Kategorie: Animals

World leaders will finally start to align their positive intentions for the global environment with the meals they eat at one major climate meeting. The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28)—set for November 30 through December 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)—has announced a “mostly vegan” menu. This is a crucial first for the global event, which should set a precedent for all future gatherings. And although it’s a first step, PETA is pressing COP28 to commit to going fully vegan.

To clear the conference table of a major misconception: An event or individual either goes vegan or doesn’t. With the ever-increasing severity of the climate catastrophe, there’s no room for half-measures or catering to people who cling to their cruel, polluting, meat-eating habits. Going vegan is a complete rejection of speciesism. Providing exclusively vegan food for an event of this global caliber is easier than ever before, and there’s no excuse not to do so—especially since there is a proved and direct link between using animals for food and the climate catastrophe.

What Caused COP28 to Go ‘Mostly Vegan’

The Youth and Children Constituency of the UNFCCC (YOUNGO) and over 140 youth and civil society organizations—boosted by ProVeg International—sent a letter in April 2023 to the COP28 presidency, asking that at least three-quarters of the conference’s food options be plant-based and strongly encouraging a more culturally inclusive menu.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber—the COP28 president-designate—responded to YOUNGO in a letter stating that COP28 will emphasize plant-based food choices that are central to addressing the climate emergency. Multiple environmental groups and youth advocates have dedicated decades to pushing COP meetings to make the vital switch to vegan food.

“My team has been working to ensure the availability of plant-based food options that are affordable, nutritious, and locally and regionally sourced, with clear emissions labeling.”

—Dr. Sultan Al Jaber

This follows PETA entities’ long history of urging the United Nations to make its events—including past COP gatherings—vegan, writing letters, sending petitions signed by our many members, and holding demonstrations outside its events. It’s great news that the letter from YOUNGO finally elicited some action.

With Dubai as the host city for COP28, the UAE’s focus on sustainability and awareness of the Paris Agreement’s goals make the prioritization of plant-based foods on its menu especially meaningful. It also honors the UAE’s 2023 Year of Sustainability campaign, which encourages plant-based eating and food waste reduction.

Why PETA Is Telling COP28 to Go All the Way

In response to COP28’s important step in the right direction, PETA is urging it to bring this crucial action to full fruition. PETA Asia sent a fig tree as a thank-you, accompanied by a message of encouragement: “Give a fig—go all the way.” With Earth’s future and the survival of all living, feeling beings at stake, COP28 must choose vegan.

Each year, billions of animals around the globe are killed in the food industry so that their flesh or mammary secretions can be consumed by humans. These animals are forcibly bred and kept in cramped enclosures. They endure mutilations—such as tail docking and castration—without pain relief. Most are violently killed at slaughterhouses. Even many otherwise compassionate humans participate in this horrific cycle through their food choices. And as an exhaustive study published in Nature Food clearly shows, the vast ripple effects of this process are rapidly destroying what’s left of the planet’s fragile ecosystems.

PETA also pressed previous COP meetings to go vegan. In our 2022 message to Pope Francis I at COP27, we asked the pontiff to take the first steps in moving the Catholic Church toward climate justice by resurrecting meat-free Fridays (including a new proscription on the consumption of fish) and excommunicating Catholics who eat animals.

As future COP events occur, PETA will do everything possible to persuade the conference to go vegan and fully align with its own stated objectives. No truly environmentally conscious meeting would serve flesh, eggs, or bovine mammary secretions.

How You Can Be a Globally Minded Leader

Going vegan is the most effective action you can take to do the following:

• Combat the climate catastrophe
• Show compassion for your fellow animals
• Improve your health

The power to change the world doesn’t rest solely with those attending COP28—you have power, too. Here are two steps to get you started:

Armed with damning U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports documenting serious problems—such as dogs with untreated and likely painful dental disease, moldy food, and no access to water—at Coldwater Kennel, a local operation that churns out puppies for sale that’s run by Larry Albrecht, PETA rushed a letter to Butler County Attorney David Kuehner asking him to investigate the facility, which houses nearly 250 dogs, and file applicable charges against those responsible for animal neglect and/or cruelty to animals.

According to the most recently released report, on June 28 government inspectors found extensive tartar buildup on dogs’ teeth and a dog with a loose tooth and several teeth “completely covered in hard, dark brown” material. In February, the kennel operator was advised to get dental cleaning procedures done on the dogs, but the June report revealed that this was not done.

Last year, USDA inspectors also found “caked and moldy food” in feeding trays, a female dog who had no access to water, and two dogs with five puppies housed on wire grates. The report notes that the puppies’ feet fell through the wires, creating a serious risk of injury and “discomfort, pain, or mobility issues.” Additionally, inspectors found five dogs kept outdoors with plastic doghouses that were so badly chewed that they couldn’t be properly sanitized.

“Filth, neglect, and suffering are par for the course in miserable puppy mills like this one, where dogs are treated as commodities to be produced as cheaply as possible,” says PETA Vice President of Evidence Analysis Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on Butler County authorities to prosecute those responsible and urges everyone never to buy an animal from any breeder or pet store and to adopt from shelters instead.”

In the first quarter of 2023, Iowa puppy mills racked up more federal violations than those in any other state, with 26 breeders accounting for 107 total citations. PETA notes that around 70 million companion animals are homeless in the U.S. at any given time and that breeders add to the overpopulation crisis and deny animals in shelters a chance at finding a home.

PETA is pursuing charges under state law because the USDA doesn’t render relief or aid to animals during its inspections and these violations carry no federal criminal or civil penalties.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Kuehner follows.

August 8, 2023

The Honorable David Kuehner

Butler County Attorney

Dear Mr. Kuehner:

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m writing to request that your office (and the proper law-enforcement agency, as you deem appropriate) investigate and, as suitable, file criminal charges against those responsible for neglecting dogs at Coldwater Kennel, operated by Larry Albrecht at 12059 Camp Comfort Rd. near Greene. PETA hopes investigators will visit the facility with a veterinarian who has expertise in canine health and welfare so that they can identify any animals in need of care and opine on the conditions of and for the approximately 250 animals there.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff documented neglect at the facility in the attached reports, the latest of which was just made public. On June 28, USDA officials found that three dogs had yet to receive the dental care that they were determined to need more than four months earlier. Brown material had accumulated on up to 50% of each dog’s teeth. A Pomeranian was found to have several teeth “completely covered” by such buildup and one tooth that “was loose when touched.” In September 2021, USDA staff found that a dog had “dark brown tartar buildup covering the entire surface” of several teeth. Some of the teeth were “loose and moved easily,” and their underlying gums were “inflamed and bled,” which “could cause pain … to the dog.”

In May 2022, the inspector found five dogs whose shelters had been “heavily chewed.” Two months earlier, USDA staff found that four dogs were left with “moldy” and/or “caked” food and that a fifth dog had no water. When the dog was given water, she drank it for approximately a minute.

These findings may violate Iowa’s animal neglect statute, Iowa Code § 717B.3(1). While Albrecht operates a commercial establishment he is required under Iowa Code § 162.10A to ensure that his animals don’t lack veterinary care or adequate food, water, or housing. Thus, these findings aren’t exempt from investigation. The USDA renders no aid or relief whatsoever to animals on site, and these reports carry no criminal or civil penalties and don’t preempt criminal liability under state law for neglecting animals. If you’d like to learn more about the USDA’s findings, please see the contact information for its office in Riverdale, Maryland, here.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Daniel Paden

Vice President of Evidence Analysis

PETA