To kick off an animal-friendly Christmas Eve—or Nochebuena —PETA Latino teamed up with local animal rights activists (including Colombian model and influencer Kathy Moscoso and Mexican actor Liz Gallardo) to bring cheer to three cities in the form of free vegan roasts.
While serving festive meals to residents of Bogotá, Chicago, and Guadalajara, PETA Latino urged everyone to celebrate a compassionate “NocheVegana” by keeping animals off their plates. So far, PETA Latino has collected more than 17, 500 pledges to have a vegan Christmas Eve dinner this year!
Keep reading to see how PETA Latino made the holiday season merrier this year.
Bogotá
A week ahead of Christmas Day, model, influencer, and activist Kathy Moscoso joined PETA Latino in Colombia’s flourishing capital, Bogotá, for another vegan roast giveaway. The group served 50 no-pavo vegan roasts from local eateries Caballete y Berenjena and San Tomás Jr. Moscoso had previously teamed up with PETA Latino in Bogotá to promote cruelty-free fashion and in Medellín to highlight the environmental benefits of eating vegan.
Chicago
Accompanied by a human-size “turkey,” PETA Latino gave away 50 free vegan roasts as well as 100 vegan chicken Clucker Sliders and chocolate chip cookies donated by local Latina-owned vegan restaurant Kāl’ish in Chicago’s historically Latino neighborhood Pilsen. Jolly volunteers in Santa hats also passed out vegan starter kits and “Think Before You Eat” leaflets in Spanish and English.
Guadalajara
Just before Nochebuena, PETA Latino, actor Liz Gallardo, and Mexican animal rights group Animal Heroes gave out 50 free vegan roasts in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Ring in the New Year by Going Vegan
Don’t just be nice during the holidays—choose compassion for animals all year long. Get started by joining PETA’s 3-week vegan challenge:
Following the successful launch of our national campaign in Atlanta, PETA is back out there, fighting for food justice one free meal at a time! At an event on October 19, Rev. Dr. Robert Turner and members of the Historic Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church teamed up with PETA to give away 300 free vegan burgers and bags filled with fresh vegetables, fruit, and other healthy, humane vegan foods. Turner has been a staunch social justice advocate over the course of his career, and now, he’s standing with us to demand better access to nutritious food for the people of Tulsa. We’re urging everyone to join PETA’s new food justice campaign, which calls on government officials to redirect meat, egg, and dairy industry subsidies toward incentives for grocers in food deserts to stock fresh vegetables, fruit, and other healthy, humane vegan foods.
Turner is calling on the Oklahoma governor and state representatives to make these changes in order to end the food insecurity that disproportionately affects communities of color:
Black and brown families deserve to have the same access to fresh, healthy plant-based food as anyone else. For decades, the government has been propping up industries that are making people sick and harming God’s creatures. No more. In Tulsa alone, where I’m currently based, nearly 20% of the population lives in a food desert. Not having access to healthy foods forces people to eat processed meats and snacks, which hurts the body, mind, and spirit. Healthy plant-based foods, on the other hand, help prevent heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, and cancer—one of many reasons why I’m committed to eating vegan.
Attendees also scooped up PETA’s free vegan meal starter kits, which include a reusable green grocery bag, an easy go-vegan guide, fresh produce, and more. More giveaways are currently being planned in cities across the country, including Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles.
Every year, the U.S. government spends about $38 billion in tax money to subsidize the meat, egg, and dairy industries, the vast majority of which goes to big corporations, not American farmers. Only about $17 million is used to subsidize the fruit and vegetable industries—even though the federal government’s own dietary guidelines encourage people to eat more produce and fewer animal-derived products.
Decades of scientific studies have repeatedly proved that choosing vegetables, grains, beans, fruits, nuts, and other vegan foods over meat, eggs, and dairy helps support a lifetime of good health. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics states that vegans enjoy a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes, and lower body mass indexes as well as lower overall rates of developing cancer. The proof is in the vegan pudding.
Urge your local, state, and national representatives to join you in advocating for food justice. Ask them to redirect funds that support the meat, egg, and dairy industries toward incentives to grocers in food deserts to stock vegetables, fruit, and other healthy, humane vegan foods:
Animals at SeaQuest Las Vegas have bitten employees, reportedly been stomped to death by children, and reportedly been “cooked alive” by faulty equipment.
