PETA Global 2018 Issue 1

ISSUE 1 | WINTER 2018

ADVANCING THE ANIMAL RIGHTS REVOLUTION 4 Waka’s Weight- PAGE 13 PAGE Tickle Your Taste Bud-dhas Taste Nirvana: Zen recipes from The Buddhist Chef Loss Secret Rapper reveals how he shed 34 pounds in two weeks

2 PAGE Gillian’s Fox Fling Get the “X-Files” star's fab new T-shirt

C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S • C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S •

Busted! PETA Exposé Nets First-Ever Cruelty Convictions for Sheep Shearers C ompassionate people who learn howwool is produced steer clear of it: You’ll understand why if you watch PETA’s video showing sheep Although the wool industry’s “shock” at what its own workers do every day isn’t very believable, PETA’s explosive exposé has been a wake-up call to shoppers, as they learn that to sheep, being shorn is not “just like getting a haircut” – unless the barber is Sweeney Todd.

repeatedly twisted and bent a sheep’s neck until it broke. In Chile, workers stabbed sheep in the neck and hacked off live lambs’ tails. In Argentina, some lambs were still alive and kicking when workers began skinning them. See page 6 to find out how PETA is blowing the lid off the abusive wool industry.

being dragged into shearing sheds by their legs and then punched and kicked, beaten with a hammer, and slammed to the floor. As the workers race against the clock, they lose their tempers over small delays – such as dropping their shears – and take out their frustration on the terrified, struggling animals. PETA revealed this kind of abuse and other instances of horrifying treatment of sheep in an international exposé of shearing sheds in the US as well as Australia – the world’s largest exporter of wool – which led to charges against six shearers for at least 70 counts of cruelty to animals. But while the exposé made it clear that cruelty is rampant in the wool industry, these charges are nevertheless the first to be brought against wool industry workers for abusing sheep anywhere in the world. Shearing Contractors’ Association of Australia Secretary Jason Letchford said, “We’re all shocked, upset and embarrassed as an industry. It’s been a wake-up call.” But were wool industry leaders truly oblivious? And will they do anything to make positive changes – or simply try to protect the many other shearers who commit similar crimes? All six shearers pleaded guilty.

PETA and its international affiliates have investigated dozens of sheep farms and shearing sheds on three continents, revealing brazen acts of repeated cruelty in every one of them. In Australia, violent attacks left petrified sheep bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth. In the US, a shearer

Gillian Anderson: © Rankin | Waka Flocka © Photo: Drexina Nelson Photography • Hair: Jamisha Cobb • Makeup: Latasha Wright • Taylor-Ector Studios | Recipe: © Samuel Joubert | Lambs: © iStock.com/KariHoglund | Fox: © iStock.com/RT-Images

INDIA

PETA India Kicks Off Race to Create Cruelty-Free Antivenom T he day is coming when equines will no longer be abused as living blood banks to produce snake antivenom, thanks to the persistence of PETA India. For more than a year now, it has been communicating with government officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, about its eyewitness investigation into horrific blood-harvesting farms and has pushed for antivenom to be made without using horses, mules, and donkeys. After PETA India showed the government that ill, malnourished, terrified horses are repeatedly tackled – sometimes causing them to panic and collapse – jabbed with large-gauge needles, and drained of more than 15% of their blood, India’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council issued a groundbreaking challenge to scientists to produce the first animal-free snakebite antitoxins. The alternative to animal sources is antivenom made by using recombinant DNA technology, which would spare thousands of horses and other animals a great deal of misery – and lead to a uniform, high-quality product with a longer shelf life and fewer side effects for human patients. Similar efforts are underway in Germany, where the PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. is funding the development of a non-animal antitoxin to treat diphtheria, which will also prevent horses from being exploited for their blood.

A MESSAGE FROM Ingrid Newkirk PETA’s President

When I was a little girl, my father’s occupation took us to some rather craggy outposts, such as the Orkney Islands and the Scottish Highlands, where sheep lived on the hillsides and drank from the ice-cold streams or “burns” that fed the lochs. The winter mornings were brisk, and I remember waking up under my woolen blankets, reluctant to stick even one toe out until the peat fires had been lit. When I ventured outdoors, I must have looked like an advertisement for wool, bundled up in a Shetland jumper (sweater), a woolen tam-o’-shanter pulled down over my ears, a knitted scarf to keep out the chill and wind, and thick, hand-knitted argyle knee socks. It never occurred to me that in order for me to have all those “woollies,” sheep had to lose theirs. My father was the first person to tell me about chest colds in sheep – he had heard them hacking and coughing through the winter on the English farm next to his boyhood home. Their condition was the result of being exposed to the damp and cold because the farmer had sheared them right before the worst of winter hit. Years later, I realized that sheep are not mittens on the hoof. Highly social and intelligent, they recognize each other by facial features, just as humans do, and can remember at least 50 other sheep and 10 humans for more than two years! More importantly, they are gentle, sensitive, and thoughtful – yet at the mercy of unmerciful human beings.

GLOBAL

We can protect sheep from needless cruelty by choosing wool-free clothing. You’ll look stunning and feel as if you’re 5 pounds lighter in sheep-friendly fashions, such as the gorgeous vegan cashmere coats by PETA Business Friend Manon (check them out at PETAMall.com ).

PETA Floats the Idea of Eating Green In recognition of World Vegan Day, PETA UK supporters holding enormous green balloons promoted eco-friendly, vegan living near London’s Tower Bridge, while supporters of PETA France turned a Paris plaza into a “crime scene” by lying inside chalk outlines of chickens, pigs, and other animals. Photos of the demonstrations went viral and were seen all over the world.

