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“Eat a chicken and the penguin gets it!” Sounds like something straight out of a movie, right?

But this isn’t some corny Hollywood scenario—it’s a real-life hostage situation. Penguins in Antarctica are suffering and dying from a superspreader disease that Big Meat helped propagate in what scientists think could be one of the worst ecological disasters ever.

That’s why PETA is stepping in with an urgent public message:

PETA’s new billboard will confront residents across the U.S. with a critical connection: Eating chickens and their eggs is detrimental to the entire planet—and it’s high time to stop.

Farms Accelerated the Spread of a Deadly Disease—Now It’s Everywhere

Chicken farms create the perfect conditions for dangerous pathogens to flourish, and in the past three years, the H5N1 bird flu virus has done just that. Meat industry executives allowed it to rip through the continental U.S. starting in 2021 despite epidemiologists’ repeated alarms. But why are farms such hotbeds of pestilence?

Farms that house animals are disease incubators where animals are confined to filthy enclosures so cramped that they often can’t even turn around or lie down comfortably. Farmers keep hens exploited for their eggs in small cages, and they warehouse chickens killed for their flesh wing-to-wing in massive sheds. Even farms with “cage-free” or other humane-washed certifications subject these sensitive birds to unsanitary, miserable conditions.

Animals kept captive on farms are in almost constant contact with pathogens through feces, infected air, blood, you name it. And although farmers claim to “manage disease” (including by killing millions of flu-infected birds within the past year), all they care about are their profit margins.

How Bad Is Bird Flu?

The H5N1 bird flu is a nightmare. One deadly and highly pathogenic form of it causes multisystem organ failure and can kill upward of 90% of the chickens it infects within 48 hours.

Not only does the virus that causes bird flu spread quickly among chickens and other birds, it can also infect mammals. Bird flu has killed around 500,000 seabirds and 20,000 sea lions in Chile and Peru since 2021, and in January 2024 it killed a polar bear in Alaska. Now that the virus is killing penguins in Antarctica, humanity’s next steps are critical in mitigating its growing death toll.

Human Greed Is Costing Birds Their Lives—and We’re Next

In humans, bird flu causes severe pneumonia soon followed by death and has killed about 50% of those it has infected. Fortunately, the virus that causes it doesn’t transmit easily between us—yet.

Human health is still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which we don’t fully understand, and a similar event is the last thing we need. With bird flu raging around the world and more viral mutations of concern cropping up, we need to take drastic measures to prevent another pandemic.

What Can You Do to Avoid Bird Flu?

Since crowded farms and filthy slaughterhouses are instrumental to the transmission and mutation of the bird flu virus, our best bet at curbing its spread is to stop eating eggs and chicken flesh. Replacing them with animal-free alternatives is the only way to be safe.

If you’re nervous about making the switch, we have your back! Our FREE vegan starter kit has everything you’ll need, from recipes and tips on eating out to health information, and can guide you toward a healthier, happier, and longer life—one that doesn’t support the cruelty, climate destruction, and disease risks of raising and eating animals:

 

On Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and every other day of the year, thousands of animals are chained or penned outside 24/7 in all weather extremes, and many of them are hungry, sick, and lonely. Fortunately, PETA fieldworkers are there to help. We provide sick and injured animals with veterinary care, organize or participate in community events to raise awareness and promote empathy, and do everything we can to help local animals. See how we took action for animals in our Norfolk, Virginia, community from October to December 2023:

5 Ways PETA Fieldworkers Helped Animals in Our Community in Late 2023

1. We Arranged Spay/Neuter Appointments for Thousands of Animals

The veterinary staff on our mobile spay/neuter clinics sterilized 3,237 companion animals, including Coco, who was just one of the 181 animals PETA’s Community Animal Project (CAP) fieldworkers transported for free to and from their no-cost spay/neuter appointments.

We also sterilized 104 cats and a dog in just one day in Hayes, Virginia—a community that’s overrun with homeless cats—treated a cat for a hernia, and removed another cat’s injured, necrotic tail. The surgeries were free and sponsored by a donor in memory of his feline companion.

