chain, so PETA did. PETA sent the company evidence that its 365 coconut milk supplier used endangered macaques who were illegally kidnapped from their natural habitats in Thailand, chained, and abusively trained to pick coconuts, but it refused to act. So PETA Asia worked directly with its supplier – Merit Food Products – to eliminate monkey labor from its supply chain. Demand that Thai officials end monkey labor.

GLOBAL

Excellent Flying Conditions: More Airlines Add Vegan Creamer

After hearing from PETA and nearly 150,000 of our supporters, American Airlines – the world’s largest airline by daily flights – launched a vegan coffee creamer option on its in-flight menu, joining Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines. JetBlue Airways also added dairy-free creamer after PETA supporters applied some cabin pressure. Urge Southwest Airlines to follow suit.

UK

Warbler Wing? PETA UK Asks Wildlife Watchers to Give a Hoot About All Birds

PETA UK dished up food for thought in Peterborough – named the UK’s best birdwatching destination – at their “songbird” snack bar that offered “crow” wings, “swan” burgers, “sparrow” buckets, and more (all vegan foods, of course). Throngs of curious people had to consider that all birds’ wings are meant for flying, not frying, and most agreed to give vegan chicken a chance. Find some of our faves here.

ASIA

Snake to Gucci: We’re Boas, Not Bags!

On the busiest shopping day before the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake, PETA Asia’s boa depicter coiled outside Gucci’s flagship store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to send the message to shoppers that snakes aren’t accessories and that they – and all animals – must be left in peace, not pieces. A PETA Asia investigation showed workers at farms that supply python skins to a tannery owned by Kering – the parent company of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent – bashing conscious snakes in the head with hammers and impaling them on hooks. Send your choice words to Gucci.

Philippines

Jodi Sta. Maria Helping ‘Fix’ the Cat Crisis

Popular Filipino actor Jodi Sta. Maria teamed up with PETA Asia and two costars – kitten Taho (seen here) and senior dog Marimar, both of whom were rescued by PETA Asia – for some sky-high digital messages that reached commuters on Manila’s busy streets. Said Sta. Maria, “Adopting my cat, Naia, has brought so much joy and love into my life. I’m happy to encourage everyone to adopt their companion animals from shelters, never buy them from pet stores or breeders, and always spay or neuter so that fewer kittens and puppies are born into homelessness.” Help fix the problem today.

GLOBAL

Yes, We Can! Coke, Pepsi, Others End Funding for Animal Experiments

After hearing from PETA that the University of Wisconsin–Madison Food Research Institute was force-feeding mice parasite-infested feces, poisoning pregnant monkeys and killing their unborn babies, and more, The Coca-Cola Company pulled its funding. PepsiCo, Campbell Soup Company, ingredient-maker Sensient Technologies, produce company Fresh Innovations, and AmeriQual Group – the largest supplier of ready-to-eat meals to the US military – also prohibited the institute from spending their funds on tests on animals. Tell Mondelēz International, the maker of OREO, to end its cruel tests.

GLOBAL

Pharma Giant Sanofi and Others End Forced Swim Tests

PETA entities are out to eradicate near-drowning experiments on animals worldwide. We’ve now ended forced swim tests at pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, the UK’s University of Bristol and University of Bath, and Australia’s La Trobe University and have secured commitments from funders and oversight bodies in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, including Medical Research Scotland, the Australian Research Council, and AgResearch. The New South Wales parliament has also banned new forced swim test initiatives, and ever more research institutions agree that making small animals swim for their lives in inescapable beakers of water tells us nothing about human depression or anxiety. Obviously, no one knows if the mice were depressed in the first place or how this ridiculous and cruel test relates in any way to humans taking drugs to curb depression.

USA

PETA Gives ‘Hero Hammers’ to Save Dogs in Hot Cars

In recognition of their lifesaving rescues of dogs trapped in hot cars, PETA has donated window-breaking hammers to several police departments across the U.S. These officers have shown that they are aware that it can take just minutes for dogs to suffer brain damage or die of heatstroke in a parked car. If you see an animal in a parked car on a warm day, have the owner paged at the nearest businesses and call authorities right away. If they don’t arrive quickly and the dog seems to be in imminent danger, find a witness if you can to stand by, remove the animal from the car, move them to the shade or an air-conditioned place, and alert officials. Grab yours here because every minute matters.

USA

PETA Getting Pigs Out of the Operating Room

Following a PETA campaign that included messages from nearly 100,000 supporters, the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) paused practice surgeries on pigs citing “decreased enthusiasm.” Obstetrics and gynecology students had been cutting into live female pigs, dissecting their organs, and killing any survivors. More than 175 physicians signed a PETA letter calling on the school to switch to superior human-patient simulators. Push OHSU toward humane medical training and while you’re at it, tell them to close their wretched monkey lab!

GLOBAL

Drake’s Brand and Others Shed Their Skins

Rapper Drake hit a high note for animals when the brand he cofounded – October’s Very Own – banned fur following pressure from PETA and our engaged supporters. And PETA entities persuaded U.S. department store Von Maur to go fur-free; French luxury brand Maison Margiela to part ways with angora; Australia’s oldest department store, David Jones, to end sales of wild-animal skins; and Tailored Brands – which owns Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank – to stop selling shoes made from alligator, ostrich, or any other wild animal. Tell Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director Pharrell Williams to change his tune.

USA

Truck Stop Chain Says ‘See Ya Later’ Alligator

Pilot Flying J – a truck stop chain boasting 750 locations – will no longer sell “souvenirs” made from alligators’ heads and other body parts after hearing from PETA. Alligators are observant, intelligent, use tools, and can live to be 50 years old in their natural homes, but on factory farms, they are crowded into dank, waste-filled pools and slaughtered in incredibly cruel ways for their skins, heads, teeth, and claws. If you see baubles made from body parts anywhere, speak up! And please urge Love’s Travel Stops to stop selling grisly alligator trinkets.

INDIA

PETA India Pleads for Horse-Free Weddings

Ahead of the wedding season, PETA India erected billboards across the country asking couples to have a heart for horses by leaving them out of their wedding day plans. Horses rented for the baraat, or wedding procession, work nearly nonstop, going from one ceremony to the next without a break, and are controlled with spiked bits – illegal torture devices that rip their lips and tongues, causing extreme pain and horrifying wounds. PETA India urges couples to choose horsepower over horses with a fancy convertible or other vehicle or to simply walk to the wedding.

GLOBAL

Unholy Cruelty: PETA Demands Catholic Church Cut Bullfighting Ties

Bloody bullfights don’t “honor” saints and should never be blessed by priests. As PETA entities implore the Vatican to end the Church’s ties with this hideous torture, PETA supporters knelt peacefully outside Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in New Jersey during a celebration of St. Francis of Assisi – animals’ patron saint. PETA UK marked St. Francis’ feast day by releasing balloons inside Rome’s San Francesco a Ripa church – where he once resided – reading, “Honour St. Francis: Condemn Bullfighting.” Rome’s sightseeing buses were emblazoned with ads showing the Virgin Mary shielding a wounded bull from a matador, and PETA UK’s “nun” on stilts followed His Holiness to Brussels, telling him to “stand up” to cruelty. Share your righteous indignation here.