Read more about Ingrid’s childhood (and grown-up) adventures in her book Making Kind Choices, available at PETACatalog.com .

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2 GLOBAL NEWS

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ITALY

VICTORY! Gucci Goes Fur-Free

Following more than 20 years of PETA protests – including one in which a PETA member doused then–head designer Tom Ford with blood-red tomato juice – Italian fashion giant Gucci announced that it will go fur-free starting this year because fur is “out-dated.” “Ethical fashion is the future of fashion,” said Elaine Welteroth, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue . “Gucci’s decision to ban fur is a smart step in the right direction – for the environment, for animal rights, and for its massive base of young brand fans.” And after hearing from more than 260,000 PETA supporters over the past three years, luxury brands BCBGMAXAZRIA and BCBGeneration also decided to shed all fur – and angora – from their lines. Take Action Now Take a tip from X-Files icon Gillian Anderson: “PETA’s [T-shirts] are a great way for shy people like me to get the message across without saying anything.” Order yours today at PETACatalog.com .

Left Swipes for Tiger Stripes Tinder is kinder! After PETA Australia told executives of the popular international dating app that tiger cubs are taken away from their distraught mothers to be exploited as photo props, Tinder told users to remove tiger selfies, saying, “Posing next to a king of the jungle doesn’t make you one. … It’s time for the tiger selfies to go.”

Donkey © Sean Noronha | Gillian Anderson: © Rankin | Tiger selfie: © iStock.com/nullplus | Swipe left: © iStock.com/DStark | Iditarod dog: © Sled Dogs Film

PETA Pushes Iditarod Sponsors out of the Race State Farm, Guggenheim Partners, and Wells Fargo have all ended their sponsorship of the Iditarod since hearing from PETA and its supporters. Mushers in the annual dog-sled race force the dogs to run approximately 1,000 miles in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. Five dogs died in less than one week of the 2017 race alone. Race organizers have cut next year’s purse by $250,000, and now a whistleblower has reported witnessing widespread abuse at a top musher’s kennel – allegedly including

USA

USA

PETA’s ‘Cat-Smacking’ Video Wins Top Award What if humans treated housecats the way circuses treat big cats? PETA partnered with advertising agency Havas and animation company Rhythm and Hues Studios to create a video in which a man tries to force a “housecat” (actually a realistic computer generated image) to learn tricks by smacking him – hard. Viewers who thought the cat was real were outraged at first but then got the point. The OMMA Awards, which honor creative online marketing, gave the top prize in animation to the clip.

neglecting puppies to the point of death. Several of the musher’s dogs also tested positive for an opioid drug. The photo to the left shows the typical conditions in which dogs are kept when not racing. PETA is calling for a new investigation.

Take Action Now Visit PETA.org/Iditarod to urge Coca-Cola, Jack Daniel’s, and Chrysler to drop their sponsorships of the Iditarod and protect animals from being exploited for entertainment.

Watch the video at PETA.org/CatTricks .

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USA

Hip-Hop Artists Dish on Eating Vegan

"I just wanted to be healthy."

“I was fat!” That was rapper Waka Flocka Flame’s response when R&B singer Mýa asked him why he went vegan during an exclusive PETA-hosted

"It's a lifetime commitment."

discussion. After going vegan, Waka says he lost 34 pounds in two weeks. He and Mýa agreed that they were

Tommy Lee: © Starmaxinc.com | Police officer: © Andrew Enseñat | Goldfish: © iStock.com/GlobalP

also motivated to give up animal-derived foods by images in which animals were being slaughtered for meat. Mýa explained, “[W]hen you’re looking at your plate, you see the process … and you’re changed forever spiritually.” Want to eat like a hip-hop star? Visit PETA.org to order a vegan starter kit.

USA

USA

Tommy Lee Protests ‘Sick Stunt’ R ocker Tommy Lee calls it “a twisted Ozark ritual that even the most deranged headbanger couldn’t invent”: During the annual Turkey Trot festival in Yellville, Arkansas, people throw live turkeys from airplanes and roofs. A frenzied crowd then chases and fights over the birds who survive the fall. Despite a public outcry, officials refuse to prosecute the participants for cruelty to animals. In 2017, PETA supporters were able to rescue four of

the traumatized birds. Tommy wrote to the town’s mayor on PETA’s behalf, adding his voice to those of hundreds of thousands of other concerned PETA supporters and asking that Yellville “deep-six this sick stunt.” Visit PETA.org/TurkeyDrop to add your voice as well.

USA

Are Those Doughnut Crumbs on Your Face Vegan , Officer? Concerned that the officers in blue at one New York Police Department precinct might also be feeling a bit blue during their boycott of Dunkin’ Donuts, PETA sent them a dozen boxes of wholesome vegan ones from the city’s own Dun-Well Doughnuts. The officers didn’t sugarcoat their response: They were nabbed at first bite!

PETA Calls, T-Mobile Answers: Goldfish Giveaways Gone

Goldfish aren’t marketing gimmicks – they’re sensitive, intelligent animals. So when T-Mobile – the US’ third-largest mobile communications company – gave them away during a promotion in New York City’s Times Square, PETA got in touch. The connection was good: The company confirmed that the giveaway was an isolated incident and wouldn’t be repeated.

You can speak up for fish, too. When you see them used as hotel or wedding decorations, tell management as well as family and friends that animals aren’t props.

