PETA News
USA
‘Humane Meat’ Deceit: PETA Sues Over Sham Labeling Scheme
Ever been to Whole Foods? If so, you may have seen packages of meat bearing an “animal welfare certified” label. Such claims are a scam – and PETA has sued. The Global Animal Partnership (GAP) slaps these deceptive labels on factory-farmed flesh, even though PETA has shown that animals at GAP-certified facilities have been kicked, beaten, thrown, and even sexually abused. Our lawsuit details a glaring conflict of interest – the CEO of the company that manages GAP and the owner of the company that performs its audits are the same person. So, the organization responsible for certifying “animal welfare” on farms has a financial interest in keeping farms certified, even when animals suffer. The good news? After intense PETA pressure, the ASPCA, Humane World for Animals, and Compassion in World Farming quietly fled GAP’s board of directors. Don’t buy the lie! Remember that the only humane label is the one that says, “Vegan.”
USA
Proposed Dog Blood Bank Gets the Boot
After hearing from tens of thousands of PETA supporters, the Harper County, Kansas, Board of Commissioners rejected plans for a proposed canine blood bank, where 100 or more dogs would have been imprisoned. PETA’s investigations into animal blood banks revealed that dogs and cats – even those who are elderly, emaciated, or ill – are warehoused in bleak kennels and repeatedly bled, sometimes for life. Ask your veterinarian to source blood only from community-based blood banks, which obtain blood from healthy animals who live in homes with loving families.
USA
Kordell Beckham: Buying Animals Is a ‘Dealbreaker’
Before Love Island USA star Kordell Beckham coupled up with fellow islander Serena Page, he fell in “love at first sight” – with his adopted feline companion, Milo! The doting cat dad appears with Milo in this new PETA campaign urging everyone to find love that lasts at the animal shelter. In his accompanying video, Beckham says that the key to any good relationship “is listening so you can give them what they need” – which for cats means affection, making sure their litterbox is clean, and keeping them safe indoors.
USA
VICTORY! UMass Marmoset Lab Closes
In a huge victory for animals and science, a vigorous PETA campaign – which included 1.3 million messages from PETA supporters (thank you all), a lawsuit, dozens of protests and disruptions, and assistance from our actor friends Casey Affleck, Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), Daisy Ridley, and Kate del Castillo – shut down the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass) laboratory of Agnès Lacreuse. For more than a decade, staff in Lacreuse’s laboratory drilled holes in marmosets’ skulls, cut into their necks, and threaded wires through their bodies in bizarre menopause experiments, a condition that the tiny monkeys do not even experience. Now let’s close the National Primate Research Centers!
GLOBAL
Pop the Champagne Corks! Miami Seaquarium Goes Under
After more than 50 years of imprisoning animals in crumbling concrete tanks, failing to meet even their most basic needs, and forcing them to perform tricks, the Miami Seaquarium is history. The Seaquarium’s closure follows a relentless PETA campaign that included lawsuits, exposing the facility’s egregious record of animal abuse, dramatic protests, celebrity support, and hundreds of thousands of calls and e-mails from PETA supporters as well as constant pressure from determined local animal rights groups. Please urge SeaWorld to send the dolphins and whales it confines to seaside sanctuaries.
UK
University of Kent Pledges No Sepsis Experiments on Animals
After hearing from PETA UK, the University of Kent became the first university to commit to never using animals in sepsis research. Cruel and deadly sepsis experiments on animals have failed to lead to effective treatments for humans, yet around the world some experimenters persist – injecting mice and other animals with harmful bacteria or puncturing their intestines so that fecal matter leaks into their abdomen. Urge the government to shift resources toward superior, human-relevant methods.
GLOBAL
Spaniards Use Bullhorns to End Bullfights
On the one-year anniversary of heroic deeds in which firefighters responded to deadly flooding that claimed hundreds of lives in and around Valencia, Spain, vital, lifesaving services are severely underfunded while the local government is handing out nearly a half million euros to shore up bullfighting. Animal advocates gave the city an unmistakable demand: “Firefighters Yes. Bullfighters No.” PETA UK and other organizations pointed out that 77% of Spaniards oppose bullfights but that no one opposes firefighters! Urge Pope Leo to end the Catholic Church’s support of the bullfights, too.
USA
Last Solitary Chimpanzee in a Roadside Zoo and 300+ Other Animals
Following consistent pressure from PETA on state and federal authorities, law-enforcement officials executed multiple search warrants and removed all 310 animals from dilapidated Oregon roadside zoo West Coast Game Park Safari and transferred them to appropriate facilities. Among them was 21-year-old George, the last known solitary chimpanzee in a roadside zoo in the US. He is now thriving at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. US readers, help chimpanzees and other primates by urging your federal legislators to pass the Captive Primate Safety Act.
GLOBAL
Gwyneth’s goop Axes Angora
After a push from more than 33,000 PETA entity supporters, Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand goop quickly removed all angora from its website! This victory came days after PETA released a damning new video, which includes breaking footage obtained by PETA Asia from eight angora wool factory farms in China.
The video shows workers manually ripping out rabbits’ hair while they screamed and screamed, and stringing rabbits up by their legs, scaring them half to death, and then slicing them to ribbons with shears. More than 425 brands have now banned rabbits’ wool. Take PETA’s angora-free pledge.
GERMANY
Michelin-Starred Chef Gives People Food for Thought
Chef Ricky Saward teamed up with PETA Germany to remind viewers that animals shouldn’t suffer for our celebrations. In 2020, Saward made history as the first Michelin-starred vegan chef in the world for his Frankfurt restaurant, Seven Swans. He received the Red Star for culinary excellence and the Green Star for sustainability – both of which he has retained ever since. Honor life with every bite this new year and beyond: Find fab recipes here.
PHILIPPINES
PETA Asia’s ‘Aliens’ Come in Peas
PETA Asia’s posse of giant, inflatable, friendly “aliens” invaded Manila with a lifesaving message: Make the world a kinder place for all Earthlings by not eating or wearing them. Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals – thinking, feeling individuals who experience love, grief, joy, and pain – each year from constant suffering and a terrifying death. The truth is out there right here: Choosing compassion over cruelty shouldn’t be an alien concept. Get your free vegan starter kit here.
USA
West Hollywood Makes History: Animal Sales Banned!
After communicating with PETA for about a year, the West Hollywood City Council in California voted unanimously to adopt the most comprehensive ban on animal sales in retail stores in the US – bolstering its longstanding ban on the sale of cats and dogs to spare mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and other animals from the entrenched cruelty of the pet trade. Please tell everyone: Always adopt – don’t buy from breeders or pet shops! Animal shelters and rescue groups are bursting at the seams with animals in need of homes.
GLOBAL
White Lotus Director Joins Coconut Campaign
After PETA Asia’s investigations showed monkeys in Thailand being chained, whipped, and forced to pick coconuts, over 40,000 stores have dropped major coconut milk supplier Chaokoh, which uses monkey labor. Director Mike White, who filmed The White Lotus in Thailand, called on the prime minister to intervene, and quiz show Jeopardy! got into the monkey-saving game with a clue about PETA’s campaign.
PETA entities also continue their rousing demonstrations, like this one outside the Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo. Unleash your cocompassion by taking action and buying coconut milk that is monkey-labor free.
