Because these 100 long-tailed macaque monkeys were headed to a laboratory to be caged, tormented, and killed, they were already in danger—but now the public is, too. The four who got away are undoubtedly terrified and likely injured, and they may be harboring viruses that are transmissible to humans. There is no way to ensure that monkeys are virus-free, and state veterinary and other records show that monkeys in laboratories in the U.S. have been found with tuberculosis, Chagas disease, cholera, and MRSA. The only way to ensure that pathogens don’t jump from monkeys to humans is to stop importing, caging, and experimenting on these animals.
For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Following reports that the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department is investigating allegations that a 17-year-old hit a dog with his car and shared video of himself decapitating the animal on social media, TeachKind—PETA’s humane education division—sent a letter to Superintendent Greg Nickoli today offering to provide Pioneer Career & Technology Center and surrounding schools with a K–12 kindness-to-animals curriculum and “Empathy Now,” a guide to preventing youth violence against animals. The group is also offering to host free, virtual empathy-building virtual presentations to help prevent future violence.
“If reports are true that this teenager killed and decapitated this dog and then bragged about it on social media, he needs psychiatric counseling and should be barred from ever being around animals again,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg. “In the meantime, PETA’s TeachKind is on standby to help schools teach students that violence is wrong, whether the victim is an animal or a classmate.”
TeachKind notes that research shows that 43% of perpetrators of schoolyard massacres first committed acts of cruelty against animals, usually against dogs and cats—so juvenile animal abusers pose a serious threat to the community at large. TeachKind’s other resources include its free high school social justice curriculum, “Challenging Assumptions,” and its “Share the World” program kit, which is appropriate for young children. Its staff members—who are former classroom teachers—are also offering to send materials to schools, suggest lesson plans, and host virtual discussions, all for free.
TeachKind—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. The group’s letters to the superintendents are available upon request. For more information, please visit TeachKind.org.
PETA has an honest message for Jessica Alba after the actor and Honest Company founder introduced a pair of newly purchased puppies on Instagram. The group has plastered the Beverly Hills neighborhood where Alba lives and Playa Vista, the neighborhood near her company headquarters, with posters pointing out that she has overlooked millions of lovable homeless dogs in U.S. shelters while pimping for the pet-breeding industry that is a big part of the whole problem.
“Jessica Alba is all about valuing family life, but by flaunting her breeder-bought pups, she’s killing shelter dogs’ chances of finding families of their own,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA hopes our posters will remind every celebrity to lead by example and adopt, never shop.”
PETA notes that around 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. at any given time, an estimated 10% of whom end up in shelters, where many have to be euthanized for reasons including illness, injury, old age, emotional and psychological damage, and lack of good homes. Breeders add to this crisis by bringing more animals into the world, who in turn produce even more animals, including many who will end up on the street or in animal shelters.
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 or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Disgraced “Tiger King Park” operators Jeff and Lauren Lowe, who are banned from exhibiting animals in the U.S. following an Endangered Species Act and Animal Welfare Act lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, reportedly plan to open up a new operation in Quintana Roo, Mexico—and PETA is ready to take action. Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet, who also appeared in Netflix’s Tiger King:
If the Lowes were trying to escape PETA by fleeing to Mexico, they’re in for some disappointment. PETA is already working with Mexico’s Animal Heroes on a bill that would ban big-cat cub petting in the state where the Lowes claim to be setting up shop, and the news of an international animal exploiter coming to town will surely push this bill through with lightning speed. PETA will take all available steps to ensure that wherever the Lowes are in the world, their days of abusing animals are over.
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.
The 2022 Iditaroddeath race is still more than a month away, but already at least one dog has been killed. On January 19, a team of dogs forced to race by Jaye Foucher—a musher registered for next week’s Willow 300 and this year’s Iditarod—was hit by a truck, killing one of them (Noddy) and injuring others. One dog, Felicity, is reportedly still missing.
The Willow 300 is a qualifying race for the Iditarod.
Foucher may now understand what PETA has been saying for years: The dog-sledding industry is rife with dangers for dogs, from being hit by vehicles to asphyxiation, heart attacks, and freezing to death.
This is Birch. She endured horrific neglect at this “kennel” co-owned by former Iditarod champion John Baker. Despite sustaining a crippling, extremely painful spinal cord injury when she was just a puppy, she was denied veterinary care and chained in the freezing cold 24/7.
Up to half the dogs who start the Iditarod don’t finish it, and during the 2021 race alone, nearly 200 dogs were pulled off the trail because of exhaustion, illness, injury, or other causes. The leading cause of death for dogs made to race in the Iditarod is aspiration pneumonia—caused by inhaling their own vomit. Many more die during the off-season while chained up outside in subzero temperatures or are killed because they aren’t considered fast enough. Thanks to a PETA investigator, the world was given a glimpse of what it’s like for some of these dogs, including Snickers—she was kept chained near the icy sea, limping, crying, and left to pace in circles all day.
Rather than providing Snickers with the veterinary care and comfort that she desperately needed, former Iditarod champion John Baker chained the elderly dog beside the frozen sea, all alone and unable to escape the Arctic cold.
No prize is worth a dog’s life, and we’re urging Foucher to do what’s right and best for dogs by dropping out of the Willow 300, the Iditarod, and racing altogether. And for Birch, Snickers, and countless other victims of the Iditarod, PETA will continue to protest the event’s cruelty—expect to see activists at the start of the Iditarod on March 5 in Anchorage, Alaska. We’ll be monitoring this year’s death race, so check back—this story will be updated as the 2022 Iditarod ensues.
Sponsor by sponsor, PETA’s been taking down the Iditarod. Learn how you can join us in speaking out for dogs.
If you’re planning a trip or cruise to Alaska, please don’t buy any packages or excursions that include dog-sled rides or visits to dog kennels. Ask your friends and family not to, either:
Learn more about the abuse of dogs in the Iditarod: Watch the documentary Sled Dogs—which shines a spotlight on the dogs who are forced to run until their bodies break down or who are killed if they don’t measure up—available now on Prime Video and Plex.
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