Keep reading for more reasons why SeaQuest Las Vegas is bad for animals and unsafe for visitors:
In September 2021, Las Vegas Animal Control responded to a complaint filed by PETA regarding a wolf eel at SeaQuest with skin missing from the tail and exposed bones.
SeaQuest claimed the animal had a benign abscess that was later removed, but the facility’s veterinarian had no records of an abscess or its removal.
In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cited SeaQuest Las Vegas after an inspector saw an unattended visitor reach over an enclosure fence and pet a capybara.
Allowing unattended public contact with wild animals is dangerous and a violation of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Given that SeaQuest’s business model fosters this type of reckless public interaction, it’s no surprise that people are being injured by stressed animals who don’t want to be touched.
Unsupervised contact between the public and the animals is common at SeaQuest Las Vegas
In July 2020, a 1-year-old sloth named Flash died at SeaQuest Las Vegas.
He was thin when he died and had a history of weakness, twitching, and lack of appetite. PETA asked the USDA to investigate the circumstances that had led to his death, including whether SeaQuest had the knowledge and experience to care for this species adequately.
In August 2020, the USDA cited SeaQuest Las Vegas for failing to have acquisition records and appropriate identification for three Bengal cats.
A February 2019 multipart investigative report exposed several issues with SeaQuest Las Vegas, as described by five former employees who alleged that the facility is dangerous for the public, staff, and animals.
One former employee reported that children had stomped on birds in the interactive aviary, killing them, and that the dead animals had been thrown into the garbage.
A former employee also reported that a large octopus had been “cooked alive” after the tank’s water temperature changed overnight.
In addition, according to reports, the former employees provided videos and photos of “a sump room wall covered in black mold, a dead turtle they say was left to rot for days in the koi tank, and a bug-infested drain in the aviary where they say birds drank and bathed before interacting with guests.”
In February 2019, after a litter of Asian small-clawed otters was born, Clark County Animal Control fined SeaQuest Las Vegas $2,000 and issued it a citation for having unpermitted animals.
In the administrative decision upholding the citation and fine, the hearing officer scolded SeaQuest for attempting to profit from its permit violation by issuing a news release advertising an event to exhibit the unpermitted baby otters. The hearing officer also questioned “the knowledge and experience” of SeaQuest, since it didn’t know that an otter named Hazelnut was pregnant until about a week before she gave birth.
In May 2019, a 4-month-old otter named Dale bit a SeaQuest employee while being bathed, and in September 2019, an 8-month-old otter named Chip bit an employee on the wrist.
Despite numerous otter injuries, deaths, and bites to keepers and the public, SeaQuest Las Vegas continues to exhibit this species (Taken August 21, 2019)
In April 2019, a news report detailed allegations from a former employee that SeaQuest Las Vegas withheld food from animals to force them to interact with guests, who pay to feed them.
In October 2018, SeaQuest was cited and fined after a capybara named Wesley escaped while being transported to a veterinary office.
He was in a dog crate in the back of an open-bed pickup truck when he escaped and was reportedly recaptured in a Target parking lot. He had several injuries and was bleeding from his face and mouth. The veterinarian’s report found that Wesley had multiple wounds, was limping, and had broken two teeth at the gum line.
In August 2018, a female Asian small-clawed otter drowned at SeaQuest Las Vegas.
According to the necropsy report, she was found dead at the bottom of her enclosure one morning. She had drowned after her arm was sucked into a pool filtration system.
In May 2018, a female Asian small-clawed otter died at SeaQuest Las Vegas.
The necropsy report stated that the “stress of shipping to Vegas, introduction to a new environment and caging during construction may have caused fatal cardiac consequences.”
In April 2018, Clark County Animal Control warned SeaQuest that it was illegally housing otters and a coatimundi without the required permits.
You can join PETA’s efforts in behalf of animals suffering at SeaQuest Las Vegas and other SeaQuest aquariums across the country. The best thing that you can do to help is to refuse to buy a ticket. Then, encourage your friends, family members, and social media followers to do the same.
BREAKING: Oswald’s Bear Ranch owner Dean Oswald seemingly tried to conceal that a bear in his custody had run loose for days, resulting in the animal’s violent death. Now, after PETA uncovered Oswald’s lies from public records and urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate this and other matters, we’ve learned that the agency just filed a formal complaint—which could result in fines and/or a license suspension or revocation—against the roadside zoo over the incident. The agency noted that Oswald had provided false information about the escape (which also involved another cub), writing in the complaint that he had “not shown good faith.”
