PETA Global 2019 Issue 4

ISSUE 4 | FALL 2019

ADVANCING THE ANIMAL RIGHTS REVOLUTION

12 PAGE Fa La La La Yum! Everything nice is in this hearty vegan roast

19 Sports Champs for Dogs PAGE Alex Morgan, Devin Funchess, Lonnie Walker, and more

20 Get Us out of Your Closet Why you need a wardrobe makeover PAGE

Why Do We Call Some Animals ‘Friends’ and Others ‘Filets’?

Dog: © iStock.com/amandafoundation.org • Vegan roast: © Simon Smith • Alex Morgan: © Photo: Rich Johnson | Hair & Makeup: Jillian Caro • Cows: © iStock.com/FrankvandenBergh • Fish: © Poresh Petr | Dreamstime.com

When Fox News ran a story about a PETA Australia “chef” barbecuing a “dog” at a shopping mall, it was marked

How else to explain why there are no “graphic photo” warnings posted when newspapers publish images of anglers proudly posing with their impaled victims – or when TV commercials show someone chomping on a chicken’s wing? Cows enjoy listening to saxophone music. Pigs play games. Fish use tools. Monkeys position twigs to mark pathways. Birds feign injury to lead predators away from their chicks. Even snails and snakes can find their way back home – very slowly – if relocated. These sentient beings are not here to serve as walking meals or unwilling participants in lethal sporting contests. Even if they don’t share our homes, they still share the ability to feel. PETA’s provocative protests aren’t meant just to disgust people but rather to challenge nonsensical and dangerous assumptions. We want those who are appalled by the very idea of consuming dog flesh to reexamine not what but whom they’re eating. If you look at your plate and see a fellow being there – someone who wanted to live just as much as you do – your instinctive reaction will be horror, not hunger.

“GRAPHIC PHOTOWARNING,” even though the dog wasn’t real – unlike the shrimp, salmon, pigs, cows, chickens, and other animals whose bodies are casually tossed on the grill every day. The public’s reaction to the fake death of the fake dog was heated. “It was beyond sick and twisted,” tweeted one passerby. Another raged that it scared children and “should be classed as public nuisance!”

PETA feels the same way – about killing real animals for food or “fun.” Discriminating against animals based solely on our desire to eat them, as opposed to considering their feelings and desires, is speciesism.

• T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e • T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e

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Read on to learn more about PETA’s defense of all animals by land and by sea.

CANADA

USA

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Animal shelters are supposed to be safe havens, not markets where experimenters can shop for “test subjects” to use in deadly veterinary training exercises. PETA blew the lid off Louisiana State University’s practice of doing just that at a local shelter, and the state’s legislators agreed that it should be stopped. The legislature passed a historic VICTORY! Louisiana Bans Shelter Animal Sales to Labs

SUCCESS! Retailers Stick It to Glue Traps See Crackers and other inspiring animals in the PETA 2020 “Rescued” Calendar, available at PETA.org/Calendar . I

VICTORY! Fish Check

A MESSAGE FROM Ingrid Newkirk PETA’s President

Out of Hotels

Betta fish artwork: © Instagram.com/JessicaJaneIllustrations • Dog: © iStock.com/Nataba • Tennis ball and berries: © iStock.com/rosn123

law barring any shelter from selling animals to experimenters and from killing animals for the sole purpose of selling their bodies to laboratories.

H ave you ever thought about the way the world looks from an animal’s point of view? When my old dog Ms. Bea died, I was plagued with guilt, remembering times when I was impatient with her, hurrying her along on her walks and hushing her when she barked, which was her way of talking. Author Thomas Murray expressed this feeling beautifully in an essay that he wrote about the passing of his dog, George. When Murray first adopted George, he had to teach his new companion to navigate stairs. “I think that’s the only thing we ever taught him in thirteen years,” he wrote, concluding, “maybe this dog didn’t come to us to learn, but to teach, though it took me a while to understand the lessons.”

Canadian retail chains Buy-Low Foods, FIELDS, Nesters Market, Overwaitea Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Rossy, Save-On-Foods, and Urban Fare committed not to sell glue traps after PETA advised them that small animals caught in these devices often panic and struggle for hours or days before finally dying of shock, dehydration, or asphyxiation. The stores join hundreds of other companies and institutions, including CVS, Walgreens, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Public Storage, U-Haul, and 100 airports, which, thanks to PETA’s campaigns, no longer sell or use them. Take Action Now If you see glue traps being used or sold, please explain to management that they cause animals tremendous suffering, and ask that they be pulled

Fish don’t want to be one-night stands. When PETA pointed that out to GrandLife – the company that manages New York’s Soho Grand Hotel and The Roxy Hotel – it pulled the plug on “goldfish rentals,” in which live fish in cramped bowls were delivered to guests’ rooms upon request, and relocated all of them to private homes. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants ended a similar program at PETA’s request in 2018, but The Pearl Hotel in California still uses betta fish, who are often imported from Asia in small plastic bags for use as room “decorations.” Urge hotel management to treat bettas better at PETA.org/ThePearl .

MEXICO

Telenovela Queen Goes Vegan

Mouse: © Photo: Kendall Bryant • Paul McCartney: © MPL Communications Ltd / Photographer: Claudia Schmid

immediately. Contact PETA at Info@peta.org if you need help.

Murray initially tried to get George to finish his business quickly. However, in time, the dog taught him “the joy of a much longer sunrise walk to see the new day, even in winter, and another after dinner to help put the day’s work and worries in perspective.” He regretted smacking George with a rolled-up newspaper to “teach” him to stop barking at the doorbell: “I think he was trying to make me understand that a friend at the door, even a stranger or the mailman, can be a nice little diversion … something to celebrate with a little excitement.”

