Kategorie: Animals

Today, PETA filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) urging it to investigate the University of Wisconsin–Madison for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act numerous times since January in its treatment of monkeys in its laboratories. PETA uncovered the violations through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The violations include giving a macaque 1,000 times the prescribed dosage of an antidepressant medication and overdosing another macaque on an experimental compound that induced multi-organ failure and death. On several occasions, monkeys escaped from their cages and were seriously injured as a result of workers’ carelessness. Experimenters also failed to provide monkeys with adequate pain relief following invasive experimental surgeries.

“UW-Madison’s sloppy mistakes reveal a dangerous lack of training, oversight, and knowledge,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA urges the USDA to investigate and take action to prevent callous experimenters from harming even one more animal.”

PETA’s FOIA requests to NIH revealed 69 violations of federal animal welfare guidelines in UW-Madison’s laboratories between April 2018 and May 2021. Among other incidents, UW-Madison staff allowed baby mice to starve to death, failed to provide monkeys with water over a three-day weekend, placed mice who survived an attempt to kill them by gassing into a freezer, administered a joint treatment to the wrong macaque for 19 days, and amputated a marmoset’s broken leg without knowing the cause of the injury.

These violations follow PETA’s undercover investigation into the university’s Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, the results of which were released last September. Video footage and photographs show highly intelligent primates who have been deprived of the opportunity to meet their most basic needs, treated with cruelty and contempt, and driven mad by extreme, near-constant, long-term confinement. Some of them have endured over two decades of it.

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 or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Monkeys Overdosed, Injured, and Killed: PETA Asks Feds to Investigate UW-Madison` appeared first on PETA.

This morning, PETA—represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—filed a lawsuit against the Tri-County Council of the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland and one of its divisions, Shore Transit, over their refusal to run PETA’s ads on their buses. Shore Transit stated that PETA’s ads—which read, “No One Needs to Kill to Eat,” and call for the closure of slaughterhouses—were “too offensive for [its] market and political in nature.”

PETA’s lawsuit argues that the ad policy adopted by the Tri-County Council and Shore Transit as well as their refusal to run PETA’s ads under that policy violates PETA’s rights under the First and 14^th Amendments. The group accordingly asks the court to compel the Tri-County Council and Shore Transit to run the ads and to prohibit them from enforcing prohibitions against ads that they deem to be “political,” “offensive,” “controversial,” “objectionable,” or “in poor taste,” as, PETA argues, these prohibitions are unconstitutionally vague, inherently discriminatory, and entirely at the discretion of government officials. PETA views animal slaughter as offensive, controversial, objectionable, and in poor taste and views the statement “No one needs to kill to eat” as fact.

“In the land of free speech, Shore Transit can’t block appeals to end cruelty to animals based on whether its officials agree with that idea or not,” says PETA Foundation Director of Litigation Asher Smith. “PETA is pushing for the restoration of our First Amendment rights and the opportunity to encourage Shore Transit riders to save animals’ lives by going vegan.”

PETA is represented by Brian Hauss with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project and Robin Cockey of Cockey, Brennan & Maloney, P.C.

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.

The post Shore Transit, Tri-County Council Hit With Free-Speech Lawsuit appeared first on PETA.

To answer your question, yes, PETA is aware of Greta Thunberg’s Vogue Scandinavia cover article in which she is pictured wearing wool. We’ve been bombarded with complaints from concerned people who know what goes on in those shearing sheds, on the trucks, on the live-export boats that carry the sheep to the Middle East for slaughter, and elsewhere. And while we applaud the overwhelming concern for the welfare of sheep and the planet, we know that Greta—as someone who is heartbroken and angry about not only environmental devastation but also the meat industry and its cruelty to animals—cannot have had any idea. We need everyone to open their eyes to the deceit that is “humane washing” and never fall victim to it. PETA has sent Greta the videos from our undercover investigations, and we trust that she will watch them and see what’s really going on.

The wool industry would have you believe that shearing sheep is akin to giving the animals a haircut, but 14 shocking PETA exposés reveal what they actually endure:

No matter the farm, no matter the continent, when undercover investigators for PETA and our international affiliates have gone into shearing sheds, they’ve found sheep slammed onto the floor, kicked, and kneed; their necks twisted; and their bodies cut to shreds. The disturbing eyewitness video footage—gathered in 14 exposés of 117 wool operations on four continents—is impossible to deny and reveals that workers in the global wool industry beat, stomped on, kicked, mutilated, and threw defenseless sheep.

This abuse is knitted into the wool coats, hats, socks, and other garments sold in stores around the world.