“The bears suffer greatly at Dean Oswald’s dishonest, dysfunctional operation, and the government is doing something about it,” said PETA Foundation Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet in a statement.
The cubs escaped from Oswald’s Bear Ranch during a power outage on April 12, 2019. One was quickly recovered, but the other—named Sophie—was shot and killed when she was found three dayslater ripping screen windows off a neighbor’s home and climbing onto his car. Oswald lied to USDA officials regarding when the bears had escaped and how long they had been at large, claiming that the power outage had lasted until April 15, the day that Sophie was found. The agency later determined that the outage had actually ended on April 12.
Oswald’s Bear Ranch also regularly misleads the public by marketing itself as a “rescue” facility, despite having bred 13 cubs in the past 25 years and purchased or acquired 77 more from dealers, including at least a dozen bears in the past three years alone, to exploit for entertainment.
The USDA’s formal complaint alleges, too, that Oswald’s Bear Ranch violated the federal Animal Welfare Act by feeding bears unhealthy and inappropriate food, including “restaurant scraps, donated meat, produce and dog food.” PETA had previously alerted the agency to this issue as well.
“PETA urges the USDA to hold exhibitors’ feet to the fire and asks the public to do its part by avoiding facilities that exploit baby animals for profit,” Peet said.
Sophie Deserved Better
Before Sophie’s premature death, PETA obtained damning video footage showing her and two other bears—Ashley and Sassy—pacing and crying out:
In nature, bear cubs spend their time playing, exploring, and socializing with one another and their mother. But at Oswald’s Bear Ranch, cubs are used for photo ops, which are highly disruptive and can result in long-term psychological stress. When not being used as props, these juvenile bears are confined to concrete-floored enclosures, which can be especially damaging to their fragile bones and muscles and can lead to painful and debilitating joint problems as they age.
Oswald’s Bear Ranch Is a Death Trap—Take Action Now!
No animals should ever be confined to cramped cages and forced to suffer just so that humans can take photos with them (or for any other reason). Don’t let Oswald’s Bear Ranch continue to get away with this exploitation—click below to urge the roadside zoo to send the remaining bears to accredited sanctuaries before more of them die:
Following a PETA investigation that exposed Steve Asmussen for exploiting workers, among other abuses, the notorious horse trainer has settled another federal lawsuit on wage theft.
According to the proposed settlement documents, Asmussen has agreed to pay $600,000 in back wages and penalties for violations between 2016 and 2020 as a result of a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) over alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The federal lawsuit alleges that Asmussen failed to pay overtime to 170 employees, including grooms and hot walkers, at New York state tracks. As PETA documented, Asmussen makes his money on the backs of abused horses and exploited employees.
In 2013, a PETA investigator documented that Asmussen drugged sore, injured horses in order to mask pain and make them run faster—but we didn’t just catch the trainer exploiting horses. That same investigation uncovered that Asmussen subjected employees to callous working conditions, including having to work hard, long hours for little pay and often having to sleep in barns and tack rooms. Asmussen and assistant Scott Blasi also required that undocumented workers obtain fake identification and Social Security cards so that they could be hired.
This is the third lawsuit that the DOL has slapped Asmussen with—which isn’t a shock, considering how widespread labor violations are in the horse training industry. In 2020, trainer George Weaver settled with the DOL for $425,000 after the agency said that he had failed to pay employees the required hourly wage and for overtime. And in 2019, trainer Chad Brown paid $1,617,673 for violations that included failure to provide wages promised and misrepresentation of job terms and conditions.
Part of PETA’s investigation into Asmussen’s activities took place in New York, and both Weaver and Brown were investigated and prosecuted in New York, which directs more than $230 million in annual support payments to horse racing. Even with increased purses with help from state subsidies, Asmussen and other trainers are still stealing from their employees. From workers who make dirt wages to horses who sustain fatal injuries at alarming rates, it’s clear that more rules need to be implemented in order to protect exploited individuals in the horse racing industry.
Take Action to Keep Horses Safe
In 2020, 69 horses died at New York racetracks, and the New York State Gaming Commission hasn’t done enough to prevent even more horses from dying. Please tell the commission to act right now:
