Moolah Shriners were caught on video in St. Louis this week assaulting two nonviolent protesters who had entered a Shriners meeting to proclaim, “Coal for you for abusing animals in your circus! Drop the animal acts immediately!” Fez-wearing Shriners battered 32-year-old Sasha Monik, dressed as Santa, and 40-year-old Kyle Mayberry, who filmed the protest against the Moolah Shrine Circus’ continued use of animals, as they attempted to leave the building. One Shriner reportedly put Monik in a chokehold, twisted her arm, and held her against a wall while three or more of them threw Mayberry to the ground, ripping his clothing, and pinned him. One Shriner kneeled on his back, and another stepped on his hand.
The Shriners kept the protesters in those positions until police arrived and charged the pair with trespassing and disturbing the peace. Monik was taken to the hospital for a CT scan and released. Mayberry, who is now suffering from severely bruised ribs, was held in jail overnight and released the next morning. The pair plan not only to plead “not guilty” to the charges but also to sue the Shriners for assault.
It’s no surprise that Shriners who support violently tormenting elephants and other wild animals for circus shows would also assault peaceful protesters. PETA stands behind “Santa” and her helper and is more determined than ever to push the Moolah Shrine to drop the animal acts from its circus.
Moolah Shrine Circus Abuses Animals
The Moolah Shrine Circus is among the last remaining shows that still use wild animals, who are confined to small crates, kept in shackles, and deprived of any semblance of a natural life. It has partnered with notoriously cruel exhibitors, including Carson & Barnes Circus, which has been cited for more than 100 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and whose head trainer was caught on video attacking elephants with bullhooks—weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on one end.
Speak Out Against Shrine Circuses
Please, take this opportunity to speak out against the despicable legacy of Shrine animal circuses, in which elephants, tigers, bears, and other animals have been forced to perform under threat of violence for over 100 years.
Can’t get enough of peppermint-flavored foods this winter? Your craving is covered, since a seemingly endless number of vegan peppermint foods are on the market these days! We love this refreshingly cool flavor, especially when it’s paired with vegan chocolate. Just be sure to choose items that are free from animal-derived ingredients like cow’s milk, because cows are loving, playful individuals who don’t want to be used for their milk.
Here are some of our favorite vegan peppermint picks that we think you’ll love, too:
Most of the year you can enjoy NadaMoo!’s Organic Mint Chip flavor, but it also has a seasonal Peppermint Bark pint with bits of peppermint candy and a fudgy swirl.
There’s nothing like topping your vegan hot cocoa with some gelatin-free marshmallows, and these mini peppermint-flavored ones rank among our favorites.
Going vegan is the best thing you can do for animals, the planet, and your health. Learn more about making the transition by taking our 3-Week Vegan Challenge and ordering your free vegan starter kit:
Not only is PETA the largest animal advocacy organization in the world, we’re also the most engaged-with advocacy organization on social media. We have the highest number of people “liking,” sharing, and commenting on our Facebook posts, Instagram posts, tweets, and TikToks, which means that more people than ever are getting the message to end speciesism. Here’s a look at some of our social media work in 2022 that’s inspired people to live more compassionately.
Social Media Platforms Inform About Animals Used in Laboratories
In the more than 40 years since our historic Silver Spring monkeys case—the groundbreaking investigation that first thrust animal rights into mainstream consciousness—we’ve kept exposing horrifying abuse, stopping deadly experiments, and championing modern, animal-free test methods. The footage below of a twisted experimenter laughing after bashing in this monkey’s head still evokes emotional reactions decades later. It was viewed more than 225,000 times this year.
With our groundbreaking undercover investigation that blew the lid off neglect, intense confinement, suffering, and death at Envigo’s massive beagle-breeding facility in Cumberland, Virginia, PETA helped spark a historic domino effect that paved the way for the closure of the dog prison.
Thousands of beagles were transported to shelters across the U.S. for rehabilitation and adoption, and 25 of the dogs bred at Envigo to be sold into experimentation were transferred to PETA for much-needed TLC and veterinary care before being adopted into prescreened homes. This video of two of the beagles feeling grass for the first time caught the attention of thousands of Facebook users.
While PETA made great strides for animals used in laboratories in 2022, one pharmaceutical giant—Eli Lilly—has yet to pledge to PETA that it will never use the debunked forced swim test again. Our video received over 120,000 “likes” on TikTok.
The forced swim test—also known as the despair test—has been heavily criticized by scientists, who have shown that it doesn’t predict how effective an antidepressant drug will be in humans. A coin toss is more accurate. Help PETA get this cruel and pointless experiment banned at Eli Lilly by taking action today!
