There’s an App for That: PETA Launches “Empathize,” First-Ever Meditation App About Chickens

For Immediate Release:
January 6, 2026

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Today, PETA launched Empathize, the first-evermindfulness app designed to guide users through a series of daily meditations to bolster their empathy and deepen their connection with themselves and the other animals they share the world with—starting with chickens, arguably the most abused animals in the world.

Now available for free in the App Store, the innovative iPhone app is narrated by vegan bodybuilding champion Torre Washington and invites users to see the world through the eyes of five chickens—Lilah, Eleanor, Zoey, April, and Henry—and share in their feelings of love and contentedness as they play with their chicks, bask in the sun, and roam freely. The meditations then prompt users to recognize the pain and suffering the chickens endure in the meat and egg industries, where they’re denied everything natural and important to them and forced to spend their entire lives in severely crowded, filthy sheds or cramped wire-floored cages from the moment they hatch until the day they’re violently killed. The series offers a gentle introduction to the practice of loving-kindness meditation, encouraging users to cultivate compassion in everyday life, starting with going vegan.

Credit: PETA

“Whether someone is a seasoned meditator or a beginner, Empathize by PETA can help open their hearts to others and recognize that even a little bird has inherent worth and is deserving of respect,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “Inner peace begins on our plates, and PETA invites everyone to tap into their compassion in the New Year and go vegan.”

Chickens form complex social structures, dream when they sleep, and worry about the future, just as humans do—yet more chickens are raised and killed for food than all other land animals combined. PETA notes that the best action anyone can take to help chickens and other animals is to stop eating them—and offers a free vegan starter kit for those looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.