Kategorie: Animals

Lawmakers around the world are introducing bills that would ban the breeding of dogs who are the victims of “torture breeding”—bred to have such malformed noses and shortened faces that they endure a lifetime of breathing problems or bred to have dangerously lengthened spines—so PETA rushed a letter today to Westminster Kennel Club President and Show Chair Donald G. Sturz calling on him to act responsibly and humanely by prohibiting dachshunds and breathing-impaired breeds (BIB), such as French bulldogs and pugs, from competing in the Westminster dog show.

In its letter, PETA points out that Germany recently proposed a ban on breeding dogs with “skeletal anomalies”—including dachshunds, whose long spines and stubby legs often result in herniated discs and other painful back and joint problems that require surgery or are fatal. Meanwhile, lawmakers in New Hampshire last month proposed a similar bill to ban the breeding of French bulldogs and other flat-faced dogs, whose deliberately distorted airways can lead to a multitude of health problems, expensive medical procedures, and premature death—and whose reproductive systems are so malformed that they can’t breed or give birth normally and are bred using artificial insemination and delivered via cesarean section instead.

“Disqualifying deliberately deformed dogs from the competition is the least the Westminster Kennel Club can do after years of recklessly driving demand for the creation of dogs prone to a lifetime of suffering,” says PETA Vice President of Evidence Analysis Daniel Paden. “PETA is calling on this organization to stop promoting Frankendogs who are deliberately inbred to be malformed simply to provide a look that some humans fancy and urges everyone to adopt dogs and never to buy them from breeders or pet stores.”

PETA notes that most, if not all, “top” dog breeds suffer from numerous ailments because of generations of selective breeding. Bulldogs, pugs, and other BIBs suffer from brachycephalic airway syndrome, which makes breathing nearly impossible for them and is the leading cause of death for bulldogs. German shepherds and golden retrievers suffer from epilepsy and hip and elbow dysplasia. Cavalier King Charles spaniels’ skulls are too small for their brains, forcing the brain tissue to protrude through the base of the skull—a condition called syringomyelia—and dachshunds face a higher risk of lifelong spinal, knee, and other joint problems. Breeding any dog contributes to the homeless-animal crisis, with more than 70 million dogs and cats homeless in the U.S. at any given time.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any 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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post First Germany, Now Westminster? PETA Calls On Kennel Club to Ban Deliberately Deformed Dog Breeds appeared first on PETA.

Following the news that Cal-Maine Foods Inc. killed almost 2 million chickens at an egg factory in Parmer County due to a bird flu outbreak, PETA plans to place a sky-high warning near the plant, reminding everyone that slaughterhouses and filthy, severely crowded sheds where chickens are confined in the egg industry are breeding grounds for a host of deadly pathogens that can easily mutate and spread to humans.

“Eating meat, eggs, and dairy from deplorable operations where thousands or even millions of animals are confined amid their own waste not only is disgusting but also will unquestionably lead to another pandemic,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “The only solution is to go vegan, and PETA stands ready with free vegan starter kits to help everyone make the switch—before it’s too late.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently revealed that highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in cows used for dairy in Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas; is present in the milk of infected cows; and has been transmitted from a cow to a human at least once in the Texas Panhandle—the region where Cal-Maine Foods’ Parmer County egg factory is located. PETA points out that the majority of diseases that have caused epidemics or pandemics in recent years originated in animals before being transmitted to humans, including AIDS, avian flu, swine flu, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19. Strains of avian flu have already spread, decimating wild bird populations around the globe. Last year alone, at least 58 million birds confined on farms were systematically killed to limit the spread of the virus.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post ‘The Writing Is on the Wall’: Bird Flu Outbreak in Texas Panhandle Prompts Warning From PETA appeared first on PETA.

Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) experimenter Gerald Pepe killed four mother baboons—Jemma, Cookie, Toya, and Tara—who for years underwent multiple surgeries in which fetuses were cut out of them, some in violation of federal law, records just obtained by PETA reveal. EVMS began quietly killing the primates when PETA shared information with Virginia legislators about the violations—killing two of them after being contacted by the group to offer a sanctuary placement it had secured. EVMS is the only university in the Commonwealth that still uses nonhuman primates for experiments.

PETA has filed an open records request for the necropsy reports on the baboons and is calling for Pepe to be dismissed and his laboratory to be shut down permanently.