PETA’s Best Social Media Posts About Animals Used for Food
More than 267,000 people viewed this video of a mother pig trying to help her piglet. A worker castrated him just outside the bars of her enclosure.
When pigs live in conditions in which they’re able to express their natural behavior, mothers sing to their newborns and form deep social bonds with them. On today’s farms, though, their babies are taken away from them and either killed for food or forced into breeding more piglets to be exploited. When the mothers’ bodies eventually give out, they’re killed for their flesh.
You have the choice to not be the reason this happens.
The only way to drink milk without harming cows is to opt for vegan milks, but some companies, like Starbucks, penalize customers who avoid dairy for ethical, environmental, religious, or health reasons. Our animal defenders are so committed to sticking around until the surcharge is abolished that they actually glued themselves to counters at Starbucks’ headquarters.
A cup of coffee may help get you through your day, but there’s no relief for cows used in the dairy industry. They’re repeatedly forcibly impregnated, their babies are stolen from them, and they’re killed when their bodies no longer produce enough milk to make them “profitable.”
Grinding up live male chicks is standard in the egg industry, where more than 200 million newborn chicks are killed each year because they’re “useless” in terms of profit.
Yes, even eggs labeled “free-range” and “cage-free” come from hatcheries that kill day-old male chicks and farms that exploit their mothers and sisters for their reproductive parts and flesh.
Spreading the Word About Animals Used for Clothing
Animals’ skin and fur belongs to them, and PETA’s social media team is working hard to make sure consumers know who they’re wearing when they purchase animal-derived products.
Our top Facebook post received more than 85,000 reactions and was shared by more than 9,000 people. Our PETA-made image depicts a coyote family torn apart by the fur industry. When an animal steps on the spring of a steel-jaw trap, the device’s jaws slam shut on the animal’s leg. Some animals, especially mothers who are desperate to get back to their young, attempt to chew or twist off their trapped legs.
Down industry workers often tear fistfuls of feathers from live ducks and geese, causing huge amounts of pain and stress, in order to steal their down. Imagine if your hair were torn out of your head.
If the birds are killed before being plucked, their deaths can be terrifying and slow, like it was for this goose whose beheading was filmed by a PETA Asia investigator:
Ducks, geese, and other birds should be able to spend their lives caring for their young, swimming, and foraging in their natural habitat like this family, not being abused on a farm or in a slaughterhouse:
When someone noticed a mother and her ducklings trying to cross a busy 6-lane road, they jumped into action & called us! Watch this rescued duck family waddle their way into a peaceful riverside after PETA fieldworkers safely collected & escorted them across the road
Our Top Posts About Animals Used for Entertainment
When Ryder the horse collapsed in New York City, we made sure that people all over the world knew what had happened and how they could take action for horses forced to pull carriages.
BREAKING: This horse COLLAPSED while pulling a carriage in NYC, likely from heat exhaustion, and has been down for over an hour.
Horses don’t belong in big cities where they’re put in constant danger because of cars, humans, weather, and more. pic.twitter.com/vXBVRJRjPB
Horses suffer when used for racing, especially at underground racetracks. From June 2021 to April 2022, a team of PETA operatives investigated unregulated horse racing in Georgia. They discovered a clandestine underworld of crime and cruelty, where racegoers wager hundreds of thousands of dollars and trainers and jockeys drug, whip, and electroshock horses to run as fast as possible—sometimes costing horses and jockeys their lives. Well over 100 of these tracks operate all over the U.S., flying largely under the radar.
Disney Dogs and Other Companion Animals Storm PETA’s Social Media Accounts
PETA Senior Social Artist Tiani Hernandez imagined how iconic Disney dogs would fare if they were forced to endure the same conditions that cruel and neglectful humans subject so many real dogs to. Her first image, featuring Dug from Up who is chained to a doghouse and crying, was “liked” more than 77,000 times.
Prong collars, e-collars, and choke collars can damage dogs’ fragile airways and result in painful lesions, collapsed tracheas, and even death. This sharable picture that flipped the script was “liked” more than 12,000 times. Using a simple buckle collar to hold a dog’s ID and license tags is a great idea, but dragging your furry buddy along by the neck is not.
Your dog wouldn’t do this to you — don’t do it to them.
Our top post of 2022 was viewed more than 2 million times: PETA’s tongue-in-cheek compassionate gamer’s guide to Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarök made some big impressions on Twitter. The animals in the Lands Between and the Nine Realms deserve your respect—just as animals here in the real world do.
