PETA Global AU 2024 Issue 3

TELL IT LIKE IT IS, TRACY PETA’s executive vice president tackles your tough questions. !

Ants in Your

Pant(ry)?

Mouse in Your

Q A Chickens have to produce eggs, so why is it a problem for us to eat their eggs? – Confused Consumer For starters, hens aren’t egg-laying factories who exist just so humans can take their eggs as if they were taking candy from a vending machine – but that’s how they’re treated. In fact, hens produce eggs because nature tells them it’s time for them to have chicks of their own. As PETA’s investigations into egg farms show, hens are kept in prison-like conditions. On almost every factory farm, including ones from whence “farm fresh” and “cage-free” eggs come, hens are tightly crammed onto a floor or into miserably small cages stacked in windowless sheds and are surrounded by so many other hens that they can barely move a wing. Usually, the end of their beak is sliced off to prevent them from pecking at each other out of stress. No matter how injured or sick they become (a leg broken in cage wires, respiratory illness that fills their head with snot), they’re invariably denied veterinary care , and the bodies of dead birds are often left to rot beside their living cagemates. Commercial enterprises have manipulated hens’ reproductive systems, forcing

House?

Chickens: © R. L. Webber/Shutterstock.com

Polite Ways to Persuade Uninvited Guests to Leave

I t can be somewhat disconcerting to find that you’re sharing your home with a family of cockroaches

entry spot and leave the peel there. Bay leaves, cucumbers, garlic, hedge apples, and catnip repel roaches. To encourage a speedy evacuation, leave on a bright light, and/or set out rags soaked in ammonia (which smells as bad to raccoons, squirrels, and mice as it does to us) in areas that animals frequent. Wait until the breeding season has ended before sealing up any holes so that you don’t inadvertently trap babies inside. You can then place one-way exit devices over the entrance points. “ If all the insects were to disappear from the earth, within 50 years all life on Earth would end. If all human beings disappeared from the earth, within 50 years all forms of life would flourish.” – Jonas Salk Grab Your Caulk Gun Once the animals have moved on, seal the entry points using caulk (for small cracks), foam sealant, steel wool, hardware cloth, or metal flashing. If any babies remain, you’ll know, because a mother raccoon or squirrel will frantically attempt to regain entry if her youngsters have been sealed inside. Just reopen the hole to allow them to leave. Mice and rats can be caught in a humane trap during mild weather (check it hourly, because being trapped panics them half to death!), but don’t release them farther than a block away or they’ll have trouble finding food and shelter.

or a scurry of squirrels, but that must never mean setting out cruel traps or poisons. Animals caught on glue traps struggle mightily, tearing flesh, breaking bones, and becoming more ensnared in the adhesive, only to die from shock, dehydration, or asphyxiation. Poisons cause slow and painful deaths, and snap traps can injure animals rather than killing them, resulting in prolonged suffering. Use these tips instead. Find the ‘Front Door’ The first step is to grab a flashlight and try to determine where and how animals are entering your home. Thoroughly inspect your attic and eaves to find openings where squirrels or raccoons could be gaining entrance. Look outside, too: Overhanging tree limbs can provide easy access to your roof. Cracks in the foundation, gaps around doors left by worn weather stripping, and spots where cables run through walls all look like an open door to a rat or mouse . Mice can squeeze through holes the width of a pencil! Ants and other insects can fit through almost any small opening – from cracks around window frames to gaps behind cabinets. Make Your Home Boring Animals won’t stick around if they can’t find food, so keep counters and floors free of crumbs (don’t forget your toaster’s crumb tray), don’t let dirty dishes pile up, and store food in chew-proof

the birds to produce up to 300 eggs a year – not the 15 or so their ancestors would have laid. After just two years, their bodies give out and they’re slaughtered. Revolting, right? Try tofu scramble or oatmeal for breakfast, and silken tofu or even smushed bananas are good egg substitutes

Q A

I buy free-range, organic eggs. Why is PETA opposed to those? – Selective Shopper Don’t buy it, literally and figuratively! Comforting labels, including “free-range,” do just that: comfort humans. For hens, they’re essentially meaningless.

Despite the pricey promises, most “cage-free” or “free-range” chickens are trapped in dark, crowded, waste-filled warehouses. Ammonia burns their lungs, eyes, and skin, and they suffer from breast blisters. When the birds are given outdoor access, usually it’s a hole in a shed wall they have to fight to reach, the door’s often closed, and it only leads to a small, dirt pen. PETA UK’s exposé of a “free-range” egg farm showed sick and dying birds in a dark shed next to bird corpses. The birds aren’t slaughtered humanely, either. If you buy “humane” eggs, I have an oceanfront property in Nevada you might like.

when baking. Check out PETA.org/VeganEggs for more tips.

Q A

I saw a PETA billboard that said, “You Can’t Be an Egg-Eating Feminist.” What?! This woman wants her protein. – Shell-Shocked Anyone who thinks they need eggs for protein has egg on their face. There’s more protein in a serving of chickpeas, lentils, tofu, almonds, or black beans – and unlike eggs, those aren’t cholesterol

Be Part of It! For detailed tips on ousting

containers. Seal trash containers (use bungee cords on lids), pick up your animal companions’ food at night, and never feed them outdoors. Put stoppers in drains overnight to stop roaches ’ approaches. Some deterrents are as close as your kitchen cabinet. Place a cinnamon stick, coffee grounds, chili pepper, paprika, cloves, or dried peppermint leaves near openings where ants are coming in. You can also squeeze the juice of a lemon at the

specific animals, visit PETA.org/LiveInHarmony . I Display this sign near trash bins and picnic areas. It’s available at PETA.org/Store , or you can download it at PETA.org/CrushCans .

Mouse: © iStock.com/CreativeNature_nl • Squirrel: © iStock.com/Fabrique Imagique • Raccoon sign: © Raccoon – iStock.com/Eric Isselé | Can – 2011 Jupiterimages Corporation • Ants: © iStock.com/Tatiana Sidenko

bombs. True feminists reject all exploitation of all females. And we support the right of every female not to live as a handmaiden.

Be Part of It! Do you have a burning question for Tracy? E-mail it to PETAGlobal@peta.org.au .

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DON’T BE A TYR ANT