Kategorie: Animals

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo following the recent decision by the King County Superior Court holding the University of Washington’s Washington National Primate Research Center liable for intentionally destroying public records:

It’s stunning that PETA’s open records lawsuit against the University of Washington has revealed that videotapes and photographs of controversial and secretive monkey experiments at the Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) are routinely destroyed by scientists and administrators who apparently feel that they are beholden to no one. In a win for PETA’s work to inform the public and hold the WaNPRC accountable, the judge in the case stated, “The lack of any policy/system which identified videos/photos which are being destroyed prevents [UW] from complying with the requirements of the [Public Records Act].” In a series of shocking, under-oath admissions, the former director of the primate lab and experimenters there describe routinely deleting data, which would seem to violate not only the Public Records Act but also their records retention duty as recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-supported funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The rogue primate center is already under investigation by NIH for its failure to maintain the biosecurity of the animals at its facilities—and Washington state authorities had to step in when it was revealed that the WaNPRC had been importing diseased animals into the state. The WaNPRC is a threat to public health and appears to be hiding torture and incompetence. NIH and UW must act to shut down this facility immediately.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.

The post PETA Statement: What Else Has the UW Primate Center Destroyed? appeared first on PETA.

Below, please find a statement on the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu from PETA President Ingrid Newkirk:

PETA will remember Archbishop Desmond Tutu for his fight against all forms of oppression, including that of other animals. As he wrote, “I have seen firsthand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are powerless or vulnerable. … Animals are in precisely that position. Unless we are mindful of their interests and speak out loudly on their behalf, abuse and cruelty go unchallenged.” We can honor his legacy of wisdom, courage, and all-encompassing mercy and understanding by speaking up for animals, too.

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.

The post PETA Remembers Desmond Tutu’s Inspiring Stance on Animal Rights appeared first on PETA.

A PETA investigation revealed that thousands of beagles are being confined to barren cages 24/7 on a factory farm that’s selling them to laboratories, including those operated by the National Institutes of Health. Now, The Washington Post is seeking answers.

 

 

The post Washington Post Article on Envigo Beagle Factory Farm—Read It Here appeared first on PETA.

A single quotation can hardly summarize the enormous and rich legacy of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, but he may have come closest when he said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Archbishop Tutu, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his opposition to South Africa’s despotic apartheid regime, devoted his life to the front line. He fought against poverty, racism, and homophobia, and his campaigning wasn’t restricted to humans. His stance on animal rights was also inspiring.

In his foreword to The Global Guide to Animal Protection (2013) by Andrew Linzey, Archbishop Tutu made a compelling case for including animals on our moral radar:

I have spent my life fighting discrimination and injustice, whether the victims are blacks, women, or gays and lesbians. … But there are other issues of justice—not only for human beings but also for the world’s other sentient creatures. The matter of the abuse and cruelty we inflict on other animals has to fight for our attention in what sometimes seems an already overfull moral agenda. It is vital, however, that these instances of injustice not be overlooked. I have seen firsthand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are powerless or vulnerable, when they have no one to speak up for them and no means of representing themselves to a higher authority. Animals are in precisely that position. Unless we are mindful of their interests and speak out loudly on their behalf, abuse and cruelty go unchallenged.

In addition, despite being exhausted from all the demands on him, Archbishop Tutu took the time to write that he found PETA President Ingrid Newkirk’s book One Can Make a Difference inspiring.

Although they have wants and needs of their own, animals are often treated as nothing more than test tubes, hamburgers, or cheap burglar alarms. Instead of being allowed simply to live in peace, they’re forced to perform demeaning stunts, chemicals are dripped into their eyes to test mascara, or their skin is torn off their backs to be used for clothing.

Speaking on World Compassion Day in 2012, the Dalai Lama said about animals, “We should treat their lives with respect.” In his 2015 encyclical, Laudato si’, Pope Francis called for forcefully rejecting “the notion that [being] given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.” And in “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Desmond Tutu’s life was a testament to all those principles, and his wisdom, courage, and all-encompassing mercy and understanding are a great loss to the world

We can honor him by speaking up for animals, too.

Written by Craig Shapiro

The post Remembering Desmond Tutu, Tireless Champion of Animals and Others appeared first on PETA.

Today, the judge in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) case against notorious animal exhibitor Jeff Lowe; his wife, Lauren Lowe; and associated businesses approved an agreement that permanently barres the Lowes from ever again exhibiting animals to the public and from regaining custody of the dozens of animals who were confiscated by the DOJ, including tigers, lemurs, and numerous additional species.

The court also entered a default judgment against the Lowes’ associated businesses, declaring that the corporations violated the Endangers Species Act (ESA) based on the DOJ’s complaint allegations, including prematurely removing big cat cubs and lemur pups from their mothers, failing to provide ESA-protected animals with adequate veterinary care, failing to provide ESA-protected animals with an adequate diet, failing to maintain sanitary conditions, and failing to maintain adequate and safe enclosures.

Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet, who appeared in Tiger King:

The DOJ has ensured that Jeff and Lauren Lowe’s days of exploiting big cats are over, and it seems that no more wild or exotic animals remain in their clutches. PETA is celebrating today’s judgment and urges the public to help put other Tiger King-style villains out of business by avoiding cruel cub-petting operations like animals’ lives depend on it, because they do.

The DOJ’s lawsuit relied on arguments from and a precedent set by PETA’s victorious ESA lawsuit against Jeff Lowe’s former business partner Tim Stark, which resulted in PETA’s confiscation of three lions from Lowe’s custody. They are now thriving at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.

The post PETA Statement: No More Animal Exhibition for “Tiger King” Villain Jeff Lowe appeared first on PETA.