Rise, Tarnished, and bear witness to the amazing animals of the Lands Between!
BOY, it’s like Grey Wolf Sif all over again. If you’re cold, they’re cold. Tyr was wrong to chain this pup up and leave him outside in the freezing cold of Helheim. @Sony, we need a “PETA mode” so #GodofWarRagnarok can be played without violence to animals! 🐺
‘Like Animals? Here’s How You Can Help PETA Save More Lives
Animals are unique individuals with their own wants and needs. The notion that humans are entitled to exploit them is rooted in speciesism, the misguided belief that one species is more important than another. When we see all animals as deserving of respect, we understand that we must change our personal choices in order to stop contributing to their suffering. Going vegan is better for animals, your health, and the planet—make a positive change today.
Moolah Shriners were caught on video this week assaulting two nonviolent protesters who had entered a Shriners meeting to proclaim, “Coal for you for abusing animals in your circus! Drop the animal acts immediately!” Fez-wearing Shriners battered 32-year-old Sasha Monik, dressed as Santa, and 40-year-old Kyle Mayberry, who filmed the protest against the Moolah Shrine Circus’ continued use of animals, as they attempted to leave the building. One Shriner reportedly put Monik in a chokehold, twisted her arm, and held her against a wall while three or more of them threw Mayberry to the ground, ripping his clothing, and pinned him down. One Shriner kneeled on his back, and another stepped on his hand.
The Shriners kept the protesters in those positions until police arrived and charged the pair with trespassing and disturbing the peace. Monik was taken to the hospital for a CT scan and released from there. Mayberry, who is now suffering from severely bruised ribs, was held in jail overnight and released the next morning. The pair plan not only to plead “not guilty” to the charges but also to sue the Shriners for assault.
“It’s no surprise that Shriners who support violently tormenting elephants and other wild animals for circus shows would also assault peaceful protesters,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA stands behind ‘Santa’ and her helper and is more determined than ever to push the Moolah Shrine to drop the animal acts from its circus.”
The Moolah Shrine Circus is among the last remaining shows that still use wild animals who are confined to small crates, kept in shackles, and deprived of any semblance of a natural life. It has partnered with notoriously cruel exhibitors, including Carson & Barnes Circus, which has been cited for more than 100 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and whose head trainer was caught on video attacking elephants with bullhooks—weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on one end.
Monik is available for interviews about the incident. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Can you feel the boom—or rather bloom—of vegan fast food in 2022? Plant your feet, because plants are shaking up your usual shake-and-burger spots after an encouraging year. Gearing up as demand grows for animal-free and planet-friendly platters, some of the biggest chains have tested vegan items and added plant-based innovations. Many menus are reflecting this wider respect for animals and the environment, making it increasingly easy to order a quick vegan meal. In case you didn’t catch these scrumptious options on your last jaunt to a favorite joint or loop around the drive-through, take a spin with PETA as we review speedy vegan nosh news from around the nation.
Panda Express Offers ‘Beyond the Original Orange Chicken’ at Over 2,300 Locations
After teaming up with Beyond Meat—PETA’s 2013 Company of the Year—and testing out this top-selling, tasty option in New York City and Los Angeles, Panda Express officially added Beyond the Original Orange Chicken to its menu in 2022, paving the way for kinder options across the country. This delicious dish comes after PETA supporters took more than 234,000 actions to encourage the chain to add vegan options.
Panda Express’ 2,300 locations nationwide now offer this meal, which features crispy breading and honey-free sauce. This mouthwatering vegan choice will help customers stop contributing to cruelty toward sensitive, social chickens used for food. Other vegan delights from Panda Express include Eggplant Tofu, Vegetable Spring Rolls, Chow Mein, and Super Greens. PETA has been pushing the chain since 2008 to add first vegetarian, then vegan options, including urging it to remove chicken stock from recipes, so this news is a triumph!
McDonald’s Teased the McPlant Burger at Select Stores in California and Texas
McDonald’s tested the McPlant Burger at many select stores in California and Texas, largely in the San Francisco and Dallas areas. As long as the mayonnaise and cheese were left off, the burger was vegan. Co-developed with Beyond Meat, the McPlant featured a cow-friendly patty, onions, lettuce, pickles, Roma tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, and a toasted sesame seed bun.