GLOBAL

Pharma Giants Stop Using Forced Swim Test PETA scientists persuaded pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk A/S, and Boehringer Ingelheim to abandon the widely discredited forced swim (or “despair”) test that they’d been conducting on hundreds of mice and rats for decades. AbbVie, DSM, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche also banned this cruel test after working with PETA. ChapStick Still Stuck on Cruelty Pfizer, maker of ChapStick, refuses to ban the terrifying forced swim test, in which experimenters drop mice and rats into inescapable containers of water and make them swim for their lives in order to avoid drowning. If that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, give the company some lip by mailing your tubes of ChapStick back to Pfizer Inc., Attn.: CEO Albert Bourla, 235 E. 42nd St., New York, NY 10017. Collect them from your family, friends, and coworkers, too!

Martha would be so proud of him that she would lick his face if she could. Sir Paul McCartney cited his beloved dog, the inspiration for his song “Martha My Dear,” in a letter sent Sir Paul: They’re All Dear Marthas

Actor Michelle Renaud and her son, Marcelo, teamed up with PETA Latino for a striking ad. In an accompanying video, Michelle, star of the telenovela La reina soy yo ( I Am the Queen ), says, “If now I know that eating animals is bad for you, how could I do that to my son?” She adds, “Everyone decides how to live their life, and we decided to live it with love.”

Calling all chingonas (badass women): You need this shirt! Get it at PETA.org/Store .

Jasmine helps PETA staffer Crystal Silmi achieve enlightenment.

Take Action Now Help your family be healthy and humane: Visit PETA.org/VSK for a free vegan starter kit.

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on PETA’s behalf to Texas A&M University’s president, Michael K. Young. “I have had dogs since I was a boy and loved them all dearly,” he wrote. “Please do the right thing by ending the suffering of dogs in TAMU’s muscular dystrophy laboratory and switching to modern research methods instead.”

Whenever his food was being prepared, George “pranced around the kitchen, standing on his rear legs.” Murray concluded this was “to remind me of the pure joy of wanting and waiting for something, and, by always wagging his tail the entire time he was eating, demonstrating that gratitude is a priceless part of good manners and doesn’t cost a thing.” At Christmas, Murray gave George extra treats. But as far as the dog was concerned, “the only presents that meant much of anything to him were those that were waiting for him … every morning of the year – his family, his friends, his freedom, and not too many baths.” In this issue, we ask everyone to open their eyes to the lessons that animals are trying to teach us. What we learn can help us all become more respectful of others’ interests.

UK

LOVE ALL! EVERYONE WINS WITH WIMBLEDON’S VEGAN CREAM After PETA UK made a racket regarding the luscious virtues of vegan cream, even handing it out at a Wimbledon Grand Slam Championship, the world’s top tennis tournament began offering a dairy-free version of its signature strawberries and cream dish – oh, and vegan Häagen-Dazs ice cream, too. Let’s call that a “love match.”

Sir Paul’s tee can be yours! Visit PETA.org/Store .

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Take Action Now Join Sir Paul in asking Texas A&M to close its

dog lab at PETA.org/TAMU .

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2 GLOBAL NEWS

SPAIN

GLOBAL

GLOBAL

Cruelty Makes Me Dino-Sore

PETA Gives SeaWorld an Earful Why does SeaWorld let its trainers stand on dolphins’ faces and ride them like surfboards? A new PETA billboard urges everyone to avoid this shameful “sea circus.” And at the company’s annual online meeting, Alec Baldwin asked, on PETA’s behalf, when the

You won’t find cashmere at C/MEO Collective manufacturer Australian Fashion Labels or designer brand ONETEASPOON – they both dropped it from their collections after PETA Australia showed them video footage of goats in Asia screaming in pain and fear as their hair was ripped out and then bleeding to death after their throats were slit. You won’t find it at Lochaven of Scotland (the original supplier of the Hogwarts uniforms worn in the Harry Potter movies), either – it banned cashmere from its product line, too. And cruelly produced mohair is also gone: The Sundance Catalog agreed to ban it following a PETA exposé showing South African shearers nonchalantly slashing angora goats and even beheading one of them. VICTORY! Harry Potter Brand Bans Cashmere

T-Rex: © Linda Bucklin | Dreamstime.com • Alec Baldwin: © Starmaxinc.com

Did you see the video of hilarious humans racing in Tyrannosaurus rex costumes? PETA UK did and has written to Pamplona’s mayor with a proposal: If you replace the Running of the Bulls – the abusive event in which panicked bulls are chased down slippery streets to an arena, where they will later be stabbed to death – with a T. rex run, PETA UK will spring for the outfits. NO BULL: Let the Dinosaurs Run Instead

harmful, degrading stunts would end. Maybe the abusement park should read the writing on the wall: United Airlines stopped selling tickets to SeaWorld after hearing from PETA, UK travel companies British Airways Holidays and Virgin Holidays have scrapped tours to facilities that hold whales or dolphins captive, and Canada has banned both the breeding and the imprisonment of cetaceans.

NEPAL

USA

PETAAsia’s Video Exposé Has Sponsors Fleeing Elephant Festival

Take Action Now Urge the mayor of Pamplona to ban the Running of the Bulls at

Goat: © iStock.com/ImPerfectLazybones • Wand: © iStock.com/TokenPhoto • Meteor: © iStock.com/a-r-t-i-s-t • Elephant demo: © PETA India • Michael Keaton: © Starmaxinc.com • Bears: © iStock.com/DieterMeyrl

PETA.org/Bulls .

GLOBAL

Take Action Now Tell SeaWorld to leave dolphins out of the act at PETA.org/StopTheStunts .