4 GLOBAL NEWS

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USA

Two cruel “scientists” who abused animals for many years have had their operations shut down, thanks to PETA. After PETA alerted its supporters that an experimenter at St. Mary’s University in Texas starved rats for 11 days at a time, causing them to lose up to 30% of their bodyweight, the university ended the experiments. PETA Stops Starvation and ‘Fight Club’ Experiments

Hamster: © Kencredible

And an experimenter at Northeastern University in Massachusetts – who, for 20 years, injected hamsters with aggression-promoting drugs and forced them to fight – also lost his funding following PETA’s action.

USA

Hellish Roadside Zoo Closes After PETA Exposé A week after PETA exposed and alerted the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the failure of Summer Wind Farms, a ramshackle Michigan roadside zoo, to provide ailing tigers Daisy and Mohan with veterinary care, the two animals were rescued and moved to a reputable sanctuary. Summer Wind had amassed more than 200 violations of federal animal-welfare laws in just three years, leading to a USDA lawsuit and,

After hearing from thousands of PETA UK supporters – including Honorary PETA Director Pamela Anderson, who penned a personal plea to then–PrimeMinister Enda Kenny – Ireland passed a law banning wild-animal circuses! “This is a progressive move, reflective of our commitment to animal welfare,” said minister Michael Creed. The Italian Parliament voted to ban the use of all animals – wild and domesticated – in circuses, joining Guatemala, Latvia, and Slovakia, which all recently banned wild-animal circuses as well. Victory! Ireland, Italy Join Countries That Ban Animal Circuses

finally, the revocation of its license and the removal of most of its animals. PETA is now working to shut down other roadside zoos. Please help fight these cruel establishments with your wallet by never buying a ticket.

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PETA and ‘Selfie Monkey’ Break New Ground for Animals PETA’s “monkey selfie” lawsuit – the first case in which a court was asked to declare a nonhuman animal the owner of intellectual property rather than a mere piece of property – has sparked international debate in law schools and copyright circles. The free-roaming crested macaque Naruto had photographed himself with an unattended camera, and PETA sued on his behalf so that he could claim the copyright to the photos. PETA settled the case with the photographer, who will now donate a percentage of any future gross revenue from the photos to charities protecting the welfare or habitat of Naruto and other members of his species in Indonesia. Meanwhile, a famous BBC wildlife photographer has pledged to donate a percentage of his profits to his subjects, too, setting the wheels in motion for a brighter future.

I Naruto is PETA’s Person of the Year. Order your commemorative T-shirt at PETACatalog.com .

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MY SECRET LIFE AS A SHEEP SHEARER By Don Gaines

I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I'm a computer guy who spends hours at a time staring at a screen. I didn’t know a whole lot about sheep. If I thought about them at all, I thought they were kind of cool, in a “shepherd tending his flock” sort of way. But I no longer enjoy that blissful ignorance – because what I discovered while working as a PETA

Wool texture: © iStock.com/Roman_Gorielov

C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S • C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S •

eyewitness in sheep-shearing sheds was that sheep are suffering – greatly – just so that their stolen wool can be made into coats, sweaters, and scarves.

“I was in shock as I watched a worker twist a sheep ’ s neck over and over again until it broke.”

6 COVER STORY

Sheep are deprived of food and water, sometimes overnight.

My time as an eyewitness was no short stint: I ended up working in six shearing sheds in Australia and on 14 sheep ranches in the US. It never crossed my mind that I’d be recording workers punching sheep in the face, deliberately poking them in the eye, stomping on them, and hitting them with electric clippers. I was in shock as I watched a worker twist a sheep’s neck over and over again until it broke. The image haunts me to this day. Sheep Suffer as Shearers Race to Finish Many people don’t realize – I certainly didn’t – that shearers are paid by volume, so they have to work quickly. Every pound of wool is money to them, so most work at top speeds – and sheep get thrown around, bullied, and badly hurt in the process. I quietly filmed sheep struggling and bleating while strips of their flesh and the edges of their ears were carelessly cut off. I repeatedly saw shearers cutting sheep’s “belly vein” during shearing. This leads to profuse bleeding, and it’s an industry standard operating procedure simply to sew up the often gaping and no doubt hideously painful wound on the spot. No pain relief – just crude stitching with a needle and thread while the blood pours out. If the sheep panicked and struggled or put up any resistance whatsoever, the workers kicked them, stomped on them, or slammed them against the floor or walls. I saw lambs being picked up by one front leg and slammed to the floor while the shearer stood on their ribs. They were absolutely petrified, but they were never shown any patience or kindness. Tails ‘Get in the Way’ To make lambs easier to shear, their tails are typically docked by placing a rubber ring around the base so tightly that the blood stops flowing and the tail tissue dies and eventually rots off. One day, some lambs who hadn’t lost their tails yet came through the shearing shed. An impatient shearer used his electric clippers to saw through the tails of three screaming animals while they were fully conscious. No one in the room so much as batted an eye – it was business as usual. I witnessed this violence at 20 sheep operations on two continents. PETA Asia eyewitnesses documented the very same kinds of abuse in Argentina and Chile.

This is what wool looks like before it’s washed.

This downed sheep was left to lie like this, in the hot sun without water.

Take Action Now Please, never buy or wear wool – and tell everyone why you don’t. Share PETA’s wool

videos (available online at PETA.org/Wool ) on all your social media accounts. People need to know what wool is really all about.

