Kategorie: Animals

Update (October 6, 2023): Thank you to everyone who spoke up for the turtles at Luray Landing, who faced certain death as developers quickly worked to fill the pond the animals called home. A PETA representative and volunteers were able to rescue the animals last night, saving them from a harrowing fate of being buried alive or crushed to death by construction equipment. For information regarding other animals who still need your help, check out our alerts:

Take Action for Other Animals

---

Original post:

PETA caseworkers were alarmed upon receiving a report that a pond containing approximately 50 turtles and located in the Luray Landing neighborhood of Luray, Virginia, is slated to be filled with dirt between TODAY and Friday, October 6. Apparently, the development company that owns the property has made no provisions for the turtles who call the small pond home, and the animals may be left to perish despite PETA’s offer to assist with their rescue.

Filling this pond would result in slow, agonizing death for any animals there who would be covered with mounds of dirt and left to suffocate or even be crushed by construction equipment. PETA has asked that the development company temporarily halt its plans so that the turtles can be captured, but so far it has refused to allow us even one extra week to organize the rescue of these animals.

The post UPDATE: Turtles Rescued in Luray, Virginia! appeared first on PETA.

The post Spread Holiday Cheer Throughout the Year appeared first on PETA.

To encourage empathy for animals who are mutilated and killed in university laboratories, PETA will visit the University of Michigan (U-M) today to launch Abduction, a unique virtual reality experience landing on college campuses across the country. In this eerie experience, visitors enter a mysterious truck containing a mobile virtual reality studio. They seemingly find themselves stranded in the desert with a couple of fellow humans, abducted by aliens, taken aboard a spaceship, and subjected to a shocking experience inspired by what animals endure in laboratories. They watch as their friends are subjected to experiments, knowing that they’ll be next.

When:    October 5, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Where:    Angell Hall, 435 S. State St., Ann Arbor

Watch the trailer here. Broadcast-quality footage of the Abduction virtual reality experience is available upon request.

At the U-M, experimenters injected acid into the eyes of rabbits, causing abnormal blood vessel growth on their retinas, a condition that can lead to severe vision loss. They seemingly conducted this experiment to test a treatment for retinal disease in humans, despite significant structural and physiological differences between human and rabbit eyes. In another experiment, nearly 80 rats were administered cocaine at just 5 weeks old. Some of them endured repeated and daily exposures to the drug. In the end, all of them were killed by decapitation using a guillotine.

Additionally, experimenters deliberately inflicted burns on pigs by applying a copper bar heated to 176° against their skin. In order to ensure that the burns were as acute as possible, they first removed all the hair from the targeted area and then pressed the rod against it for up to 30 seconds. Subsequently, the experimenters assessed the efficacy of various burn treatments on the animals. Some of them were ineffective, and one apparently failed to heal a wound even after three weeks—at which point all the pigs were killed.

“Many students don’t know that on their own college campuses, frightened and confused animals are being tormented, mutilated, and killed in cold, barren laboratories, with no way to escape or even understand what’s happening to them,” says PETA Senior Director Rachelle Owen. “PETA is on a mission to open young people’s eyes to this cruelty, help them understand what it feels like, and motivate them to join our call for a switch to superior, non-animal research.”

Studies show that 90% of all basic research—most of which involves animals—fails to lead to treatments for humans, which is why PETA is pushing universities to pivot to sophisticated, human-relevant research methods.

Abduction—which was filmed in VR180 with assistance from the virtual reality creation studio Prosper XR—has stopped at nearly three dozen college campuses over the past year, including MIT, Harvard University, the University of California–Los Angeles, and the University of Texas–Austin.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

The post New PETA Virtual Reality Experience Promises Close Encounters at University of Michigan appeared first on PETA.

As part of our nationwide “ThanksVegan” campaign, PETA members will give away free festive Gardein stuffed turk’y to passersby on Saturday, a few blocks from a just-raised sky-high appeal that urges everyone to give birds a break by celebrating with a vegan holiday—something that’s easy to do with PETA’s free ThanksVegan Guide.

When:    Saturday, October 7, 11 a.m.

Where:    Old Strathcona Farmers Market, 10310 83^rd Ave. N.W., Edmonton

“More people than ever are choosing to protect birds from suffering by celebrating the holidays with healthy and humane vegan foods,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA encourages everyone to put a vegan roast on the table and enjoy a delicious ThanksVegan meal that gives birds something to be thankful for, too.”

PETA’s original news release appears below.

‘She Did Not Consent’ Pro-Turkey ‘ThanksVegan’ Appeal Lands Locally, Courtesy of PETA

Edmonton, Alberta — Ahead of Thanksgiving, PETA has erected towering appeals in Edmonton and Spruce Grove urging everyone to give birds a break and enjoy a delicious “ThanksVegan” feast instead.

“Turkeys are individuals who feel pain and fear, experience joy, value their lives, and don’t want to be carved up and stuffed any more than we do,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is urging everyone to show a little mercy, keep turkeys off the table, and tuck into savory and satisfying vegan roasts that give everyone something to be thankful for.”

Each year in Canada, about 2.7 million turkeys are killed and sold for Thanksgiving. During their short lives, they’re forced to stand in their own waste and inhale ammonia-laden air inside dark warehouses. The birds are bred to grow so large that their legs break under them. In addition to sparing the lives of nearly 200 animals a year, everyone who goes vegan shrinks their carbon footprint and reduces their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other ailments.

PETA’s “ThanksVegan” guide is packed with recipes, cooking tips, and everything else needed to enjoy a delicious, turkey-friendly holiday.

The group’s message in Edmonton is located at 10639 82^nd Ave. N.W., between 107^th Street N.W. and 106^th Street. In Spruce Grove, it’s located at the intersection of Highway 16A and Calahoo Road, near Safeway. It will also be posted in London, Ontario.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on the group’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.

The post Update: PETA to Hit E-Town With Tofurky Free-for-All appeared first on PETA.