UK

Hey, Playmobil! ShowKids the TruthWith ‘My First Abattoir’ Would kids drink animal milk if they knew that calves are taken away from their mothers on dairy farms and end up being kicked down the slaughterhouse ramp? No! Playmobil creates a fantasy to disguise a cruel industry, which is why PETA UK asked it to get real by replacing the happy looking “Large Farm” toy set with a far more realistic “My First Abattoir” one. The suggested version comes with a knife-wielding butcher, worn-out cows lined up for slaughter, and a crated calf taken away from his mother so that

Michael Keaton: Let’s Stop Bear Photo Ops

Nepal’s Chitwan Elephant Festival is anything but festive. As video footage shot by PETA Asia and PETA India reveals, elephants at the event – including babies – are gouged, jabbed, and beaten bloody with bullhooks, crude wooden knives, and sticks in order to force them to “play” soccer and other games. After learning about the abuse, the French automaker Renault, Denmark’s Carlsberg Group, and Nepal’s Kumari Bank, among other sponsors, cut all ties with the cruel spectacle.

“It’s about respect.” That’s what Michael Keaton, star of the anti-captivity CGI masterpiece Dumbo , has to say about stopping cubs from being torn away from their mothers for tourist photo ops. “I really don’t like when people treat them as a kind of prop or something for our entertainment,” he says. “They’re living creatures. … Just let [them] go!”

Take ActionNow Tell everyone you knowwhy they should avoid festivals that use elephants. Don’t take elephant

The Smiths’ JohnnyMarr Slams Santorini Donkey Rides

humans can drink the milk nature intended for him. Now, the good news: In the US, sales of plant-based

Take Action Now Visit PETA.org/MichaelKeaton to watch and share his video plea to spare bears.

rides, and only visit accredited sanctuaries.

Rocker JohnnyMarr has joined PETA’s push to ban the use of donkeys and mules for hauling visitors up more than 500 steep steps on the Greek island of Santorini, urging the country’s minister of tourism to end the equines’ abuse as “beasts of burden.” As a PETA Germany exposé revealed, handlers hit them to keep them moving. Marr encourages tourists to “use the port’s cable car – or their own two feet – instead.” PETA and its international affiliates have held protests at Greek embassies and consulates around the world – including in Berlin, London, Sydney, The Hague, andWashington, D.C. – and need you to weigh in, too.

milks – such as those made from almonds, oats, cashews, and soy – have jumped 61% in five years. Try them all!

INDIA

500 SlumCats ‘Fixed,’ Thanks to PETA India

InMumbai, cats are a part of life in the markets, streets, and slums. Many are loved, but few are sterilized – and they often give birth in drainage ditches or under cars. The kittens frequently get sick or starve. Many are hit by cars or treated like toys by children who don’t know how delicate they are. So PETA India jumped in and helped sterilize and vaccinate more than 500 of them, as well as treating them for any ailments. Catastrophe averted!

Take Action Now Never participate in any activity that exploits animals. Visit PETA.org/Santorini to watch and share PETA’s video

and to send a message to the Greek minister of tourism.

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4 GLOBAL NEWS

If YouWouldn’t • T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e • T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e Do This to a Dog, Why Do It to a Fish? Dogfish ad: © Montage: LandB.co.uk

The Most Abused Animal on the Planet? PETA’s motto – “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way” – could very well be just about fish, for they are used and abused in all these ways and more. They’re genetically manipulated by experimenters to develop cancerous tumors and poisoned to death with harmful chemicals in archaic toxicity tests. Humans kill them by the trillions for the dinner table and to feed to companion dogs and cats. Designers use their skins for bags and belts. “Sport” fishers pierce them through the lip for “fun” and mount their bodies on the wall as trophies. Gelatin from fish swim bladders (called isinglass) is used to filter beer and wine, and fish oil is falsely marketed as a cure-all. Every Fish Is Someone Did you know that fish are every bit as complex as the dogs and cats who occupy our hearts and homes? They form emotional attachments and become depressed when they lose their mates. They have excellent long term memories, are savvy social learners, use tools, and play. They’ve been observed riding bubble streams just for fun, rearranging the plants and plastic decorations in their boring aquariums, and even playing ball. Fish live in complex social groups, learn from other fish, and develop cultural traditions. They can count, tell time, think ahead, and “talk” to one another underwater. Catfish warn each other about predators by making squeaking sounds (which we humans can hear only with special equipment). Pearlfish go a step further and use oyster shells as speakers to help amplify the volume of their communications.

Time for a Sea Change The PETA International Science Consortium is working hard to replace the use of fish

Fish ad image: © Gvision | Dreamstime.com • Billboard: © iStock.com/ghornephoto • Bus stop: © iStock.com/Istvan Balogh

in experiments – by pushing researchers to switch to sophisticated computer models, for example, and in vitro (test tube) screening methods. PETA and its international affiliates create eye-catching ads and hold colorful protests against fishing (try googling “Keep Hookers off the Pier!”), as well as urging everyone to choose faux fish filets, cucumber or avocado sushi, mock tuna salad, and other fish-friendly foods. Find fish-free recipes at PETA.org/Recipes , and visit PETA.org/Fish to see all the ways PETA is fighting for fish and to learn how you can help.

A few years ago in Cairns, Australia, two dogs had to undergo emergency surgery after someone tossed meat embedded with fishhooks into their yard. The veterinarian had to remove 18 hooks from their stomachs and intestines. Their guardian had been at the hospital with his wife, who had just given birth to their first child. But his joyous day turned nightmarish after he got home. “I just can’t believe someone can torture animals like that,” he said. Of course, PETA agrees. But let’s ask ourselves this: If tricking dogs into swallowing sharp hooks is morally reprehensible – and it is – how can it be considered acceptable to do exactly the same thing to fish? After all, dogs and fish are both sentient beings. They both feel pain and fear and value their lives.

PETA and its international affiliates create eye-catching ads and hold colorful protests against fishing.