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“We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.” – Winston Churchill

Chicken photo: © Charles Long/CharlesLongPhotography.com | Chicken illustration: © iStock.com/la_puma

PETA’s 20-Year Campaign to Take theMurder out of Meat

A lmost 20 years ago, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk spoke to “The Godfather of In Vitro Meat,” the late Willem van Eelen, a Dutch researcher who, having witnessed the carnage of World War II, dreamed of creating meat that wasn’t a product of suffering. PETA has been supporting that quest ever since. In 2008, PETA unveiled the idea to the public by offering $1 million for the first commercially viable in vitro chicken meat. The media went wild, consumer interest was piqued, and investors came forward. Today, even Bill Gates and Richard Branson are fueling the in vitro meat industry! PETA chose the sum of $1 million because in the US, about 1 million chickens are killed for food every hour. And chickens – each an individual with unique preferences and emotions – are among the most abused animals in the world. They are packed into filthy sheds, unable to breathe fresh air or take more than a few steps in any direction, and they’re often still conscious when their throats are slit and they’re plunged into the scalding-hot water of the defeathering tank at the slaughterhouse. In vitro meat means that people who can’t or won’t kick the meat habit can eat real animal flesh without causing real animals to suffer. To help make van Eelen’s idea a reality, PETA funded the hiring of stem cell biologist Dr. Nicholas Genovese at the University of Missouri to conduct cultured-meat research. He later

cofounded Memphis Meats, and his team has had breakthroughs that allowed in vitro meat to be grown from a single starter batch – without using animal-derived serum – so that no animals are harmed in the production process. Not long after PETA announced the contest, researchers developed technology to produce in vitro pork and beef, and a method for making in vitro chicken soon followed. When Memphis Meats debuted the first laboratory-grown chicken meat in 2017, it fulfilled Winston Churchill’s 1932 prediction: “We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.” Now, recognizing the potential that PETA envisioned two decades ago, companies are racing to produce cultured meat: China signed a $300 million deal to import the technology from Israeli firms including SuperMeat and Meat the Future. Tokyo-based Integriculture Inc. announced that laboratory-grown foie gras could hit the shelves in just a few years, and Japanese high school students are even growing cultured meat at home, as part of the Shojinmeat Project. People are hungry for a cruelty-free meat revolution: Surveys have found that more than 60% of consumers would buy and eat a cultured burger. Soon, meat-eaters will have no excuse not to make the kind choice. “Godfather” van Eelen would be pleased.

Days-old chicks perform better at math problems than toddlers.

Chickens like to watch TV and can learn from other birds they see on the screen.

Hens can count to at least six, and they count from left to right, just like humans.

Bird Brainiacs

They understand the concept of delayed gratification,

Chickens use 30 distinct calls that they start learning while still inside the egg.

They can recognize up to 100 faces, even after months of separation.

a sign of self awareness.

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BEYOND MEAT

Q & A

Famous ‘Gonzovationist’

Back in 2006, when PETA and its affiliates sounded the alarm over the Australian wool industry’s abuse of sheep, award-winning artist Ralph Steadman – perhaps most famous for his collaborations with gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson – created and donated a provocative painting of a blood-soaked lamb on a crucifix for PETA with the tagline “Have mercy on them.” PETA UK recently talked to him and fellow “gonzovationist,” filmmaker Ceri Levy, about their new book, Critical Critters, and more. Steadman Ralph Talks to PETA UK

Ralph Steadman: © Rikard Österlund

PETA UK: Your piece “Sheep on Cross” caused quite a stir with advertising companies in Australia that were too scared of sheep farmers to rent billboard space to PETA. Ralph: I remember that painting well. Was pleased to do it as I don’t like cruelty. I once had a sheep called Zeno. … Zeno lived in my house with me, with a sheepdog I had named Flop. … Wonderful sheep, that Zeno. And wonderful dog. PETA UK: Like you, PETA finds that humor is often the best approach. Ralph: I like PETA activism! The meat tray demos, even once in a while a pie in someone’s face, like vaudeville! Ceri: He wants to custard pie the world. Ralph: Instead of killing everywhere, shoot, shoot, shoot … custard pies! It’d make a mess, but it’s a good mess. PETA UK: With your books – Critical Critters, Extinct Boids, and Nextinction – you’ve hit on a great and madly funny way to get people to pay attention to wildlife issues. Ralph: Yes. We thought, if you are going to do this, rather than be all stern, just bring a smile with it. A bit of laughter with a kind face, and people will take an interest. Instead of being preached at. PETA UK: Ralph, you actually accompanied Hunter S. Thompson to the Kentucky Derby, where horses break their legs – and worse.

Ralph: I think most of it is cruel. I don’t really like what they do. Ceri: I don’t like horseracing. I think it’s stupid. PETA UK: In working to end the abuse of animals for entertainment, PETA shut down Ringling Bros. – the biggest circus in the world – and is pushing to get animals out of all other circuses as well. Ralph: I really like that. I had one across the road. They’d come every year and set up opposite where we lived on New Kings Road. And the sound of the animals at night, some of them would sound really unhappy, and there was the thing on how they push them to work. I sensed there was some unpleasantness that I wasn’t able to see. … I’m not really keen on zoos actually, either. Ceri: I remember circuses as a kid. I hated them. I used to cry, “Why are they hitting the animals?!” PETA UK: PETA revealed that dogs in Texas and France are being bred to develop a crippling form of muscular dystrophy for use in painful experiments. Do you have any thoughts about that? Ralph: Only that it’s totally unethical and wrong.

PETA UK: Thanks, Ralph and Ceri – you said it!

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HOW PETA BROUGHT DOWN THE ANGORA TRADE and Is Revolutionizing Your Wardrobe

C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S • C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S •

10 FIGHTING WOOLLY BULLIES

“Look at what PETA did to angora.

Yellow tag: © iStock.com/Rinek

They virtually wiped it out.” – Top fashion industry executive

They were the screams heard ’round the world ...