“Eastern Virginia Medical School’s killing of these bright, social baboons—Jemma, Cookie, Toya, and Tara—appears to be a cover-up, as the condition of their bodies no doubt reflected the systemic neglect and torment they endured in Gerald Pepe’s experiments,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “Pepe should be fired for his chronic violations of the law and for denying these elderly baboons a decent home for their remaining years.”

For more than 40 years, Pepe has used baboons in ill-designed pregnancy experiments, most recently injecting them with hormones and cutting out and killing their babies at various stages of development. When the baboons were allowed to carry their pregnancies to term, their babies were taken from them as infants. EVMS granted Pepe permission to conduct up to six cesarean sections on each of the baboons—in violation of federal animal welfare regulations—until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) took the rare step of revoking permission for experimenters at the university to continue performing multiple major surgeries on the animals.

A fifth baboon used in the experiments, Alissa, died following a cesarean section that was performed despite major fluctuations in her weight that were never addressed. These taxpayer-funded studies have produced no benefits, treatments, or cures for humans.

A baboon named Nikki, used in pregnancy experiments and confined to a cage at EVMS, rocks back and forth in psychological distress. Image obtained from this video by PETA through the Virginia Public Records Act

All five baboons endured severe psychological trauma from being repeatedly subjected to painful and invasive procedures as well as from social isolation and confinement to barren cages with little enrichment. They self-mutilated, pulled out their hair, chewed the bars of their cages, and sustained injuries, including missing fingers resulting from fights with cagemates. EVMS has a long history of federal animal welfare violations—including at least eight in recent years, four of which were “critical” (i.e., having a serious or severe adverse effect on the health and well-being of an animal).

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post EVMS Kills Four Mother Baboons After PETA Exposes Federal Animal Welfare Violations, Offers Sanctuary appeared first on PETA.

Following a PETA undercover investigation documenting that animals at Isaiah 11 Ministry—a local self-proclaimed “rescue” operation that has come under fire for animal neglect and for the claim that it provides “mental health” counseling to children and others—were left to suffer from open wounds, chronic illnesses, and severe infections without veterinary care (including a dying cat who was too weak to stand), Kosciusko County authorities have removed all animals from the facility and opened a criminal investigation into its owner, Linda Ozier. PETA has secured placement at reputable sanctuaries for the animals, including birds, pigs, and a goat. A donkey named Hosanna, who was overweight and whose hooves required care, was also removed by the local sheriff’s office.

Animal hoarding that causes neglect, including allowing animals to starve and die, is at a crisis level nationally. PETA’s investigation revealed that Ozier repeatedly failed to seek veterinary care for sick and injured animals at the facility—including Pearl, an emaciated cat whom the investigator found curled up in a ball, cold to the touch, visibly shaking, and reeking of infection. The investigator brought Pearl’s condition to Ozier’s attention multiple times, but she failed to act. After Ozier agreed to let the investigator adopt Pearl, the investigator rushed her to an emergency veterinary clinic, but despite days of intensive, round-the-clock care, a veterinarian determined that euthanasia was the most compassionate option for her.

Pearl. Credit: PETA

“Sick, injured, and dying animals suffered amid their own filth and the decomposing remains of other animals at this hoarder’s hellhole, which deprived them of care yet called itself a ‘rescue,’” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling on authorities to file cruelty-to-animals charges against Ozier and bar her from ever owning animals again.”

Other animals denied veterinary care at the facility included a cat named Raven who had large, open sores behind both ears; a thin potbellied pig whose overgrown tusk had become imbedded in his cheek; and two turkeys with severe feather loss. One of the turkeys limped on a swollen foot, and the other was found dead just days later. Dogs at the facility were relegated to a feces-filled barn stall, some cats were confined to filthy crates in a trailer with a rotting floor that reeked of ammonia, and the liquefying remains of dead cats (and the turkey) rotted in coolers outside.

An estimated one-quarter of reported complaints of animal hoarding received by law-enforcement agencies across the U.S. involve self-proclaimed animal “rescues” like Isaiah 11 Ministry. Multiple PETA investigations have exposed similar unregulated operations that hoarded dogs, cats, and other animals in squalid, severely crowded conditions for weeks, months, and even years on end.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any 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 the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Sick, Neglected Animals Removed From Self-Proclaimed ‘Rescue’ Following PETA Investigation appeared first on PETA.

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