Remember, being vegan isn’t about perfection—it’s about doing your best for animals, the planet, and yourself.

We believe that once Greta is made aware of the information below, she’ll reject wool, as it deserves to be shunned. We believe that you will, too. When we know better, we can do better for animals, the environment, and one another.

From climate change to water pollution to the eradication of wildlife (including with devastating poisons like 1080), the wool industry is killing the Earth, just as the leather and fur industries are.

Sheep farming is an environmental disaster. Sheep are second only to cows when it comes to producing methane.

Sheep farming can have enormous, detrimental effects on ecosystems. Studies have shown how sheep “dip”—a toxic chemical used to rid sheep of parasites—can poison nearby waterways and kill fish and other aquatic life. The enormous flocks of sheep bred by the wool industry produce huge amounts of manure, which pollute the water, land, and air. And they give off methane, a greenhouse gas.

Sheep are intelligent animals who can recognize dozens of individuals from photographs, and seeing a picture of a friend can even calm them in a stressful situation. They can remember faces for up to two years, using the same neural pathways that humans do. It’s speciesist to believe that they don’t experience the same complex emotions as the cats and dogs with whom we lovingly share our homes—or as we do.

Don’t buy the humane-washing lie:

Make sure you aren’t supporting the wool industry’s cruelty to sheep, by choosing only sweaters and other garments made from vegan fabrics, such as hemp, microfiber, bamboo, or linen. Need help getting started?

Check Out These Stylish Vegan Sweaters

Want to Do More to Help Sheep?

Urge Urban Outfitters to ditch wool and all other animal-derived materials today:

Take Action Now!

Meanwhile, we wait for Greta to let the world know that she was duped and does not support wool or its attendant slaughter of sheep…

The post Greta Thunberg Under Fire for Wearing Wool in ‘Vogue’ Cover Article—PETA Says Hang Tight! appeared first on PETA.

In a new PETA video, taking a break from zooming past the competition on the speedways, trailblazing NASCAR driver Daniel Suárez is racing to stop a woman from making a potentially deadly mistake: leaving her dog in a car on a hot summer day.

“You probably don’t realize that your dog can die of a heatstroke in the time that it takes you to make a quick pit stop,” Suárez tells the guardian. “Whatever errand you have to [run] isn’t as important as your dog’s life, right?” Spoiler alert: She agrees, of course!

Already this year in the U.S., at least 31 dogs have died from heat-related causes—and these are just the cases that have been reported. Most almost certainly aren’t.

Temperatures inside a parked car can reach the triple digits in just minutes—and since dogs can’t sweat and primarily cool themselves by panting, they’re at greater risk of suffering from heatstroke than humans are.

What Do You Do If You See a Dog in a Hot Car?

PETA urges anyone who sees a dog in a parked car to take immediate action: Write down the vehicle’s color, make, model, and license plate number, and rush to have the nearest store or stores page the owner. If the owner can’t be found, call 911—and if authorities are unresponsive, do whatever it takes to save a life. The PETA Shop offers an emergency window-breaking hammer for intervening in life or-death situations.

As Suarez says, “Be your dogs’ champion!”

When he isn’t busy winning races or helping to keep canine companions safe, you might find Suárez being a champion for other animals, too. In June, he carefully relocated a mouse, demonstrating that no animal is too small to be deserving of compassion.

Click below to learn more about being a champion for dogs facing rising temperatures:

Help Ensure Dogs’ Safety During Warm Weather

The post NASCAR Star Daniel Suárez: A Champion on the Speedway and for Dogs (Video) appeared first on PETA.

Because a tropical storm warning is in effect in Key West, may we implore you to never to leave dogs tethered or penned outside and always to take their animal companions with them if they have to evacuate their homes.

Believe it or not, every time there’s a natural disaster, many dogs and other companion animals are left outside to fend for themselves and even left behind when humans evacuate. Dogs kept tethered will swim to exhaustion and drown—and there are tethered dogs everywhere. PETA’s Animal Rescue Team has witnessed firsthand the trauma that animals endure when left behind to face floodwaters and flying debris. During previous storms, we have found dogs dead. We have also found them up to their necks in water, unable to sit or lie down, and in almost-submerged crates inside houses and seen animals who have been flung around by high winds. And of course, animals are petrified in these kinds of weather conditions.

PETA has released a natural disaster–preparedness PSA featuring Dean Winters. Make plans to ensure the safety of animal companions long before evacuating. For more information, please visit PETA.org.

The post Urgent From PETA: Cruel—and Criminal—to Abandon Animals During Tropical Storm Fred appeared first on PETA.