Numerous companies communicated with PETA and swore off down, including Coleman, the world’s leading outdoor-gear manufacturer, as well as ASOS, Dr. Martens, Miss Selfridge, Napapijri, Topman, Topshop, and many others. Not only did FatFace stop using down, it also created window displays telling consumers why – effective exhibits that look as if they could have been created by animal rights activists.

Crate & Barrel, The Land of Nod, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, West Elm, and others – are now offering cruelty-free alternatives to nearly every down item. The list of compassionate brands keeps growing. Take Action Now Never buy anything made from animal exploitation – including angora, cashmere, down, mohair, shearling, silk, and wool. Visit PETA.org/ClothingGuide to find a list of animal-friendly retailers.

Most angora comes from rabbits on Chinese factory farms, and PETA Asia’s eyewitness footage from inside the facilities – showing angora rabbits screaming as workers tied them down and ripped their fur out – sent shock waves through the clothing industry and the marketplace. As PETA Asia’s video went viral, stunned retailers quickly agreed to meet with PETA affiliates. Most rapidly dropped angora wool from their clothing lines, including Calvin Klein, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Tommy Hilfiger, and Topshop. After talking with PETA, the world’s largest clothing retailer, Inditex, which owns Zara, not only banned angora wool but – at PETA’s request – also worked with PETA to donate almost $1 million worth of its already manufactured angora garments to Syrian refugees. If a brand hesitated, PETA members and supporters worldwide flooded the company with e-mails, which persuaded Guess, BCBG, and The Kooples to make the compassionate choice. Now, more than 300 major retailers have banned all angora – and the number keeps climbing. Whenever PETA pulls back the curtain on the animal-exploiting industries that no one else is talking about, the resulting worldwide outrage brings about significant changes. Down and Out Rabbits are not alone in being tortured for clothing. PETA and PETA Asia’s investigation into farms that produce down feathers revealed that workers immobilize geese and violently tear out their feathers by the fistful – and, once again, retailers were shocked into taking action.

FatFace’s window display is for the birds

Who Wants 'Sustainable' Animal Abuse?

Angora, down, fur, leather, and wool are only “natural” when they’re on their rightful, original owner. To keep animal skins from rotting, processing plants soak them in a soup of toxic substances – including formaldehyde, ammonia, and cyanide based chemicals –

Marriott Hotels, the largest hotelier in the world, has cut its down usage by 50%, and two of its brands – Moxy and AC hotels – have gone down-free. PETAwill continue working until this product of cruelty is gone. Better Than Feathers The North Face’s innovative down alternative ThermoBall was such a success that the company launched its next iteration of down alternatives, called Ventrix, which is featured prominently in stores as “the next evolution of synthetic-insulation technology.” And Patagonia tells shoppers that its down alternative PlumaFill provides the best warmth-to-weight ratio that it has “ever achieved – down or synthetic.” Cruelty-free outerwear brand Save The Duck’s coats are made exclusively with Plumtech, high-density fibers produced from recycled polyester. Home goods retailers – including

which can pollute the surrounding water and air. And raising animals for leather requires vast amounts of land, water, grain, and energy. Don’t be fooled: The only truly sustainable clothing is animal-free.

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Images courtesy of Vegea ® Wine Not? Vegan Leather Made From Grapes! By Gianpiero Tessitore

V egea was inspired by my strong personal commitment to animal welfare and environmental protection. I’ve been vegan for a long time, and as an architect and designer, I felt that I had to invest in research and development in order to find a vegetal alternative to animal and synthetic leather. Consumers are becoming more and more ethically conscious, and the demand for animal-friendly and sustainable products is growing very quickly. I wanted to address this need arising from a shift in public opinion toward compassionate awareness. So my Vegea cofounders – Francesco Merlino and Valentina Longobardo – and I decided to invent an animal-free material that people would love. In creating Vegea, our ambitious goal was to make sustainable vegan leather from a plant byproduct so that nothing at any point in the process would go to waste. We succeeded!

C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S • C H A N G I N G Y O U R C L O T H E S •

I This elegant “leather” dress and clutch are made from grape skins, not cow skins.

on store shelves all around the world, what’s left is 7 billion kilograms (more than 15 billion pounds) of grape “marc” – the skins, stalks, seeds, and other solid remains. Hello, Vegea! Grape marc is 100% vegetal raw material, and after careful investigation, we discovered that it creates the most eco-sustainable fabric: It’s surprisingly strong, and when processed and woven, it mimics animal leather. So this wine byproduct that is usually discarded as useless waste now has a use. If all grape marc were used to create eco-friendly, cruelty free fabric, Vegea could make 3 billion square meters (more than 3.5 billion square yards) of product per year. Just think of all the animals that would save! From cork to apple to pineapple, vegan leather options are gaining speed faster than anyone can believe and revolutionizing the fashion and furniture industries – and even the auto industry, with vegan leather consoles and seats. At Vegea, we envision a world of wine leather, in which animals won’t be slaughtered for their skin but instead will be able to live and graze beside the vines growing the very grapes that we’ll transform into humane bags, shoes, and garments. Consumers have spoken, and the future of fashion will be animal-free. So grab a glass of wine and say “cheers” to eco-friendly, cruelty-free vegan leather.

Here’s a pretty amazing fact: Italy produces 18% of the world’s wine, yet after it’s processed, bottled, and placed

Gianpiero Tessitore is an architect and cofounder and CEO of Vegea, an Italian manufacturer of environmentally friendly, sustainable, all-vegan leather made from byproducts of winemaking.