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LOOK, DON’T HOOK

RESCUED BY PETA Huddled inside a filthy crate, Murphy was so encased in matted fur that he barely resembled a dog when PETA found him.

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PENNY THEN

MISSY THEN

PENNY NOW

MISSY NOW

CRYSTAL NOW

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CRYSTAL THEN

Murphy was transferred to one of PETA’s trusted sheltering partners and adopted by a doting couple.

Beware of Scam ‘Shelters’

MURPHY NOW

MURPHY THEN I

Dog: © iStock.com/adogslifephoto

Here are just a few dogs whose lives were changed, thanks to PETA:

At an Oklahoma “rescue,” nearly 70 dogs were slowly starving to death in barren,

be saved, in order to give them a real chance at a new life in a loving home.

and requiring people to make appointments, wait for months, or pay high surrender fees. Often, they just say, “Sorry, but we don’t have any room right now,” and shut the door. But when shelters won’t help, animals get dumped, and that means more unwanted litters and a painful death for most of them. Some are beaten to death, drowned, or shot. Others have been found dead after freezing or suffering from heatstroke – or run over by a car after being abandoned outside a shelter. Some facilities perpetuate the cycle of suffering by handing animals over to anyone who will take them – including hoarders.

PETA fieldworkers found Crystal roaming at a North Carolina trailer park, suffering from a massive infected wound caused by a

muddy pens. The property was littered with piles of bones from dogs who had died – and those piles likely would have kept growing if someone hadn’t tipped off PETA.

Helping or Hoarding? This scenario is far from unique. Across the US, fly-by-night “rescues” and private “no-kill” scam shelters are routinely raided, revealing nightmarish conditions. At a kennel in Illinois, pit bulls were kept in stacked cages, with waste from the dogs above falling down on those below. Many had puncture wounds and cuts, and they were underweight and dehydrated. When a fire broke out – which happens with alarming frequency at hoarding facilities – nearly 30 dogs died, trapped in the inferno. What Happens When There’s Nowhere to Go? While some “rescues” hoard animals, other facilities refuse to take in the ones who are most in need. To appease “life at any cost” crusaders and avoid euthanasia, they keep animals out – by rejecting the unadoptable, reducing their hours,

Crystal

tight collar that had become deeply embedded in her neck. After emergency surgeries and rehabilitation, she was adopted by an adoring family – and now she’s positively sparkling.

H uddled inside a filthy crate, Murphy was so encased in matted fur that he barely resembled a dog when PETA found him. After emergency grooming removed 2 pounds of mats from his 7-pound frame, his bright eyes – and bubbly personality – emerged. He was transferred to one of PETA’s trusted sheltering partners and adopted by a doting couple. Animals like Murphy desperately need to be rescued – by organizations that care and will do right by them, never selling them to experimenters (something PETA stopped a Louisiana shelter from doing), leaving them to starve or be hit by a car, or turning them away for any reason. That’s why PETA’s doors are open to every animal, including those rejected by other facilities.

The organization immediately alerted local authorities, and the owners were

After one of PETA’s longtime clients demanded that fieldworkers come to her house “to feed and water my dog,” they found

Penny

arrested and ultimately convicted of cruelty

Penny , a 6-pound Chihuahua mix, tied to a trash can by a short leash, with no food, water, or shelter. After discussing what was best for the dog, her owner gave her to PETA, which quickly found her a home with a wonderful family.

to animals. Local PETA supporters mobilized volunteers to

Take Action Now Beware of scam rescues and shelters: Make sure any facility you donate to

help relocate all the dogs who could

accepts all animals without any restrictions and screens adopters to prevent hoarding or abuse. Please also support spay/neuter programs that reduce the number of unwanted animals. Go to PETA.org/SNIP to help.

For 10 years, Missy weathered heatwaves, thunderstorms, snowstorms, and hurricanes in a junk-filled pen. When she tested positive

Missy

for heartworm disease, her owner finally relinquished her to PETA. Now, she’s enjoying her golden years with a loving family, and she can’t stop smiling.

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WAGS TO RICHES

I Survived Sepsis. And Killing Mice Didn’t Help. Mouse: © iStock.com/JoeZellner

Sock it to me! Get fab footwear like Fred’s at PETA.org/Store . I

Torn paper border: © iStock.com/yasinguneysu

Fred Willard Joins PETA’s ♥ for Fish Campaign Bowls are for soup, not for living, feeling beings to live in. Yet that’s where many betta fish in the pet trade end up.

In the interim, they’re shipped from faraway lands in cramped plastic bags, and those who survive the journey are stuck in little plastic cups and simply stacked on shelves in pet stores until they sell or die. A PETA exposé of more than 100 Petco stores in the US revealed dead and dying fish floating in contaminated water and others suffering from painful health conditions without any treatment.

By Christina Matthies, Managing Editor

S ix months ago, I was lying in a hospital bed, wondering if I’d be around to see another issue of PETA Global go to print. This was my third case of sepsis in less than two months, each one more serious than the last. It had begun with an outpatient procedure and ended with an operation to remove multiple abdominal abscesses. What is sepsis? In a word, hell. It’s a dangerous complication of infection that can lead to organ failure. In the US alone, severe sepsis strikes more than 1 million people a year and can be fatal in up to 30% of cases. The risk of dying increases to more than 50% if the site of original infection is in the gut. I have Crohn’s disease, so I’m no stranger to the body-racking chills, acute fever, and crushing pain that define sepsis. In fact, the fifth time I was in the emergency room, I managed to joke that I deserved frequent flyer miles, but the grim-faced resident didn’t laugh. Instead, he pushed the button to take my blood pressure for the 10 th time in as many minutes and said, “If you had come in any later, I don’t think we could have turned this around.” Later, when I was told that my kidneys showed signs of failure and that I might need dialysis – or worse, a transplant – I couldn’t keep a lid on my anger. It boiled over when I was waiting to be wheeled in for surgery and my daughter and husband overheard two surgeons talking about a patient with sepsis who had just died on the operating table. And I was next. Then, as now, I knew how much valuable time and money are wasted conducting failed sepsis experiments on mice. Experimenters cut open the abdomens of these sensitive animals who want the same things that we do: to live without fear and pain.