McDonald’s McPlant burger, ordered without cheese or mayonnaise
Taco Bell Tests Beyond Carne Asada Steak in Ohio—Plus, Vegan Beef Tested in Alabama
In October, Taco Bell began testing its new Beyond Carne Asada Steak at nearly 50 locations in the Dayton, Ohio, area. Just before that, a limited run of plant-based beef—a special blend of soy and pea protein—was tested in about 50 locations in the Birmingham, Alabama, area.
PETA has pushed the chain since 2013 to add vegan items, including asking it to make the Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili taco shell animal-free. We specifically urged Taco Bell to add Beyond vegan meat in 2020. Here’s hoping our efforts will help these flavorful flourishes from Taco Bell land in all U.S. stores in 2023, for the sake of cows everywhere.
Burger King’s Latest Crowning Achievement: The Original Chik’n Sandwich Hits Ohio
Burger King tested a meat-free Original Chik’n Sandwich in Cincinnati, along with chicken-free nuggets in select cities, both in the fall of 2022. We hope they join the plant-based Whopper as mainstays—the burger can easily be made animal-friendly by ordering it without mayonnaise. PETA has been pushing the chain to add vegan options in the U.S. since 2004, and we’ll keep at it.
And across the pond in the U.K. on World Vegan Day in 2022, Burger King began testing new soy-based Dirty Vegan Nuggets—via a collaboration with The Vegetarian Butcher—topped with barbecue sauce and crispy onions. This test follows the successful launch of a Vegan Royale and a Plant-Based Whopper, plus a monthlong all-vegan menu trial at Burger King’s flagship London location, with support from PETA U.K. Maybe these latest innovations will arrive nationwide in the U.S. soon, giving customers more opportunities to be kind to inquisitive, observant chickens.
Chipotle Launched Vegan Chorizo Across the U.S., and We Hope It’ll Return to Stay
After the soy-based Sofritas option became a permanent vegan go-to, Chipotle capitalized on a chance in early January 2022 to launch a spicy vegan chorizo all over the U.S. Made fresh each day with pea protein and delicious seasonings, this gluten-free taste bud rouser packs twice the protein of the Sofritas.
PETA has pushed Chipotle to add vegan items since 2012, and the Sofritas and Plant-Based Chorizo followed years of pressure from and conversations with us. We even received a reply this year from the chain’s sustainability director highlighting its Vegan Lifestyle Bowl and saying, “We look forward to sharing continued innovation in this space.” PETA replied by suggesting that it keep adding more vegan options to help improve its corporate climate footprint. Next time you opt for Chipotle, give the Sofritas or—if still available—the Plant-Based Chorizo a try while taking time to understand why friendly, intelligent pigs should never be used for food.
Peet’s Coffee Rolls Out a Mediterranean Wrap Along With Many Vegan Drinks
In March, Peet’s Coffee released a plant-based Mediterranean Flatbread wrap that’s available all day at every location. Made with an egg-free scramble, vegan provolone cheese from Violife, tomatoes, pesto, kale, and bell peppers, this delectable wrap joins the Everything Plant-Based Sandwich—happily, a permanent menu item after being tested in 2021—as a great new option.
In 2021, PETA raised the idea with Peet’s to create an animal-free sandwich, including Beyond Sausage specifically, so we’re elated that it did. More customers can now consider how socially complex, curious chickens are used in the egg industry and make the compassionate choice instead. Peet’s also created more vegan drinks in 2022, available hot or iced, including the handcrafted Hazelnut Oat Latte, Vanilla Almond Latte, and Cold Brew with Vanilla Oat Foam.
Smashburger Partners With Eclipse, Adding New Vegan Milkshakes to Its Menu
New vegan shakes are now being offered at all 220 U.S. Smashburger locations, thanks to an exciting collaboration in June between the company and Eclipse Foods. Boasting flavors such as Tangerine Dream, Peanut Butter, Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry, the creamy concoctions can help foster further compassion for cows used in the dairy industry and are bound to shake you up in all the best ways. Just ask for no whipped cream.
PETA has urged the chain over the years to add more vegan options, like an animal-friendly kids’ menu, so these shakes show someone heard us. And as vegan milkshakes keep popping up in various places, PETA suspects Smashburger may have an ongoing smash success with these.
Pret A Manger Continues to Promote Its Meatless Meatball Wrap in the U.S.
Via a partnership with the U.K.-based Meatless Farm, Pret A Manger brought its new Meatless Meatball Wrap to the U.S. in January 2022, landing in all 42 locations in New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The plant-based meatballs infused with garlic and herbs are nestled in a seven-grain wrap with red onions, red pepper, marinara sauce, and a dash of crispy onions. Joining the Creamy Oatm*lk Porridge as another vegan option, the wrap represents the first time Pret A Manger’s menu has included animal-free meat.
