Kategorie: Animals

You’d never know that October was “Adopt a Shelter Dog” Month from the newly purchased “purebred” puppies that popped up on the Instagram pages of Channing Tatum, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, J Balvin, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Charles, and others. That’s why PETA is placing a billboard in Los Angeles and a pointed appeal from “Max the shelter dog” in this week’s issue of The Hollywood Reporter, calling out stars and influencers who, through their irresponsible purchases, are fueling pet store and breeder sales while millions of dogs waiting in shelters and suffering on the streets have nowhere to call home.

The billboard will be located at Melrose Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard.

“I’m trying to keep my spirits up, but to be honest, it’s getting harder and harder to keep my tail wagging,” writes Max. “I guess I just want to know what’s wrong with me. Sure, I may not be a puppy—but I still have years of life ahead of me and so much love to give.”

PETA notes that around 70 million dogs and cats are homeless in the U.S. at any given time. An estimated 10% of them end up at animal shelters, where many have to be euthanized because there simply aren’t enough good homes for them. PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way,” and the group opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.

Max’s letter in The Hollywood Reporter follows.

Dear Famous People,

I’m trying to keep my spirits up, but to be honest, it’s getting harder and harder to keep my tail wagging. You see, I’ve been in this shelter for months, waiting for my new family, and they still haven’t found me. The wonderful humans here always tell me, “You’re such a good boy, Max!” But if I’m such a good boy, how come nobody wants me?

I hear that some of you whose faces are on the big and small screens have spent a lot of money buying puppies from breeders. That’s why there aren’t enough homes for dogs like me. I guess I just want to know what’s wrong with me. Sure, I may not be a puppy—but I still have years of life ahead of me and so much love to give. You may not know exactly what “breed” I am, but I promise you that I’m truly one of a kind! Even if you are looking for a certain “breed,” why don’t you adopt? Many of my friends here are “purebreds”—I’d be happy to introduce you!

I know they can’t keep me here forever. The people here are doing everything they can to help me find a home, but the situation makes them so sad. My days are numbered. When you buy a dog, you hurt me. You hurt us—“us” being the 6 million animals dropped off at shelters every year. “Us” being the more than 70 million animals living out on the streets—if you call that living. You could so easily adopt a homeless dog like me and influence so many others to do the same. But when you buy a dog and post a photo of your new “purebred” puppy online, it makes things so much worse for dogs like me.

I may not be shiny and new—but I promise I’m the best snuggle partner ever. I can make sure your floor is always clean, and I can make you laugh when I get the zoomies. You can’t put a price tag on the amount of love that I have to give.

Your friend,

Max

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When PETA saw newly purchased dogs popping up on the Instagram feeds of stars such as Channing Tatum, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lopez, Shia LaBeouf, J Balvin, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and James Charles, all of whom bought puppies in just the last few months, we knew we had to take action.

So this week, PETA will be debut a full-page letter in The Hollywood Reporter with some help from “Max the shelter dog,” who begs “famous people” to stop hurting dogs like him by purchasing puppies. PETA will also debut a billboard in Hollywood, with a very simple message for all to see: STOP. BUYING. DOGS.

In the midst of a global pandemic, these influential celebrities have made a national crisis even worse by purchasing dogs.

These stars and influencers are setting a dangerous example for their millions of impressionable fans and fueling demand for purpose-bred dogs, while millions of animals await adoption in shelters as we speak, desperate for good, loving homes. The U.S. faces a companion animal overpopulation crisis, as an estimated 70 million dogs and cats struggle to survive on the streets. And that staggering number doesn’t include the more than 6 million companion animals coming through our country’s shelter system every year.

“I guess I just want to know what’s wrong with me,” writes Max. “My days are numbered. When you buy a dog, you hurt me. … You could so easily adopt a homeless dog like me and influence so many others to do the same. But when you buy a dog and post a photo of your new ‘purebred’ puppy online, it makes things so much worse for dogs like me.”

Like unicorns and “humane meat,” there is no such thing as a “responsible breeder.” There’s nothing responsible about bringing more dogs into the world when so many are already here, dying for homes. And purchasing from a “private breeder” is no better than going to a pet shop or puppy mill. If you buy a dog, you are killing another dog’s chance of finding a home. Period.