Who thinks about their feelings? Actor Fred Willard wants to know.

Their intestines are punctured so that fecal matter will leak out. Before dying, they endure fever, chills, difficulty breathing, disorientation, and organ failure – but to what end? The fact is that the results of sepsis experiments in mice don’t reliably apply to humans. In 2013, scientists realized that it’s not even the same condition in mice, and that’s why thousands of such experiments have not helped advance treatments for patients like me. Even Dr. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), lamented all the time and resources spent developing 150 drugs that successfully treated sepsis in mice but failed in human clinical trials. He called this disaster “a heartbreaking loss of decades of research and billions of dollars.” I agree. Following a PETA exposé, NIH withheld funding from a University of Pittsburgh experimenter who was conducting crude sepsis tests on mice. But the US government continues to divert $95 million into similar experiments instead of channeling the funds into useful measures – like educating the public and supporting cell-culture models, synthetic human models, and other superior, non-animal research. Patients describe sepsis as feeling as if they’re dying – and many do. I can relate. I’ve held onto the sides of my hospital bed and told myself not to go to sleep but to fight. And I did – not just for myself but for all.

Brave Chrissy relaxes at home with Skippy after beating yet another bout of sepsis.

“I feel lonely,” he laments to a therapist in a poignant PETA video. As the camera pans out, you see that he’s trapped like a fish in a bowl. “Everyone acts like I’m OK, but I’m not. I’m starting to think they just don’t care.” PETA hopes Willard’s video portrayal of fish will help people understand that bettas are not decorations. “Fish should be left in their natural habitat,” he says. For betta fish, that usually means marshes or rice fields in Thailand. Many people “don’t really know how to take care of them. They just toss them in a little bowl at home and drop some food in and forget about them.” If you or someone you know already has betta fish, they each need a minimum of 10 gallons (38 liters) of filtered, temperature-controlled water. And they don’t have to live in isolation – female bettas can get along, and a male can live with other species of fish. They prefer hiding amid plants and in nooks but are often given no environmental enrichment at all when kept in solitary confinement in a minuscule bowl. Take Action Now Let bettas be! Watch and share Willard’s video at PETA.org/LonelyBetta . Never buy fish (or any other animal), and please raise awareness whenever

you see fish living in cramped, barren bowls, cups, or other enclosures.

Ants create underground gardens, chickens can count, sheep recognize faces from photographs, and albatrosses circumnavigate the globe. You’ll learn about these and many other feats, including the most important one of all – saving animals’ lives – in Ingrid Newkirk’s new book, Animalkind , available in stores January 7. Preorder your copy today at PETA.org/Store . “This book makes the spot-on case that the future of laboratory research will not be based on four legged or tail-wagging models, but rather on sophisticated, human-relevant and high-tech animal-free testing methods.” – John Pawlowski, M.D., Ph.D., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard

Take Action Now If you suspect that you or a loved one has sepsis, rush to the emergency room.

Getting treatment quickly is critical. Help PETA stop useless sepsis experiments on animals by visiting PETA.org/Sepsis .

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10 INFLAMED

Holiday Roast: Nutmeg and Spice and Everything Nice

Could

v-dog photo: © Courtesy of v-dog

Makes 6 servings

• Wrap the dough in a piece of cheesecloth, twist the ends

Close Call Save Your Dog’s Life?

• T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e • T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e

YOU’LL NEED 1 /4 cup + 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

tightly, then secure each end with cooking string. Place in a deep baking dish. Add the Roasting Mix and bake for 2 hours on the bottom rack, turning the roast halfway through. • Remove from the oven. Allow to cool then remove the cheesecloth. If making the roast in advance, keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. • An hour before serving, roll out the puff pastry to 1 /8-inch thickness.

1 onion, finely chopped 1 leek, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper Pinch cinnamon Pinch allspice Pinch paprika Pinch ground nutmeg 1 Tbsp. dried sage 2 tsp. dried rosemary

Zorro was miserable. His chronic Lyme disease was not responding to antibiotics, and his joints were inflamed and aching, sometimes swelling to the size of a golf ball. Unable to bear watching their beloved dog suffer, his guardians contemplated euthanasia. But before going that route, they got a second opinion from a veterinarian who “prescribed” a surprising remedy: a homemade vegan diet.

Just reading this probably makes you want to hide under the couch.

But is it really “natural” for dogs to go vegan? While the pet food companies that sell you 4-D products hawk meat-heavy, “grain-free” kibble and canned dog food, a recent study found that domesticated dogs have actually evolved to digest grains. As for their wild cousins, coyotes in California are renowned for snacking on apricots, peaches, plums, and other fruits. And foxes like to graze, too: When fruits are in season, they can account for more than half of a red fox’s diet. “For dogs, it is not only possible to eat much lower on the food chain, it’s a good idea.” – Richard H. Pitcairn, D.V.M. Researchers at the University of Winchester’s Centre for Animal Welfare note that “population studies and case reports have indicated that cats and dogs maintained on vegetarian diets … may experience a range of health benefits.” One of the world’s oldest dogs, a border collie named Bramble, lived to at least age 27 on homemade vegan food based on lentils and rice. Care about the environment? One study estimated that dogs and cats eat 25% of all animal-derived calories in the US and rank fifth in global meat consumption, and feeding them could account for up to 64 million tons of greenhouse-gas emissions annually. Care about other animals? Feeding our animal companions vegan meals means breaking our last link to a violent, destructive industry that abuses and slaughters billions of sentient beings every year, each one “as conscious, sensitive and emotional as that dog or cat sitting by our side,” as veterinarian Richard Pitcairn put it.