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‘HEART’ COUTURE

EAT BETTER, LIVE BETTER With These Easy Vegan Recipes

Classically trained chef Jean-Philippe Cyr, aka “The Buddhist Chef,” has one mission: “to make vegan cooking simple, fun, and delicious.” These fast, flavorful, nutrient-packed recipes are adapted from his popular website, TheBuddhistChef.com.

Portobello steaks and chocolate pudding: © The Buddhist Chef | Avocado toast: © Samuel Joubert | Buddha: © iStock.com/Rinek

Avocado Toast with Cashew Parmesan Makes 2 servings

METHOD • Process the garlic, cashews, nutritional yeast, and salt in a food processor until coarsely combined.

Cheese-free Parmesan takes avocado toast – a super-simple yet nourishing breakfast or snack – to a whole new level.

YOU’LL NEED • 1 garlic clove, minced • 1 /3 cup cashews • 1 /3 cup nutritional yeast • 1 /2 tsp. sea salt • 1 ripe avocado • 2 slices of bread, toasted • Olive oil

• Peel and pit the avocado and cut into thin slices.

• Fan the avocado slices out on the toast. Sprinkle 1 tablespoonful. of the cashew Parmesan over each slice of toast, drizzle with olive oil, and enjoy. • Note: This recipe makes approximately 1 /3 cup Parmesan. Store leftovers in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Portobello Steaks Makes 2 to 3 servings

Even novice cooks can enjoy perfect Portobellos – rich in antioxidants – every time with this easy recipe, which chef Jean-Philippe describes as “bulletproof.”

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding Makes 4 servings

YOU’LL NEED • 3 Portobello mushrooms • 2 Tbsp. olive oil

This easy-peasy no-cook pudding is made with a tiny but powerful superfood: nutrient-rich chia seeds.

YOU’LL NEED • 1 2 /3 cups canned coconut milk • 1 /2 cup chia seeds • 2 to 3 Tbsp. maple syrup, to taste

• 2 to 4 Tbsp. salt-free steak spice (aka “steak seasoning”), to taste • 1 rosemary stem, broken into 3 pieces • Salt, to taste

• 1 /4 tsp. vanilla extract • 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

METHOD • Preheat the oven to 400˚F/200˚C.

• Seasonal fruits • Chocolate bark

• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, making sure that the mushrooms are well coated in oil and spices.

METHOD • Place the first five ingredients in a bowl and mix well using an immersion blender or a whisk.

• Place the mushrooms in an oiled baking dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

• Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or until the mixture sets.

• Serve immediately. The steaks pair well with roasted vegetables and vegan gravy (for a recipe, visit TheBuddhistChef.com).

• Serve topped with fresh seasonal fruit and chocolate bark.

Global 13

A Thoroughbred born in Kentucky has a 50% chance of ending up cut into pieces and served on a dinner plate in Europe. PETA has exposed – and is ending – this “career path” that takes as many as 10,000 horses a year from US racetracks to slaughterhouses to butcher shops, usually when they’re still young. Horses who don’t win – or whose bodies break down because they’re forced to run when they should be recuperating from injury – disappear from tracks by the thousands. Many of them end up hanging on meat hooks. PETA’s Gamble for Horses Pays Off

Coming Home: © Kip Malone | Gray Man/Royale with Speed: © Kip Malone | Valediction: © Leigh Vogel/PETA | Slot machine: © iStock.com/Bet_Noire

To address this cruelty, PETA persuaded racing officials to implement the first-ever industry-supported retirement program, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Then, it came up with an innovative high-tech plan to make sure that the alliance has the funds that it needs in order to keep helping horses. PETA’s idea? A pop-up screen on betting terminals that asks bettors to donate instantly to Thoroughbred retirement every time they cash a winning ticket. PETA presented the idea to representatives of the Stronach Group, which owns many of the biggest racetracks in America, and they loved it! Software was developed, tested, and perfected – and now the concept has been brought to high-tech life. It premiered at the Breeders’ Cup races in November, and it’s being expanded to tracks across the country. Horses Saved by PETA PETA rescued Royale With Speed, grandson of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, directly from the back of a small, open truck, where he was crammed in with 32 other horses for a 36-hour journey in below-freezing weather. The plan was to transport them 1,100 miles – without any breaks, water, or food. They were headed for a ghastly slaughterhouse, where eyewitness video shows that nearly half of them survived the first shot to the head with a captive-bolt gun – and had to be shot

again and again before finally collapsing. Royale was renamed Gray Man and lives with a PETA member.

Coming Home PETA rescued Coming Home after she was purchased for $200 by a meat buyer at an auction. She was just hours from being trucked to a slaughterhouse. Now called Little Winner, she went from depressed to jaunty and lives on the same beautiful ranch as Gray Man. Valediction during its landmark investigation of drug use in horse racing. Both animals were lame, with fractures and swollen joints, and if the organization hadn’t rescued them, they would have been sold for meat at auction or been at risk of dying from untreated injuries. Now, they’re living happily ever after with other horses on farms where they’re free to run – but only when they want to. Take Action Now US residents, please ask your legislators to support the Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2017, H.R. 113/S. 1706, which would prevent horse slaughter in the US and end the transport of American horses to foreign slaughterhouses. Charlie’s Quest and Valediction PETA found Charlie’s Quest (aka “Charlie”) and

SAVED LittleWinner and GrayMan

14 A STABLE FUTURE

SAVED Henry,Charlie, and Caroline

PETA persuaded racing officials to implement the first-ever industry-supported retirement program, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

