Kategorie: Animals

On Thursday, a pack of “polar bears” will surround the Starbucks store on E. Sixth Street to urge the company to stop charging customers extra for vegan milk, which incentivizes them to opt for dairy milk, even though the dairy industry is a top producer of the greenhouse gases that are contributing to melting the ice caps, killing polar bears, and catastrophic and irreversible global heating. The pleading “bears” are the latest action in PETA’s campaign calling on Starbucks to end the upcharge for vegan milks, which the company already agrees are better for the planet.

When:    Thursday, July 27, 12 noon

Where:    580 Walnut St. (meeting at the intersection with E. Sixth Street), Cincinnati

“Starbucks admits it has a massive carbon footprint from its use of dairy, yet the company still refuses to put planet over profits,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Starbucks to give a frap about the polar bears who are dying on melting icecaps, as well as the cows who are forcibly impregnated on dairy farms and have their babies stolen from them, and end Starbucks’ shameful upcharge on vegan milks.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.

For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Protesting ‘Polar Bears’ to Occupy Downtown Starbucks Over Earth-Killing Pro-Dairy Policy appeared first on PETA.

A Compassionate Action Award is on its way from PETA to local UPS driver Christopher Schwenk for his heroic deed that saved the lives of three dogs trapped inside a burning home last week after a lightning strike. The dogs’ guardians weren’t home, and when Schwenk realized that the animals were in danger, he kicked in the front door, searched the house, found the dogs, and got them out safely—an action he told PETA he would “do again in a heartbeat” and hopes others would, too. PETA hopes the same.

As Schwenk explained to PETA, he knew the Granby Street home had dogs—whom he called his “buddies”—because the house is on his route. He said he “had to step in and take action” after seeing the smoke and that another good Samaritan had participated in the rescue. PETA is seeking the identity of the other person so it can thank him as well.

“Thanks to UPS driver Christopher Schwenk’s quick, heroic actions, petrified dogs who were certainly going to perish in the flames were saved and returned to their human family,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA encourages everyone to follow his example by acting swiftly to help animals in danger, whether in a burning home, on the roadway, or anywhere at all.”

Schwenk will receive a framed certificate, an Always Root for the Underdog T-Shirt, Rescue Roast coffee, bars of vegan Chocolate to the Rescue, a Dogs in Hot Cars Emergency Window Breaking Hammer, and toys for his adopted cat and dog.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—recommends placing signs on doors and windows alerting rescue workers to the presence of dogs, cats, and other companion animals. Guardians can make their own signs or order stickers at PETA.org. To learn more about PETA and its mission to stop speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, please listen to The PETA Podcast or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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Federal records just obtained by PETA from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveal that meat from Virginia-based Smithfield Foods (a Chinese-owned company)—along with meat from pork producer Swift Pork Company—tested positive for clenbuterol, an illegal drug that increases muscle mass in animals and can cause cardiac problems, tremors, and even death in humans. Just last year, hundreds of people in the Mexican state of Yucatán were thought to have fallen ill after ingesting meat laced with clenbuterol, and in 2011, tainted meat from Smithfield owner Shuanghui (now WH Group) sickened 1,700 people and killed one in China.

Tainted pork from pigs killed at Smithfield’s Tar Heel slaughterhouse was exported to Mexico, where authorities denied entry to the shipment(s) and documented the violation in a memo to the USDA. The agency launched an investigation, and USDA records note that Smithfield management was “unable to provide any monitoring records” to show that the animals they receive are clenbuterol-free. The U.S. only permits the drug for veterinary use in horses.

“An illegal and dangerous drug in Smithfield’s supply chain is one more reason people should stop eating animal products now,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA encourages everyone to choose healthy, clean, ‘green’ vegan foods and spare pigs a lifetime of misery.”

Most of the 129 million pigs killed for food each year in the U.S. are confined to filthy enclosures so small that they can barely turn around. Workers chop off piglets’ tails, cut their teeth with pliers, and castrate the males—all without pain relief. At slaughterhouses, workers shoot, electrocute, or gas pigs before hanging them upside down and cutting their throats.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Illegal, Deadly Drug Found in Meat From Smithfield appeared first on PETA.

Federal records just obtained by PETA from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveal that meat from Swift Pork Company’s local slaughterhouse—along with meat from pork producer Smithfield Foods—tested positive for clenbuterol, an illegal drug that increases muscle mass in animals and can cause cardiac problems, tremors, and even death in humans.

