Queens Native Kicks Off World Cup in Mexico City with Body-Painted Vegan Appeal
For Immediate Release:
June 10, 2026
Contact:
Andrew Grant 202-483-7382
“Score for Animals, Go Vegan!” That’s the message 31-year-old Queens native Love Atiya—and nearly two dozen animal defenders from around the world—delivered to crowds outside Mexico City’s iconic Palacio de Bellas Artes on Tuesday ahead of FIFA’s World Cup opening ceremony. Body-painted in the flag colors of countries competing in the tournament, Love Atiya and her fellow animal allies from PETA, Animal Heroes, and Mexico Save Movement used the world’s largest sporting event to call foul on animal exploitation and urge everyone to spare animals from suffering in the meat, egg, and dairy industries by going vegan. Photos of Love Atiya at Tuesday’s demonstration are available here.
Love Atiya started speaking up for animals at just four years old when she wrote her first petitions—one against deforestation and another against poaching—and went around her Queens neighborhood collecting signatures. Among her proudest achievements are organizing nine protests in Queens at just 19 years old against Universoul Circus for forcing animals to perform under the threat of punishment—and then becoming the face of PETA’s Universoul Circus campaign in 2016, traveling to three states to bring awareness to the cruelty animals endure in circuses. Due in part to Love Atiya’s tireless activism, Universoul Circus ended its animal acts in 2023.
“I believe that I’m here to be an unapologetic voice for animals who can’t speak for themselves,” says Love Atiya. “Whether I’m painted as a tiger to speak out against circus cruelty in the U.S., or body-painted outside Mexico City’s World Cup venue, my mission is always to help people see animals as thinking, feeling individuals who deserve compassion.”
Cows develop friendships over time, chickens enjoy taking dust baths and roosting in trees, and pigs show empathy for other pigs who are happy or distressed—but in today’s meat, egg, and dairy industries, the animals are raised in filthy, crowded conditions, trucked to slaughterhouses through all weather extremes, and violently killed. Every person who goes vegan saves the lives of nearly 200 animals each year and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
