PETA Global 2018 Issue 4

Botched as Usual No matter which hemisphere they’re in, slaughterhouses are hell for animals. PETA and its international affiliates have documented cruelty inside them everywhere from Paraguay to Pennsylvania. By monitoring US Department of Agriculture inspection reports of slaughterhouses, PETA has exposed dozens of incidents in which animals were beaten, shocked, shot multiple times, or repeatedly stabbed.

SHUTTING DOWN THE TIGER- ENCOUNTER INDUSTRY PETA Saves 39 Tigers in Just One Year

CREDITS TO COME

Misery in Mexico Could you eat a cow after looking her in the eye? The Mexican animal protection group Tras los Muros, which spent two years documenting horrendous conditions at 58 slaughterhouses throughout Mexico – a major meat, egg, and dairy exporter – hopes that bringing people face to face with the animals who go into their cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, and pepperoni pizzas will make them think twice before they place their next order in a restaurant or at the butcher’s. PETA hopes so, too.

Photos: © Aitor Garmendia/Tras los Muros

• Chickens were tossed off trucks, and their delicate legs were slammed into shackles that held them upside down.

• Horses were strung up by the neck until they suffocated.

• Victims were sometimes beaten with clubs or axes before being killed.

N oelle was born in a cage at a Florida tiger breeding mill, an outfit notorious for keeping females pregnant, churning out cubs, and separating them from their mothers so that they can be used in profit-making “public interactions.” Later forced into a pool with tourists at Dade City’s Wild Things (DCWT), she was eventually shipped off to another sleazy roadside zoo in Oklahoma, even though she was pregnant. It was a long trip in sweltering heat, but she was given little water, and the truck was not temperature-controlled. Inside the vehicle, she gave birth to three cubs, and all three died. Then there’s Pearl, a white tiger forced into public encounters at DCWT when she was only a few weeks old. She was robbed of her chance to live as a carefree cub. There was no cuddling with her mother or learning how to be a tiger. When she was shipped to Oklahoma, she was so parched by the end of the long journey that she desperately sought out a tiny mud puddle to drink from.

Today, because of PETA’s persistence in the courts, Noelle and Pearl are living well at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.

Bringing the Slaughterhouse Into the Living Room PETA alerted local and state agencies and federal prosecutors to the nearly 40 violations uncovered in US slaughterhouses, which generated scores of media stories. It also prompted the Washington State Department of Agriculture to warn one slaughterhouse that it could be fined and its workers could face jail time after a cow was shot in the head multiple times with a captive-bolt gun, the facility’s fourth violation in under a year. Another slaughterhouse was charged with six counts of violating humane slaughter laws and fined after pigs were improperly stunned and dozens were left overnight in a pen so crowded that they were unable to lie down. But none of this is enough. The killing must stop. Can you help?

White tigers are not a distinct species but rather an aberrant color variation of Bengal tigers. Unethical exhibitors breed them in order to attract paying crowds. Most captive

white tigers are inbred, which has led to such serious congenital defects as cataracts, club feet, and painful hip dysplasia. Rescued Tigers Thrive Today, because of PETA’s persistence in the courts, Noelle and Pearl are living well at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado. PETA is currently suing DCWT and another of the worst offenders, Wildlife in Need. For all the tigers PETA has rescued over the years, including two from a dilapidated junkyard, life went from unimaginably bad to blissfully sweet. They went from cages that prevented them from taking more than a few steps in any direction to large, comfortable habitats. At sanctuaries, they can swim whenever they

want to – without being compelled to interact with humans – and they can explore, relax, and play.

The animals didn’t always die instantly after their throats were cut – sometimes they were alive while their feet were cut off and their organs cut out.

PETA is campaigning hard on this important issue and determined to get as many tigers as possible released from cramped roadside zoos. A major goal is to set a precedent in a US court making it clear that cub encounters violate federal law.

Take Action Now Eat like animals’ lives depend on it – because they do! Order a free vegan starter kit at PETA.org/VSK

Take Action Now Never visit any exotic animal “attraction,” participate in a cub photo op, or pay to

H O W I T A L L B V E G A N • H O W I T A L L B V E G A N • H O W I T A L L B V E G A N •

– and don’t stop with yourself. Get others to look at these pictures, watch the videos, and try vegan foods. We can’t carry on supporting cruelty like this.

interact with wild animals. Let your friends and family know that buying tickets to such activities perpetuates cruelty. And help support more rescues by visiting PETA.org/Rescue .

Global 17

16 ‘FOOD’ WITH A FACE