SAVED Valediction

Global 15

PETA Campaigns to End Elephant Rides

beaten

When appalled tourists contacted PETA India to report that they’d witnessed the vicious beating of an elephant outside the famous sandstone palace called the Amber Fort, staffers immediately contacted government officials to try to locate the elephant and get cruelty charges brought against her abusers. Abuse is the norm at this top tourist destination in Jaipur, India, built on a hill that more than 100 elephants are forced to plod up and down, endlessly carrying visitors on their backs. The mahouts (handlers) carry heavy sticks to keep the animals obedient and fearful, and as PETA’s veterinarian Dr. Heather Rally – who traveled to the fort and filed

a government report – wrote: “Many are suffering from serious, even life-threatening, foot disease. Some are also nearly blind. When not toiling, elephants are chained for hours on end so tightly that they’re unable to move more than a step in any direction.” Businesses Cutting Ties Shortly after PETA broke the story – and citing PETA’s reports – New York–based tour operator smarTours, which had offered these rides for decades, dropped them. “It’s not worth endorsing … some really significant mistreatment of animals,” the company’s co-CEO Greg Geronemus said.

“The animals were all engaging in behaviors that indicate extreme stress, including head bobbing, trunk swinging, kicking the legs back and forth, and swaying.” – Heather Rally, D.V.M.

All of PETA’s international affiliates are working hard to get elephant-ride promotions stopped, and dozens of tour companies, including Costco Travel and STA Travel, have stopped offering them or any other activities that exploit elephants. Following discussions with PETA, travel industry giant TripAdvisor – which also owns Viator, a leading resource for booking travel experiences worldwide – stopped booking excursions in which any wild animals are forced to have contact with the public, including elephant rides.

and PETA Asia has released a widely shared video featuring Chinese actor Du Chun explaining why compassionate people should not ride elephants. Tourists who go on these rides help consign deeply social and intelligent animals to a life of misery and servitude. Wherever you go, remember that every ride taken directly contributes to elephants’ suffering.

exploited

Take Action Now Visit PETA.org/ElephantRides to urge those few companies still promoting

Getting the word out about the cruelty inherent in elephant rides is vital to the campaign worldwide,

elephant rides to stop.

16 RIDE WITHOUT THE HIDE

Zero to 60

Without the Moo

PETA is the driving force behind the rollout of vegan-leather car interiors.

T hree years ago at Tesla Motors’ annual meeting, PETA told its fellow shareholders that the automaker could reduce its carbon footprint by ditching climate-catastrophic animal-leather interiors and switching to vegan leather.

The global leather industry slaughters more than 1 billion cows, sheep, lambs, goats, and pigs for their skin every year.

Elon Musk, Tesla’s eco-minded cofounder and CEO, said he’d “absolutely” consider it.

And thanks to PETA, car buyers now have all kinds of choices.

And he did. In January 2016, Tesla rolled out its Model X SUV with a totally leather-free option. Then, in December, it made vegan-leather seats available for all its vehicles. It gets better: Last year, vegan-leather seats became the only option. Tesla is in good company: After a push from PETA, US automaker General Motors (GM) got on board with animal-friendly offerings, too. PETA’s video exposé showing that cows are abused on ranches supplying GM’s leather processor was followed by demonstrations at America’s top historic automotive capitals. Vegan Leather: King of the Road Conscientious consumers are cheering as more automakers make the vegan-leather transition, because cruelty to animals shouldn’t be an accessory on anyone’s list. Vegan leather is a luxurious, compassionate, environmentally friendly alternative.

BMW, Land Rover, and Mercedes-Benz are among the luxury carmakers using vegan leather, while consumers on a tighter budget can give Chevrolet, Chrysler, GM, Honda, Subaru, and Toyota a look-see. But that’s just for starters: Fifteen automakers now offer a completely leather-free model or leather-free options for the seating, steering wheel, and gearshift knob. That adds up to more than 70 models. Check out the complete list at PETA.org/LeatherFreeCars . Compassion Behind the Wheel Not only does outfitting your ride in vegan leather or fabric result in peace of mind behind the wheel, it also tells other road warriors that animals don’t have to suffer and die in order for humans to “’round, ’round, get around.” Every year, the global leather industry slaughters more than 1 billion cows, sheep, lambs, goats, and pigs for their skin. Many endure the horrors of factory

farming, including extreme crowding, confinement, and deprivation. Most aren’t given any painkillers when their tails are amputated or they’re castrated, branded, or dehorned. Their skins are turned into finished leather with a toxic brew of formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, mineral salts, and various oils, dyes, and finishes, some of which are cyanide-based and many of which end up in our groundwater and waterways. Take Action Now The next time you buy a car, choose one with a leather-free interior, and be sure to let the automaker know how much you appreciate having that option.

Global 17

Victory in FiveWeeks PETA Closes Down Greyhound Blood Bank With a Little Help From Our Friends

P ETA’s supporters are its lifeblood. Case in point: Thanks to a good Samaritan who blew the whistle on The Pet Blood Bank, Inc. – a filthy blood farm in Cherokee, Texas – 151 greyhounds who were imprisoned there have been rescued, and the facility has closed down. The greyhounds had been discarded by the racing industry – tossed out of the frying pan and into the fire. They ended up warehoused in outdoor, wire kennels on an old factory farm where turkeys had once been kept, and all they could do was wait for workers to drag them with a noose, over and over again, to a trailer in which their blood was taken. The whistleblower told his story, and PETA got the ball rolling – quickly. PETA pal Paul McCartney even interrupted his tour to send a letter to Patterson Companies, Inc. – the corporation that profited from distributing the dogs’ blood to veterinary clinics across the US – asking that it rescue them. Tidal Wave of Condemnation Public reaction to PETA’s exposé was swift and severe. The company’s Facebook page was bombarded with comments, and the video showing the dogs’ horrendous living conditions was viewed more than 600,000 times. Many people contacted Patterson to urge its management to secure lifetime care for the dogs. PETA ran mobile billboards that circled both the blood bank owner’s hometown and Patterson’s headquarters, which PETA supporters with signs also surrounded – in addition to paying a visit to the home of the company’s then-president, James Wiltz. The organization also wrote to tens of thousands of veterinarians asking them to consider the suffering that the dogs endured as blood “donors,” as well as purchasing a single share of stock

in the billion-dollar enterprise so as to be able to put pressure on management via annual meetings.