Place the roast in the center. On each side, cut 1 /4-inch-wide strips into the pastry at a 90-degree angle away from the roast. Spread the Cranberry and Orange Sauce over the roast. Lay each strip of puff pastry over the top of the roast, alternating sides, until the roast is completely covered, creating a lattice effect. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. • Combine the maple syrup, nondairy milk, and remaining oil in a small bowl then brush over the top of the pastry. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. • Remove from the oven and serve with vegan gravy.

1 /4 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped 1 /2 cup dried apricots, finely chopped 1 cup peeled and cooked chestnuts, finely chopped 1 cup apple cider 1 cup vegetable stock 1 Tbsp. miso paste 2 1 /4 cups wheat gluten 3 Tbsp. chickpea flour Spice Rub (recipe follows) Roasting Mix (recipe follows) 1 pkg. vegan puff pastry, thawed 1 /4 cup Cranberry and Orange Sauce (recipe follows) Vegan roast: © Simon Smith • Bubbles background: © iStock.com/Anselm Baumgart • Christmas hat: © iStock.com/ZaharovEvgeniy METHOD • Heat 2 tablespoonfuls of the oil in a nonstick frying pan. Add the onion, leek, garlic, seasonings, and dried herbs and cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. • Add the cranberries, apricots, and chestnuts and cook for 3 to 4 more minutes. Pour in the cider and vegetable stock then add the miso paste. Stir well then simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. • Combine the wheat gluten and chickpea flour in a large bowl. Add the mixture from the frying pan and stir until a soft dough forms. Add more chickpea flour if the dough is too wet. • Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes. Set aside. • Preheat the oven to 340°F/170°C. Shape the dough into a log 4 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the Savory Spice Rub onto your work surface. Roll the dough in the rub until evenly coated. 3 Tbsp. maple syrup 3 Tbsp. nondairy milk

That’s when something amazing happened: Zorro got better!

1 Tbsp. miso paste 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar 1 orange, sliced 1 onion, cut into quarters 2 cloves garlic 1 bay leaf Handful fresh thyme Handful rosemary sprigs

It should come as no surprise that eating wholesome vegan foods can improve dogs’ health. Most dog food is made from flesh and tissue in the 4-D bin (dead, dying, diseased, and disabled) marked “unfit for human consumption” at slaughterhouses. Even the rendered bodies of euthanized dogs and cats can wind up in pet food. And in addition to the hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, and disease-causing bacteria in animal-derived ingredients, supermarket pet foods are often full of artificial preservatives and colors.

PETA Business Friend v-dog makes a variety of vegan dog foods that are served up to animals helped by PETA’s fieldworkers.

Savory Spice Rub Makes about 1½ tablespoons

METHOD • Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

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YOU’LL NEED 1 tsp. cayenne pepper 1 tsp. allspice 1 tsp. dried sage 1 tsp. dried rosemary 1 tsp. dried tarragon

Who’s a Good Boy? Every dog deserves a little something special – check out the goodies at PETA.org/Store .

Cranberry and Orange Sauce Makes about 1½ cups

YOU’LL NEED 3 cups fresh cranberries 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger 1 cinnamon stick 1 apple, grated

METHOD • Combine all the ingredients in a small dish.

So, there you have it: Not only can dogs be vegan, they can even thrive as vegans while helping the planet and other inhabitants as well.

1 cup caster sugar 1 cup orange juice

Adapted from Vegan Christmas by Gaz Oakley, available at PETA.org/Store

Take Action Now Check out the vegan recipes for dog food, including one based on Bramble’s diet, in

Roasting Mix Makes about 3½ cups YOU’LL NEED 1 cup apple cider 2 cups vegetable stock

METHOD • Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and cook over low heat with the lid on for 15 minutes, stirring often. • Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Discard the cinnamon stick. Store in a sterilized glass jar in the refrigerator for up 4 weeks.

Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. And find a list of vegan dog-food manufacturers and other tips on healthy vegan diets for dogs at PETA.org/VeganDogs .

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12 PEAS ON EARTH

Sushi, Straws, and Saving the Seas PETA’s “human sushi rolls” give passersby pause on World Tuna Day. I

Much of the oceans’ plastic pollution comes from nets and other abandoned fishing gear.

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Seal: © iStock.com/Ian Dyball

Polaroid: © iStock.com/blackred

THAT SINKING FEELING Counting the Cost of Eating Fish

By now, you’ve probably seen that viral video of a rescue team pulling a plastic straw out of a sea turtle’s nostril. It’s the video that launched a thousand plastic straw bans. PETA’s offices are free of single-use plastics, and the organization applauds banning straws and other plastic items that wreak havoc and kill marine animals. But while such bans are an important step in the right direction, a far bigger issue needs to be on the table: Much of the oceans’ plastic pollution comes from nets and other abandoned fishing gear. Choke on This Some 640,000 tons of fishing “ghost gear” enters the world’s oceans every year – and can mutilate and kill marine animals for decades afterward. Scientists have warned that within 30 years, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. There’s an easy way to tackle the problem: Step away from the seafood buffet and vocally oppose “recreational” fishing, fish markets, and even aquafarms, in which fish are severely crowded, covered with lice, and given no choice but to swim amid their own waste. Nope, Not ‘Too Many Fish in the Sea’ Although The Marvelettes sang “Too Many Fish in the Sea,” it just ain’t so. According to the United Nations, nearly 80% of the world’s fish populations for which data are available are fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. Add to that the effects of climate change (warming waters have already triggered population losses as high as 35%), and the situation looks bleak. Just as hunting on land has decimated (or rendered extinct) many animal populations, hunting in the sea to catch and sell fish is doing the same underwater. Numbers of

report to PETA that discarded fishing line and other tackle is the greatest threat to aquatic animals today.