For celebrities used to getting everything they want, when they want it—guess what? They still can! There’s a beautiful thing called petfinder.com, where everyone from A-listers to mere mortals like us can identify an animal who already exists and is in need of a good home—one whose age, temperament, and activity level are a fit to our lifestyle. Shelters are full of dogs, many of them “purebreds”—frequently impulse purchases by folks falling for the latest Instagram or TV show trend. There are also plenty of breed-specific adoption groups looking to find homes for dogs like golden retrievers and goldendoodles.

Caring for an animal companion takes commitment and work. If you don’t have the patience and time to commit to the adoption process, then you certainly won’t have what it takes to give an animal the care they deserve. Please pledge to help end the homeless-animal crisis by never buying an animal and having your animal companions spayed or neutered.

Pledge to End Animal Homelessness

The post PETA Fires Back at Puppy-Purchasing Celebs With New Campaign appeared first on PETA.

It isn’t easy thinking about the things Lakesha Bailey and Shawn Ward have to say about working on Tyson slaughterhouse kill floors, but it’s more difficult—maybe impossible—to listen to their stories and still eat chicken.

Bailey worked at a Tyson slaughterhouse in Virginia—the one where 257 workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus and at least one worker died of COVID-19. She quit in May out of concern that she would expose her mother to the virus. Ward currently works at a Tyson slaughterhouse in Shelbyville, Tennessee, where 79 workers have tested positive for the virus. The two recently shared their stories with PETA.

Bailey and Ward report that on the high-speed slaughter line, there’s no way to practice social distancing—because if workers don’t stay close together and work quickly, they’ll be disciplined.

Ever wondered how many chickens Tyson kills each day? Ward told PETA, “You’re required to hang 28 birds a minute, so that’s over 12,000 birds a shift per person.” Bailey said, “They clock you. They time you. And if you don’t meet that, they’ll write you up. So how can you social-distance in there, you know, with demands that high? It’s highly impossible.”

Bailey says that Tyson didn’t distribute masks until two weeks after the first outbreak, and Ward says that workers are given only one mask and one pair of easily torn gloves per day.

“The gloves that they give us do tear very easily because of the claws on chickens,” Ward said. “You’re using the same gloves for eight hours, and they’re just plastic gloves. You can just picture how easy it is to rip them.”

The kill floors of slaughterhouses are notoriously soaked with blood, urine, and other bodily fluids. According to Bailey, the bodily fluids include those of workers, too: “It’s a good chance that the sweat can actually fall onto the product because it is that hot,” she recalled. Ward echoed her report:

“You have the hairnets on, you have the face mask on, and you’re working seven and a half hours of constant reaching and hanging. You’re bound to just pour down with sweat,” Ward admitted. “You’re supposed to wash your hands before you get to the workstation, but that does not mean that everybody does that. There’s no one there to supervise you.”

For Animals and Workers, Please, Go Vegan

Bailey is encouraging other fed-up slaughterhouse workers to join her in taking a stand.

“For anyone working for Tyson or any [other] poultry plant that’s feeling scared in this pandemic, don’t be scared to speak out. You can go get another job, but you only have one chance to live,” she says.

Kind consumers are responsible for taking an important step, too: Don’t wait for Tyson to do the right thing—you could be waiting a long time. The best way to save chickens is to refuse to eat them. Everyone can help protect chickens and workers by going vegan.

Make a Difference—Go Vegan!

The post VIDEO: ‘You’re Required to Hang 28 Birds a Minute,’ Tyson Whistleblower Says appeared first on PETA.

After being shut down for six months, the Miami Seaquarium will reopen to the public on Friday—and PETA supporters will be there with signs proclaiming, “50 Years in Lockdown,” in protest of the park’s imprisonment of orca Lolita, who has spent five decades in the smallest orca tank in the world, which does not meet federal minimum standards.

When:    Friday, November 6, 10 a.m.

Where:    Miami Seaquarium, 4400 Rickenbacker Cswy., Miami

The Seaquarium’s parent company also owns Marineland in Antibes, France, where leaders have just announced a ban on breeding or acquiring orcas and other dolphins for marine parks and that there will be a transition period for moving the existing captive marine mammals to seaside sanctuaries. PETA is calling on the company to include Lolita in its cetacean-release plan.

“Lolita can’t dive any deeper than the length of her own body, swim more than 80 feet in any direction, or even glimpse another orca,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “We know too much about these intelligent animals to allow them to suffer so hideously in the name of entertainment, and PETA is calling on the Miami Seaquarium to end this lonely orca’s 50 years of lockdown now.”

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

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