Five weeks after the campaign began, The Pet Blood Bank closed its doors and released the dogs for adoption. An attorney for the blood farm railed against PETA’s efforts, saying that they had forced the business to close by “caus[ing] our long-standing customer relationships to be terminated.” PETA rejoices that these dogs are now getting the care that they need. But most importantly, they can now live as all dogs should: playing, enjoying the company of other dogs, and sharing a home with a loving guardian. It’s a Regulation-Free Free-for-All Appallingly, there is no federal regulation of facilities like this in the US, and in Texas, no state authority inspects or licenses animal blood banks. These secretive facilities operate under the radar – which PETA is now working to change. Take Action Now Saving one dog’s life shouldn’t spell misery for another. Blood transfusions for dogs are relatively rare, so community-based blood banks – which receive blood from well-loved, relaxed dogs who pop into the vet’s office occasionally to give blood, get a treat, and go home – can meet the needs of animals in critical condition. Ask your veterinary clinic to check the source of any blood that it purchases, and insist that the blood not come from factory farms or captive “donors.” Also, be sure your vet doesn’t keep caged donor dogs on the premises.

Dirt floors

Overgrown nails

Open sores

18 ALL TOGETHER NOW

Paul McCartney: © Starmaxinc.com | Calendar: © iStock.com/bai1ran

SAVED Clyde &Loleta

Clyde and Loleta, who went to the Greyhound Adoption Center in California for treatment, rehabiliation, and adoption, are among the 151 dogs rescued from The Pet Blood Bank.

“ I have had dogs since the early days of The Beatles and loved them all dearly …. I join my friends at PETA in asking you to pay these greyhounds back and

to let them retire from the dirt-floored barren conditions in which they are kept isolated and alone. ”

– Paul McCartney

Global 19

BUYER BEWARE! If you bought a Canada Goose jacket, you may have a legal claim

C ompassionate people around the world know by now that the fur on Canada Goose jacket collars comes from coyotes caught in steel-jaw traps, but what about that down fill inside the jackets? “We treat our geese very special,” intones a farmer with Manitoba-based James Valley Colony Farms (JVC), in a promotional video for Canada Goose. Oh, really? That’s not the way PETA eyewitnesses who documented JVC workers rounding up geese, grabbing them by the neck, and shoving them into cramped cages for transport to slaughter would describe it. Canada Goose claims that the birds it exploits for down are free from fear, pain, distress, and physical discomfort – but nothing could be further from the truth. Gasping for Air “To round up the geese for transport to slaughter, workers herded the birds into pens, where the panicked birds piled up in the corners in their frantic effort to escape rough handling,” says PETA’s eyewitness. “Geese on the bottom of the pile were crushed and suffocated. At least one died, and a worker tossed the dead bird over the fence.” “Workers grabbed the geese by the neck – often two in each hand – all their weight dangling by their throats, and hauled them to transport crates, as they cried and flapped their wings in desperation and distress,” according to the eyewitness. “We saw one worker repeatedly step on geese while reaching for others, and the birds were crammed into the crates with such force that we could hear the cages clanging.” Stuck in Cramped Cages for Up to 24 Hours The cages were so small that the birds were unable to hold their heads upright, let alone stretch or move around at all. One veterinarian who viewed the footage said, “Being confined to these small crates for prolonged periods would cause painful muscle cramping … and predispose anxious birds to injury.” Some geese were left in the feces-littered crates for up to 24 hours without

any food or water, including a journey of more than five hours to the slaughterhouse, often in frigid temperatures.

that its Food Safety and Inspection Service investigate the slaughterhouse where the footage was recorded.

Take Action Now If you bought a Canada Goose jacket based on the claim that the down came from geese

Once unloaded for slaughter, the geese could only watch in terror as other frightened birds were again grabbed by the neck, shackled upside down by the legs, and killed right in front of them. Some birds flapped their wings and moved their heads as they bled out. The ones seen in the video “are showing signs of consciousness and sensibility,” according to a veterinary expert. Why Do They Have ‘Red Elbows’? When a PETA observer asked why the birds’ carcasses had “red elbows,” a slaughterhouse supervisor replied that it was “from putting them in the cages.” Approximately half of the birds from JVC had bruises on their wings – and some had dislocated joints or broken bones. PETA has filed a formal complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission and the Competition Bureau of Canada challenging Canada Goose’s claims that its products are “[e]thically sourced” and “humane,” as well as submitting evidence to the US Department of Agriculture and asking

who were free from pain, distress, or physical discomfort, please e-mail Info@peta.org – you may be able to join others in asserting your legal right not to be defrauded. Visit PETA.org/CanadaGooseDown

to watch PETA’s video (please share it with everyone you know!) and to urge Canada Goose to stop using down – and fur – in its clothing immediately.

Please note: Contact details and other information that you provide may be shared with PETA’s international affiliates and other third parties. Read PETA’s full privacy policy at PETA.vg/Privacy.

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COLD AS ICE