PETA’s pushed Pret in the U.S. to add more vegan items since 2017—to match the many options available at Pret in the U.K., which PETA U.K. has been urging the chain to add since 2012. In the U.S., PETA repeatedly asked the chain to drop its vegan milk surcharge in 2018, and it did in 2020. We thank it for that commitment, and we’re in communication via updates on the newest vegan items (like the Meatless Meatball Wrap and the Roasted Veggie Harvest Soup released this year).
Starbucks Started Autumn Off Well With a Daring Chicken Test Around D.C.
Starbucks may still be hypocritical about vegan milk surcharges—and PETA will keep campaigning to change that—but it was refreshing to see the chain team up with the celebrity-backed, plant-based brand Daring Foods starting in October. Customers in the D.C. area have gotten to taste new sous vide egg-free bites and vegan chicken options, including the Plant-Based Spicy Chicken Sausage and Pepper Sous-Vide Bite, the Plant-Based Smoky Poblano and Black Bean Sous-Vide Bite, and the Plant-Based Spicy Chicken Sausage and Pepper Sandwich Mini. Perhaps these morning noshes will sweep the nation soon.
We’ve pushed the popular coffee shop over the years to add vegan options, and it’s tested quite a few. At the end of 2021, Starbucks U.K. announced that it would quit charging extra for plant-based milks at the outset of 2022, following PETA U.K.’s involvement with the chain since 2012. We hope Starbucks in the U.S. will soon follow suit. As far back as 2007, PETA began purchasing shares of Starbucks stock to have more sway with the chain. In early 2022, it said it would launch ready-to-drink Frappuccinos with oat milk in Caramel Waffle Cookie and Dark Chocolate Brownie flavors. It’s also releasing a bottled cold brew with oat milk in a dark chocolate flavor.
Mel’s Drive-In Makes Waves in California With Fresh Vegan Shakes via Eclipse
As plant-based milkshakes keep appearing at other chains, Mel’s Drive-In made the move and stirred up its own by partnering with Eclipse Foods in 2022. The two newest animal-friendly shakes are Vegan Chocolate Chip and Vegan Cookies’n’Cream, both made with Cosmic Bliss ice cream and almond milk and the latter with Lenny and Larry’s Chocolate Chip Complete Cookie.
Customers can also request vegan versions of Mel’s standard shakes with Cosmic Bliss ice cream. With favorite flavors like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry and the option to add pineapple, cookies, butterscotch, banana, or coffee for only 20 cents more, the classic shakes can all be ordered animal-free. Pair any of them with a meat-free burger and you’ll be set.
Here are a few more tasty vegan options that have cropped up and been tested over the past year:
Biggby Coffee added a vegan breakfast sandwich with Worthington sausage and Chao cheese back in July—great news, as PETA’s pushed the chain for vegan options since 2016. We’re also glad to have a contact at Biggby who shared the launch news, and we updated the chain’s ranking to an “A” on our Vegan-Friendly Cafés & Coffee Chains blog post earlier this year.
Burgerville created vegan milkshakes and a plant-based cheeseburger that needs no modifications.
Applebee’s added an animal-free burger to its menu. PETA has urged the chain to offer more vegan items since 2016.
L&L Hawaiian Barbecue released a plant-based spam musubi via OmniFoods for a limited time at certain Honolulu locations.
Just Salad added Hooray Foods’ vegan bacon to its seasonal options. (PETA gave the chain a Proggy Award back in 2019 when it replaced beef with Beyond Meatballs, noting the environmental reasons for doing so. At that time, the chain said it might go vegan in the future. It was honored to get the award, and the CEO and founder responded in part, “It is really amazing to be recognized by PETA, an organization we think very highly of here.” Just Salad has assigned a carbon label to each menu item, and all of its greenest options are vegan. It also added Daring Plant Chicken and replaced Greek yogurt with oat milk for its smoothies.)
Noodles & Company added a vegan chicken option in March.
WaBa Grill created a Plantspired vegan steak, which is now a permanent menu item.
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PETA encourages you to keep looking for new developments along these lines as we move into the new year—hopefully, 2023 will prove to be a plant-based bonanza for fast-food chains everywhere. Meanwhile, take a moment to encourage more chains to offer vegan choices and send a friend our free vegan starter kit to help them make every meal in the coming year a compassionate one:
– Vegan Grocery Guru (@bigboxvegan)
