Kategorie: Animals

PETA aims to transform a black mink coat—something that was once a symbol of success for a woman but now is a sign of an earlier time when most of us were unaware of the awful suffering involved for the animals killed for fur production—formerly owned by late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg into a powerful symbol of her progressive vision. That’s why we’re asking the Washington National Opera to pull RBG’s fur coat from the lineup of its upcoming benefit auction and instead donate it to PETA for use in a traveling educational exhibit—perhaps taking it to schools to show children how many animals go into such garments and pointing out how times have changed, as most designers and retailers are turning their backs on fur.

RBG’s fur coat could also work as a gift to our fur donation program, which sends furs to humans in need as well as to wildlife rehabilitation facilities, which turn them into bedding for orphaned wildlife. In return, we’d donate $500 to the opera in RBG’s memory.

Either option would be a far more honorable fate for the coat than being claimed by the lowest kind of bidder: someone who still finds cruelly obtained fur “fashionable.”

We can’t bring back the animals killed for fur, but we can use this coat to advocate for equality and justice for all—principles that RBG cared deeply about.

If the Washington National Opera accepts our offer, the justice will posthumously join the long list of public figures who have donated unwanted fur coats to PETA, including Anjelica Huston, Mariah Carey, Kim Cattrall, Mary Tyler Moore, and Sharon Osbourne.

Killing methods for minks and other animals at fur factory farms are gruesome.

Although fur coats were common in previous generations, people now know that wearing fur is notoriously cruel.

Minks on fur farms are packed into small cages, in which they pace frantically and mutilate themselves—biting their own feet and tails—to try to cope with the intense stress of confinement and out of their desperation to escape. Many are electrocuted, poisoned, gassed, or even skinned while they’re still alive.

RBG’s mink coat is a relic of a bygone era.

Thanks to decades of PETA campaigns, designers, brands, and stores are dropping fur as quickly as consumers are shunning it. As faux fur and other innovative vegan materials take over, real animal fur can still be of important use.

RBG’s fur coat could be used to teach the next generation how speciesism—a human supremacist worldview responsible for massive global suffering—affects billions of animals every year.

We all have a part to play in ending injustice. PETA makes it easy to take action for animals suffering for fur.

Appalling footage of a trainer violently beating an Asian elephant named Chan Chao with a bullhook at a tourist attraction in Thailand exposes the true cost of cruel elephant rides.

The video, which was taken by a tourist who said the horrific incident left them “in tears,” shows the trainer repeatedly lashing Chan Chao’s head with a spiked metal bar, reportedly piercing his skin and leaving deep cuts on his head.

The barbaric beating was so severe that, in an apparent attempt to placate distressed visitors, the facility’s manager made the trainer kneel at Chan Chao’s feet and apologize. Sorry, but an apology just doesn’t cut it—if the facility actually wants to make amends, it will stop forcing Chan Chao and other elephants to haul tourists on their backs under the threat of painful punishment and retire the animals to reputable sanctuaries.

The Truth About Cruel Elephant Rides

The abuse of Chan Chao is sickening indeed, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg—the tourism industry exploits countless other elephants whose suffering has not been caught on video.

The industry kidnaps baby elephants from their frantic mothers, breaks their spirits with agonizing beatings, and forces them to haul humans on their backs or perform meaningless tricks. All tourist attractions that offer elephant rides are profiting from the exploitation of these sensitive, intelligent animals, who don’t want to carry humans on their backs.

Here’s How You Can Help Elephants

Elephants have close bonds with their family members and mourn when they lose a loved one. These gentle, complex animals don’t belong in miserable tourist attractions or any other facility that exploits them. By clicking the button below, you can take multiple quick and easy actions to help elephants right now: 

Making a bold statement with her nearly nude body covered only by a banner reading, “1 lb. of Beef Equals 180 Showers,” a PETA supporter will shower on a sidewalk on Tuesday in honor of Earth Day.

When:    Tuesday, April 19, 12 noon

Where:    At the intersection of 11^th Avenue and 20^th Street South, Birmingham

“This Earth Day, PETA will alert passersby that the meat and dairy industries are guzzling up our water supply and contributing to the climate catastrophe,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Going vegan is the best way to reduce animal suffering, conserve water, and stop climate change.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist viewpoint. The group notes that growing water-intensive crops simply to feed animals raised for food consumes more than half the water used in the U.S. The U.N. has reported that a global shift to vegan eating is required to combat the worst effects of climate change, since animal agriculture is responsible for nearly one-fifth of all human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions.

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