2. We Rescued Animals From Bad Situations and Gave Them a Chance at Adoption

Dave, a young puppy kept chained outside, was suffering from a horrific flea affliction as well as internal parasites, anemia, and mange.

We gave him the veterinary care he desperately needed, and he spent several weeks recovering in protective police custody before we transferred him to Reba’s Animal Rescue in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he was quickly adopted.

PETA fieldworkers also secured the relinquishment of Pearl, a dog we had been visiting for some time, although we were refused custody until we found her companion, Thor, deceased and still chained just a few feet away from her.

After some TLC, we transferred Pearl to the Chesapeake Humane Society, where she was soon adopted into a family with another dog. In total, we transferred 123 companion animals to our shelter partners for a chance at adoption.

The PETA team also found homes for many other companion animals, including Archer and Lydia, Burt Reynolds, Sandy, and Karate.

3. We Engaged With Our Community to Help Teach Empathy for Animals

We participated in the annual Grand Illumination Parade in Norfolk, during which costumed volunteers and one of our mobile clinics shared the animal-friendly message “Make Their Sweet Dreams Come True. Unchain, Uncage, Make Them Family.”

We also participated in the annual One City Celebration in Newport News, Virginia, by offering spay/neuter surgeries in exchange for nonperishable vegan food items. We sterilized 39 animals and donated the items to the city’s food drive.

4. We Helped People Keep and Care For Their Animals

We provided 51 dogs, including Chocolate—who had been kept outside in a small wire crate without protection from the elements—with a custom-made, insulated doghouse and a long, light-weight tether, greatly improving their living conditions. Fieldworkers visited hundreds of other “backyard dogs” kept outside 24/7 in the increasingly cold weather and ensured that they were given shelter, insulating straw bedding, food, and treatment for parasites.

One of the 492 requests for assistance that PETA received was for senior dog Rosie, whose guardian couldn’t afford surgery to treat her potentially fatal uterine infection. We performed an emergency spay surgery and accepted a donation that her family could afford, an amount approximately one-tenth of what most veterinarians would have charged for her care.

5. We Provided Suffering Animals With Free End-of-Life Services

When beloved senior dog Dunkin’s potentially cancerous tumor ruptured, he stopped eating and became very lethargic. His family brought him to PETA’s shelter for free end-of-life services. He was among the 190 animals we euthanized this quarter at no cost to families who couldn’t afford this vital humane service.

Their guardians filled out postcards asking their state legislators to safeguard our ability to offer free end-of-life relief. This quarter, 627 of our constituent families sent postcards to their elected officials in support of our services, including free compassionate euthanasia—a service that only PETA provides in the region.

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How YOU Can Help a Cold Dog This Winter

Support PETA fieldworkers’ vital work to care for “backyard dogs” with a generous donation. You can also advocate for tethering bans in your community, joining thousands of other caring individuals across the U.S., and work with elected representatives to pass ordinances that ban or restrict chaining. To get started, see what current legislation on tethering dogs exists in your community.

Dogs should never be left outside unattended, but when they’re outside and deprived of access to water, food, or shelter, the situation becomes an emergency—and local authorities should be contacted immediately. If they’re unresponsive, contact PETA for help. Anyone who leaves animals outside to suffer in severe weather may face criminal charges. Dogs’ well-being—even their lives—could depend on you.

PETA Latino brings PETA’s outreach to Spanish-speaking U.S. and Latin American communities and serves as an independent powerhouse for animal rights. In 2023, the group cranked its protest game to 11 and championed animal rights from Mexico to the Vatican!

Mouse’ Overboard at IPN!

PETA Latino teamed up with Animal Heroes to rally with “lifeguards” and a “drowned mouse” outside Mexico’s Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) to demand that the university ban the forced swim test. In this test, experimenters dose mice, rats, or other small animals with substances, drop them into inescapable beakers of water, and force them to swim to keep from drowning, purportedly to find treatments for human depression.