Toxins in Fish Can Cause Brain Damage in Babies Perhaps the biggest scam is the message that fish flesh is a health food. Salmon flesh is 40% fat, and there are 9 calories in every gram of fat (including from fish), while a gram of protein or carbohydrate from beans, potatoes, or bread contains only 4 calories. Fish flesh can also accumulate levels of carcinogenic chemical residues, such as PCBs, that are thousands of times higher than they are in the surrounding water as well as extreme levels of mercury, which has been linked to cardiovascular disease, fetal brain damage, blindness, deafness, and problems with motor skills and attention span. More food for thought: Omega-3 supplements, which are typically derived from fish oil, don’t keep our brains healthy or improve heart health. They may, however, increase men’s risk of developing prostate cancer. Omega-3 fatty acids are best obtained from plant foods, such as walnuts and flaxseeds.

35% WORLD'S FISH POPULATION DOWN

90% SWORDFISH POPULATION DOWN

96% PACIFIC BLUE FIN TUNA POPULATION DOWN

Pacific bluefin tuna have declined more than 96% since the advent of commercial fishing, while marlin, swordfish, and other large fish populations are down 90%. Turtles in the Trash, Dolphins in the Dump Fish aren’t the only ones who suffer. Every single year, about 40% of the world’s unintentional catch – some 38 million tons – is dragged out of the sea. Mutilated, dying, or dead, these “nontarget” animals, known as “bycatch” (meaning, caught by accident), are simply thrown away. They include 300,000 whales and dolphins, 250,000 loggerhead and leatherback turtles, and 300,000 seabirds. In France alone, up to 10,000 dolphins are killed in fishing nets annually.

But most important of all, fish flesh belongs to fish, and they suffer when someone decides to kill them for it.

Take Action Now Eat vegan sushi! It’s delicious prepared with avocados, cucumbers, radishes, and

Dying for that seafood buffet

Ocean Hugger Foods tomatoes, which are seasoned to taste like raw tuna – or try Gardein Fishless Filets, Good Catch Fish-Free Tuna, and Plant Based Foods’ Cavi-art. Find more fish-friendly products and recipes at PETA.org/Recipes .

Although operating on a smaller scale, recreational anglers don’t get a pass, either. Wildlife rehabilitators

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14 TURNING THE TIDE

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How I’m Knocking the Stuffing Out of the Meat Industry

White powder: © iStock.com/Pattadis Walarput

Welcome to Skegness: © Heather Drake / Alamy Stock Photo • Torn paper border: © iStock.com/yasinguneysu

By Dawn Carr, PETA UK Director of Vegan Corporate Projects A s a child, when I went on fishing excursions with my uncle, I had no idea that one day, I’d be declared

• T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e • T r y t o R e l a t e t o W h o ’ s o n Y o u r P l a t e

an “enemy of the people” for speaking up for fish. But in 2001, when The Times of London warned that I was coming for Britons’ fish and chips, that’s what they dubbed me. Well, they were half right: As director of vegan corporate projects for PETA UK, I’ve helped traditional fish and chips shops from the Scottish Highlands to Land’s End add vegan fish to their menus. That’s why earlier this year, trade magazine The Grocer listed me as one of the people “driving the meat-free revolution.” It’s not just happenstance that my heart beats for fish – I’ve always loved them. Even on those childhood fishing trips, I felt conflicted knowing that I was causing them harm. When I was 15, I went vegan after seeing a heartbreaking photo of chickens crammed into a battery cage in my mother’s copy of PETA News (as the magazine used to be called). Then, in 1996, I telephoned PETA to check on my membership and heard a menu option for employment opportunities. You could work for PETA?! I started soon after. My career has been a whirlwind: I’ve done eye-catching PETA demos in every US state (except Hawaii, darn it!). I “pied” Miss Rodeo America, was interviewed while wearing a chicken costume, and more than once found myself surrounded by angry mobs at fishing protests. I also took PETA’s snazzy Gill the Fish mascot to schools, and we were interviewed by TV show host Stephen Colbert. Now, I work to build relationships with businesses and persuade them that they’re missing the boat if they fail to develop and promote vegan options. I’m not doing it to make animal-free eating easier for vegans (although that’s a nice bonus) but rather to make it more appealing to current meat-eaters, the real target audience. Once people try vegan fish, or any other vegan food, they’re hooked.

PETA UK successfully pushed KFC to add a vegan chicken burger to its menu.

‘Poodle Burgers,’ a ‘Happy Plaice,’ and More Dawn’s campaigns always provide food for thought: • She told The Wall Street Journal that eating fish at an aquarium is like eating poodle burgers at a dog show, a comparison that got everyone thinking. • She asked the seaside town of Skegness to retire its Jolly Fisherman mascot and replace it with Happy Plaice, a joyous, prancing fish. The suggestion was seriously debated by the City Council and heavily covered in the media. • When she wrote to Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, Britain’s oldest pub, asking it to change its name to Ye Olde Clever Cocks, a public relations firm called the request “one of the cleverest PR exercises of the summer. … Many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people, who didn’t know who PETA were or what they did last week, know this week.”

On a Roll I worked with iconic British brand

Greggs to offer its first-ever vegan sausage roll at its more than 1,800 stores. When the product launched in January 2019, it grabbed headlines, dominated social media, boosted the company’s first-half profits by 58% (prompting it to open 100 new locations), and led to a brawl in Glasgow – two women actually fought over the last vegan sausage roll! It created what’s being called the “vegan sausage roll effect,” with other brands scrambling to add winning vegan options to their menus. Vegan foods sell. After Papa John’s agreed to switch up its UK menu, its spokesperson said, “We worked closely with PETA … so we expect that the new additions will be a huge hit.” Well, not only were they a huge hit, the vegan cheese also sold out on the very first day. All this brings us to KFC: PETA UK successfully pushed to get the chain to add a vegan chicken burger, which sold out in four days! KFC UK tweeted PETA UK’s video ending with the lines “The future is vegan. Please don’t eat birds.” Fish and chips was just the beginning.

