PETA Shareholder Resolution Calls On Papa John’s to End Cow Mutilations

Group Will Grill Company Execs at Annual Meeting About Dairy Suppliers’ Painful Dehorning of Calves

For Immediate Release:
April 30, 2013

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Louisville, Ky. — Papa John’s 2013 annual meeting will include a statement from a representative of PETA, which owns stock in the company, in support of a shareholder resolution filed by the group. PETA will call on Papa John’s to require that its dairy suppliers begin phasing out dehorning, a painful process in which calves have their horns gouged out or their horn tissue burned out of their heads. PETA will point out how breeding for naturally hornless, or polled, cows—which is an established industry practice—eliminates one of the most painful things done to cows on dairy farms:

When:   Wednesday, May 1, 11 a.m.

Where:  Papa John’s headquarters, 2002 Papa John’s Blvd., Louisville

“Calves endure excruciating pain when their horns are gouged out or their sensitive horn tissue is burned off by dairy suppliers,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Instead of standing idly by, Papa John’s should be taking action to help phase out this painful mutilation of baby cows.”

As shown in PETA’s dehorning video exposé, narrated by Academy Award nominee Casey Affleck, workers on dairy farms burn searing-hot irons into calves’ heads to destroy horn tissue or use sharp instruments or other tools to saw, gouge, or cut out the horn and sometimes the surrounding tissue. Cows struggle desperately and cry out in pain during these procedures, which are routinely performed without giving them any painkillers. By breeding for polled cattle—which causes at least half the calves to be born hornless—dairy farmers can eliminate this cruel procedure.

Papa John’s is the world’s third-largest pizza chain, with approximately 3,900 locations in the U.S. and 30 international markets.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.