Laboratory experiments often occur in places few people ever see, but animal defenders pushed the horrors of the forced swim test into the public conversation. Universidad del Valle, a top Colombian university, has already banned the experiment. Now it’s time for IPN to follow its lead by banning this cruel and ineffective test outright.

¿Perro o Pollo? PETA Latino Grills a ‘Dog’ on the Streets of Mexico

Why put a cow, a pig, or a chicken on the grill if you wouldn’t barbecue a dog? That’s the question PETA Latino and Animal Heroes supporters—complete with chef hats and aprons—asked in Guadalajara, León, and Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico.

The protesters “barbecued” a shockingly lifelike “dog” prop as food for thought while handing out vegan starter kits—a great resource for any aspiring vegan to start cooking delicious, healthy meals.

PETA Latino Builds a Beautiful Ofrenda to Remember the Victims of Bullfighting

On the Day of the Dead, PETA Latino supporters built a beautiful ofrenda in Tijuana, Mexico, in memory of the countless victims of bullfighting. Supporters wearing “bull horns” and traditional La Catrina makeup handed out flyers that detailed why bullfights are nothing short of animal torture.

Every year, thousands of bulls die in bullfights after being maimed and tormented physically and psychologically.

PETA Latino Reveals Urban Outfitters’ Leather ‘Mess’

PETA Latino supporters drenched themselves in black sludge outside an Urban Outfitters store in Houston to show that leather is a dirty business. The sludge represented the massive harm that leather production causes to animals, humans, and the environment. Cows and calves lead short, miserable lives for leather bags and shoes, which require dangerous chemicals and enormous amounts of national resources to produce.

It doesn’t have to be this way—vegan leathers are readily available, kinder, and more sustainable than animal skin. The fashion world is steadily going animal-free, and we’ll keep boosting vegan leather and making sure people know that using animal skins is harmful to the environment.

Our ‘Pig on a Plate’ Shows Skin and Turns Heads in Phoenix

Portraying a “pig,” a nearly nude PETA Latino supporter lay on a giant plate near downtown restaurants and a supermarket in Phoenix, urging people to think of the millions of pigs killed every year for Nochebuena. With signs reading, “Tradition Is No Excuse to Kill” and “Culture Should Never Mean Torture,” other animal defenders handed out vegan starter kits to eager passersby.

Choosing a delicious vegan roast that spares pigs a terrifying death is the perfect way to honor the spirit of the season and extend goodwill to all, so enjoy “Noche Vegana” with an animal-free feast!

PETA Latino ‘Traps’ Christopher von Uckermann in a Bubble for Corky

Corky, the longest-held captive orca, has been kept in cramped marine park tanks ever since she was abducted from her family as a baby 54 years ago. Unable to experience any semblance of a natural life, she’s been forced to perform tricks for crowds. A much more fulfilling life awaits her in a seaside sanctuary—SeaWorld only has to agree to let her go.

That’s why a group of PETA Latino supporters rallied on Mission Beach Boardwalk in San Diego to demand Corky’s release from SeaWorld to a seaside sanctuary. Actor and musician Christopher von Uckermann even took a break from his pop group RBD’s blockbuster reunion tour to “trap” himself inside a snow globe that mimicked the minuscule tank in which Corky continues to languish.

PETA Latino Calls On Pope Francis to Forbid Bullfighting

PETA Latino teamed up with PETA U.K. near the Vatican to call on Pope Francis to condemn bullfights. Gathered in a cross formation and wearing “horns” and red floor-length veils, the activists held a banner reading, “Catholic Church: Silence Is Violence! Denounce Bullfighting.”

Many bullfights take place on Catholic holidays in honor of religious figures, so PETA Latino appealed to the highest Catholic authority’s senses of empathy and reason to ask for an end to the madness. Pope Francis is widely revered for his kindness to animals, and we’re urging him to communicate to the more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide that bullfights violate Christian virtues.