When Greggs’ vegan sausage roll launched, it boosted the company’s first

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half profits by 58% and led to a brawl in Glasgow – two women actually fought over the last one!

Take Action Now Visit PETA.org/Action to see which companies need a push from you to “veganize” their menus.

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16 DAWN PATROL

BALL PLAYERS THESE CHAMPION WON DOGS’ ♥ HEARTS (AND PETA’S)

PETA’s Doghouse Program Provides Lifesaving Shelter FourWalls and a‘Woof’

♥

Donations photo: © iStock.com/PJPhoto69 • Polaroid: © iStock.com/blackred

Gimme Shelter...

S an Antonio Spurs guard Lonnie Walker knows that dogs shouldn’t be chained outside – or left in hot cars. He feels so strongly about the issue that he even locked himself in a sweltering car for a PETA video. As the interior temperature soars to 109°F (42.7°C) in just minutes, Lonnie sweats profusely, gasps for air, and becomes dizzy. Finally, he exits the vehicle – an option unavailable to dogs, who, in addition, can’t perspire to cool themselves down. Leaving them in a parked car in warm weather, even just for a moment, is never a good idea. Olympic gold medalist and Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne scores a slam dunk for homeless pups in a new PETA ad with her canine family member, Rasta. She encourages caring people to adopt from shelters and never to patronize breeders or pet stores. FIFA Women’s World Cup champs Alex Morgan and Christen Press also champion the cause of adopting homeless dogs. “There are so many animals on the streets and so many animals that aren’t able to live the life that they should be able to live,” Alex says. Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Devin Funchess’ favorite workout partner isn’t an elite personal trainer – it’s a beloved dog named Chapo. Devin treats his pup like a star, so when PETA showed him the shocking video “100 Pit Bulls in 100 Seconds” – which features dogs PETA’s fieldworkers have found chained in deplorable conditions – he signed up to help. He (and Chapo) joined the campaign to urge everyone to let dogs live indoors and to treat them with respect. “Neglecting and chaining of your dog doesn’t make you tough,” Devin says. “I mean, I’m an NFL player. I’m not so tough when it comes to Chapo. I bring him inside, I love on him, and I just give him whatever he needs.” These athletes are part of an “all-star” team advocating for dogs, including NFL players Tyrann Mathieu, Chris Harris Jr., Antoine Bethea, and Ronnie Stanley as well as professional footballers Chris Smalling and Darren Randolph.

F aith was treated like trash – literally. The young pit bull’s only shelter was an overturned garbage can – until PETA came along. That’s when she became one of the 7,264 dogs so far who have received free, custom-built PETA doghouses to provide themwith lifesaving protection fromwinter cold snaps and the scorching summer sun. Imagine if Your Only Home Were a Cabinet Every week, PETA’s fieldworkers find and help dogs who are chained or penned outdoors 24/7, with nothing but a drafty plastic carrier, an overturned barrel, or a ramshackle assortment of junk for “shelter.” Life is miserable for them, and in extreme weather, their lack of adequate shelter can be deadly. PETA works to make such treatment illegal, but in some jurisdictions, even government officials keep their dogs this way. Robo had no choice but to huddle in a rickety old cabinet with a chain wrapped directly around his neck, metal to flesh. PETA’s fieldworkers replaced his heavy chain with a collar and a lightweight tie-out and gave him a real doghouse to curl up in. They still visit regularly to make sure he’s OK – or, at least, that things aren’t getting any worse. Some dogs – like Duke, a pug mix found tied up outside an abandoned house in subfreezing temperatures – have no shelter whatsoever. He probably wouldn’t have survived much longer if a PETA fieldworker making doghouse deliveries hadn’t miraculously spotted him amid a cluster of garbage cans, piles of drink containers, and an abandoned car. PETA enlisted the help of the local sheriff’s department to confiscate the little dog, and today he’s living the warm, cozy, indoor life that he has always deserved. Stuffed With Straw and Built to Last PETA’s fieldworkers always counsel people on proper animal care and urge them to let their dogs live indoors and to treat them as family members – and some do. But most refuse, so fieldworkers do everything they can to improve the animals’ lives and protect them from the elements. In addition, doghouse recipients get “housewarming gifts” of toys and treats as well as a supply of straw bedding, which PETA also gives away in its parking lot all winter long, to help fend off the cold. The fieldworkers try to visit the dogs regularly to check on their health, replenish their straw, and dole out food, toys, and much-needed attention. No doghouse can ever make up for the love that these lonely, neglected dogs are deprived of, but for some, like Faith and Robo, it can provide enough warmth on a freezing night to mean the difference between life and death. Take Action Now Visit PETA.org/Doghouse to support PETA’s doghouse program: $265 will cover the cost of one house, but a gift of any size will help change a dog’s life. Thank you!

Alex Morgan: © Photo: Rich Johnson | Hair & Makeup: Jillian Caro • Devin Funchess: © Darin Holiday • Elena Dell Donne: © Photo:Adedayo Kosoko | Hair and Makeup:Ana B

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DUKE THEN

DUKE NOW

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ROBO THEN

You can score Blue's bandana and Lonnie's T-shirt at PETA.org/Store .

ROBO NOW

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FAITH THEN

FAITH NOW

Take Action Now Want to sign up to make a difference for chained dogs? Please visit PETA.org/Chaining .

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18

HOUSING CRISIS