Swift Pork Company had exported the tainted meat from its Worthington slaughterhouse to Mexico, where authorities denied entry to the shipment(s) and documented the violation in a memo to the USDA. Following an investigation, the USDA informed Mexican officials that pigs from fairs or shows may have been fed clenbuterol and mixed in with Swift’s “market” hogs, which is illegal since the U.S. only permits the drug for veterinary use in horses.

PETA notes that just last year, hundreds of people in the Mexican state of Yucatán are thought to have fallen ill after ingesting meat laced with clenbuterol, and in 2011, tainted meat from Smithfield owner Shuanghui (now WH Group) sickened 1,700 people and killed one in China.

“An illegal and dangerous drug in Swift Pork Company’s supply chain is one more reason people should stop eating animal products now,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA encourages everyone to choose healthy, clean, ‘green’ vegan foods and spare pigs a lifetime of misery.”

Most of the 129 million pigs killed for food each year in the U.S. are confined to filthy enclosures so small that they can barely turn around. Workers chop off piglets’ tails, cut their teeth with pliers, and castrate the males—all without pain relief. At slaughterhouses, workers shoot, electrocute, or gas pigs before hanging them upside down and cutting their throats.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Illegal, Deadly Drug Found in Meat From Swift Pork Company appeared first on PETA.

Native New Yorker Asher Smith has been named one of the top 40 young lawyers in America by the American Bar Association for his groundbreaking work for animals at the PETA Foundation. Born in Great Neck, the director of litigation joined the group in 2018 after working on cases ranging from multibillion-dollar securities litigation and pro bono matters such as lawsuits in Mississippi and at the Supreme Court seeking to legalize gay marriage. Since then, he has helped take down animal abusers, including Tiger King villains Tim Stark and Jeff Lowe, and worked to stop the humane-washing of animal-derived foods in advertising—and in the process, he has pushed people to think differently about ways the law can be used to protect sentient beings.

The PETA Foundation’s legal team operates as a boutique litigation firm on behalf of PETA and other plaintiffs to advocate for animals in the courtroom. Smith’s recent legal victories include these:

• An Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit against Tim Stark of Wildlife in Need (WIN) in Indiana and his associates

PETA secured a ruling that Stark’s practices of prematurely separating big-cat cubs from their mothers, declawing them, and using them in his “tiger baby playtime” events were all violations of the ESA. The surviving big cats at the center of PETA’s lawsuit were transported to reputable sanctuaries, Stark was ordered to pay PETA more than $750,000 in fees and costs, and WIN was later shut down as a result of an Indiana state prosecution for which Smith provided evidence.

• ESA lawsuits against Jeff Lowe of Tiger King Park and his associates

Smith and his team provided assistance in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit alleging that Lowe violated both the ESA and the federal Animal Welfare Act by illegally taking, possessing, and transporting protected animals and placing the health of animals in serious danger. The DOJ adopted many of Smith’s arguments from the Stark case, resulting in the confiscation of all wild and exotic animals from Tiger King Park in Oklahoma.

• A lawsuit against Pete and Gerry’s Organics, the owner of Nellie’s Free Range Eggs, on behalf of consumers in New York who felt deliberately misled by the company’s deceptive packaging

The packaging depicted joyful hens frolicking outdoors, but a

PETA investigation revealed that rather than enjoying lush pastures, 20,000 hens were crammed into a single crowded shed at a Nellie’s supplier. In a landmark victory for PETA, the New York federal court rejected the motion by Nellie’s to dismiss the suit—a ruling that puts other egg sellers on notice that they’re potentially liable for similar deceptive marketing claims.

• Lawsuits against the University of Washington (UW)

A judge found that UW’s policy of destroying photos and videos associated with experiments conducted at its Washington National Primate Research Center made it impossible to comply with public records law and also faulted the university for hiding records obtained by Smith through the litigation that exposed financial scandals, personnel dysfunction, and animal deaths at the center—ordering the university to pay PETA more than half a million dollars in fees and penalties.

• Lawsuits against Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)

Just this past June, Smith’s team helped win a decision ordering another major research institution, OHSU, to pay PETA—this time more than $430,000 in sanctions for going to extreme lengths to hide videos of frivolous experiments in which experimenters pumped prairie voles full of alcohol and forced them to fight in plastic cages. The case also held OHSU liable for illegally surveilling PETA and animal rights activists.

Smith’s litigation includes a first-of-its-kind constitutional lawsuit on behalf of 30 barn owls used in deadly brain studies at Johns Hopkins University as well as First Amendment lawsuits against the National Institutes of Health for filtering comments criticizing animal experiments on its social media channels and against transit systems in Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; and the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland for rejecting PETA’s advertising.

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, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Meet the New York Native Leading PETA Litigation, Named Among Top Young Lawyers in the U.S. appeared first on PETA.