Tomorrow, PETA U.S. supporters wearing animal masks and chanting, “Anthropologie has blood on its hands!” will cause mayhem at the Knox-Henderson store’s grand opening by loudly demanding that Anthropologie and other Urban Outfitters Inc. brands—including Free People—leave alpaca fleece, wool, leather, and cashmere on their original owners.
When: Wednesday, May 18, 11:30 a.m.
Where: Anthropologie, 4600 McKinney Ave., Dallas
“This Anthropologie store is another graveyard for animals who were beaten, cut up, and killed,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Urban Outfitters brands to open their doors to progress by ditching cruelly produced animal-derived materials.”
PETA entities have conducted dozens of undercover investigations revealing workers punching sheep in the wool industry; sensitive goats sustaining bloody, gaping wounds at cashmere operations; and cows burned, electroshocked, beaten, and slaughtered for leather.
PETA U.S.—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.
An ailing elephant named Isa used by Circus World Museum is haunting Madison-area buses to urge the facility’s operator, the locally based Wisconsin Historical Society, to reject all animal acts ahead of the circus’s first show of the season, on May 20. The ads feature a photo of Isa from a PETA investigation that revealed that Circus World—which uses an elephant exhibitor who has incurred more than 100 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act—forced geriatric elephants to perform grueling tricks in shows twice a day, every day, while they suffered from chronically swollen feet and presented signs of other painful foot and joint problems, which are among the leading reasons captive elephants are euthanized.
“Circus World forces geriatric elephants to perform demeaning tricks, stand on concrete all night while chained by their legs, and suffer through likely agonizing joint pain,” says PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Debbie Metzler. “PETA is calling on everyone to stay away from Circus World and to support animal-free acts in which human talent takes center stage.”
Circus World uses elephant acts provided by Carson & Barnes Circus, whose head trainer was caught on camera instructing other trainers to sink a bullhook—a weapon resembling a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on one end—into elephants’ flesh and twist it until they screamed. Among other violations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited Carson & Barnes for using an elephant at Circus World who was so thin that her hip bones were protruding and for failing to notice that another elephant at Circus World was lame.
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.
After a two-year pandemic hiatus, PETA and four other Hampton Roads–area animal shelters will welcome everyone back for Poochella, a sun-soaked afternoon of meeting one on one with lovable, adoptable dogs. The family-friendly festival will be held at PETA’s Bea Arthur Dog Park on the Elizabeth River.
When: Saturday, May 21, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Where: PETA’s Bea Arthur Dog Park, 501 Front St., Norfolk
“PETA’s Poochella festival offers local shelters the chance to come together and find loving homes for wonderful dogs,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is encouraging compassionate people to open their hearts to animals in need and learn more about why they should always adopt, never shop.”
After Friends of Lake Meredith and Alibates announced plans to fundraise for Labor Day fireworks, PETA sent the organization a letter today with a counterproposal: Be a friend to the lake’s animals by holding a laser or drone show instead and PETA will cover part of the costs. The group notes that laser light and drone shows spare wildlife a terrible fright—and they don’t release chemicals into the air, send ash into waterways, or start wildfires, as fireworks do.
“The explosions of fireworks scare wildlife out of their nests, onto roads, and even through plate-glass windows, so the best way to be a friend to Lake Meredith is to leave the animals who live there in peace,” says PETA Executive President Tracy Reiman. “PETA would be pleased to help Friends of Lake Meredith and Alibates mark Labor Day with a celebration that’s fun—not frightening.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—notes that fireworks are also frightening to animal companions and vulnerable humans, including those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
PETA’s letter to Friends of Lake Meredith and Alibates follows.
May 16, 2022
Friends of Lake Meredith and Alibates
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area
Dear Friends of Lake Meredith and Alibates:
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals U.S.—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, including many thousands across Texas—in response to your Facebook post requesting donations to fund a Labor Day fireworks display. Would you please consider celebrating with alternatives—such as laser or drone shows—in order to be a true friend to the area’s wild animals who are deeply stressed by loud fireworks? If you agree, we’ll be happy to donate to your initiative.
As you may know, fireworks trigger stress, disorientation, fear, and anxiety in wildlife. Fireworks displays can scare animals onto roads—where they risk being hit by cars—startled deer have crashed through plate glass windows, and frightened birds have slammed into walls. The loud blasts have also caused birds to panic and abandon their nests and their young. In one instance, more than 5,000 dead or dying red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky during a fireworks display in Beebe, Arkansas. And scientists studying waterfowl discovered that in reaction to fireworks shows, the birds fly en masse to dangerously high altitudes and stay aloft for as long as 45 minutes, leaving them exhausted and vulnerable.
Fireworks have also started wildfires, which kill smaller animals—such as voles, opossums, raccoons, and squirrels—who cannot flee quickly enough from fast-moving flames. Fires decimate habitats and food sources and can send ash into waterways, depleting oxygen and suffocating fish. Animals can also ingest remnants of large fireworks or fireworks debris. And fireworks release particle-laden smoke and chemicals, which contaminate the environment and can damage animals’ respiratory systems.
You already host many wonderful events for humans, such as star parties and movie nights. We hope you’ll also consider the well-being of Lake Meredith National Recreation Area’s animals by skipping the fireworks and choosing drone or laser shows instead. They’re far quieter and safer, they produce virtually no air pollution, and everyone can enjoy them. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.
Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain, is set to open the world’s first intensive octopus farm. Hundreds of thousands of these hyperintelligent beings would be commercially reared in cramped tanks every year before being slaughtered for food—and they would endure intense and prolonged suffering. Help PETA stop these plans!
Currently, there’s no legislation in Spain that protects octopus welfare, leaving these animals vulnerable to unscrupulous profiteers who could keep them in horrific conditions and inflict unspeakable pain and suffering on them without any legal repercussions.
It’s crucial that these plans be canceled. Please take the following actions to help prevent intelligent, sensitive octopuses from being bred in order to be killed for their flesh:
Comment on the Canary Islands’ Facebook and Instagram pages to politely let the government and tourists know that building an octopus-breeding farm would be cruel—not to mention completely unnecessary when there’s an abundance of delicious vegan Spanish cuisine—and that you won’t visit unless the plans are canceled.