Feeling Inspired? Join PETA Latino’s Activist Network

If you’re feeling fired up, sign up for the PETA Latino’s Activist Network. It will keep you updated on events near you and ways to take action for animals.

Whether you like to stay on the front lines or prefer to work behind the scenes, PETA Latino’s Activist Network has everything you need to promote animal rights in your area—wherever you are in the Americas.

PETA’s 2023 Company of the Year is the apple of our eye! Apple Inc. clearly recognizes that today’s conscious consumers want to support sustainable brands—in the past five years, global searches for sustainable goods have increased by 71%, and surveys indicate that a vast majority of shoppers care about the environmental impact of the products they buy. As the largest company in the world, Apple Inc. is meeting consumers’ demands and setting a tremendous example for other top companies by ditching leather as part of its goal to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The company’s decision to say “adIOS” to leather—a cruelly obtained coproduct of the meat industry—will spare countless animals and help mitigate the climate catastrophe. The brand will instead offer leather-free accessories, allowing compassionate consumers to feel good about purchasing animal and eco-friendly products.

Hey, Siri: What’s Wrong With Leather?

Because animals’ skin is one of the most profitable coproducts of the meat industry, purchasing leather directly contributes to the slaughter of countless individuals. Worldwide, the meat and leather industries kill more than a billion cows, sheep, and other animals for their skins every year. The vast majority of cows killed for their skins endure horrific practices of the meat industry—including castration, branding, and tail docking—without any painkillers. Cows naturally form long-term friendships and have complex social hierarchies, but the ones raised for meat and leather typically spend their lives on crowded, filthy lots, where they have little opportunity to meaningfully socialize with others.

Additionally, much of the leather sold in U.S. stores comes from countries where animal welfare laws are nonexistent or largely unenforced. In Brazil—the world’s largest source of animal hides—a PETA exposé revealed that workers beat cows and bulls, burned them on the face with hot irons, and electroshocked them before their skin was turned into leather products like car interiors.

No matter where it’s obtained, anything made from an animal is the product of extreme violence and exploitation.

Is Leather Bad for the Environment?

According to the Higg Materials Sustainability Index, leather made from cows’ skin contributes far more to water pollution, water depletion, and greenhouse gas emissions than any synthetic or plant-based vegan leather. Raising cows requires that thousands of acres of land be cleared of trees and the animals who naturally live there. Roughly 80% of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has been caused by cattle ranchers destroying land to raise animals for their skin and flesh.

Turning animals’ skin into leather also requires massive amounts of energy and dangerous chemicals, including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils, dyes, and finishes, some of them cyanide-based. This process, which halts decomposition through chemical baths and dehydration, is anything but “eco-friendly.” In addition, the toxic waste runs off into local water sources in countries like Bangladesh, poisoning entire ecosystems and greatly increasing tannery workers’ risk of developing skin cancer. An estimated 90% of Bangladeshi workers will die before the age of 50 because of the hazardous production of leather.

The extreme suffering in the meat and leather industries, as well as their devastating environmental impacts, are the main reasons why hundreds of major designers and retailers are developing innovative, animal-free textiles made from plants, such as leather created from mushrooms, cacti, or grapes.

Apple Updates to Leather-Free Products

Apple has already launched several leather-free, FineWoven-based accessories—including Apple watch straps, wallets, and iPhone cases. According to the company, the new material, which is recycled, has “significantly lower emissions compared to the more carbon-intensive leather.”

Sync or Swim: PETA’s Company of the Year Sets an Example for Other Major Brands

Apple may not need any more accolades—for multiple years, it has retained its crown as the most valuable company worldwide—but the brand’s decision to end its use of leather across all its product lines is a massive win for our fellow animals and for the planet. For this exemplary move, PETA is proud to name Apple our 2023 Company of the Year.

Follow the Example of PETA’s Company of the Year by Going Vegan!

There’s nothing stylish about the skins of slaughtered animals. Never buy leather or any other material stolen from sentient beings, and urge companies like Levi’s to switch to vegan leather: