PETA Global 2023 Issue 2

Donkey Meat?! But No Animal Is Ours to Eat PETA INDIA SAVES DONKEYS FROM SLAUGHTER

traumatized. They were given emergency veterinary care and nourishing food and were treated gently, probably for the very first time. Life is now very different for Lina and the other rescued donkeys. They are safe and cherished at PETA supported Animal Rahat partner sanctuaries. Two of the donkeys who were also pregnant lost their foals, probably because of trauma. But Lina gave birth to her baby, Anita – a joyful, fearless foal who romps with the other resident donkeys but never strays far from her mom’s side. Together, they explore acres of lush, soft grass and rest beneath the shade canopies. They graze in the fields, and kind people groom them and give them treats like carrots and apples. There is always fresh water to drink. Best of all, Lina and Anita will be safe and together forever.

Donkey and foal: Photo by Koustubh Pol

Budweiser calls itself the “King of Beers,” but when it comes to its famous Clydesdales, a more accurate name would be “King of Tears.” TAILGATE: PETA Exposes Budweiser Secretly Severing Clydesdales’ Tailbones PETA quietly visited and filmed at the Anheuser-Busch Corporation’s Warm Springs Ranch, where most of the foals are bred, and Grant’s Farm, where the horses are trained, both in Missouri. We also talked to handlers who travel with teams of Clydesdales and obtained admissions that the company amputates the horses’ tailbones. Why do they do it? Primarily to create a certain look when they’re hitched to a wagon.

hasn’t stopped this illicit trade. During a three- month undercover investigation, PETA India found that donkeys are killed by the side of the road, under flyovers, and behind makeshift market stalls. They’re smuggled into Andhra Pradesh fromMaharashtra, Telangana, and other states late at night and

Collapsed! Alive, some crushed, this is how donkeys are trucked to their deaths.

Take Action Now If you are horrified by these donkeys’ ordeal, please consider the pain that goes into any

meat. Spare cows, chickens, and other animals by going vegan today. And help rescue and bring relief to donkeys in India and around the world by making a donation at PETA.org/GCF .

early in the morning to evade the police.

When the horses are just foals, their tails are completely or partially cut off. Either a scalpel is used to cut it off, or a tight band is put around the tail to stop the blood flow, causing it to atrophy and eventually die off. While both methods are painful, the bands are excruciating. According to equine veterinarian Dr. Sid Gustafson, “Tail amputation is a despicable, disgraceful procedure that inflicts irreparable, irreversible harm to the horse.” Like all horses, Clydesdales need their tails to brush off insects, and their tails are important for balance when they run, turn, and stop as well as to communicate their physical and emotional states.

Donkeys are sensitive, highly intelligent individuals who form deep bonds with their families. Their heart rates can even synchronize with those of their companions. Yet PETA India’s investigation showed that they’re not even stunned before slaughter – they’re fully aware when their throats are slit. Merchants sell donkey meat in broad daylight, flouting the law. PETA India found donkey meat sold at a busy traffic junction in Chirala. In Tadepalle, it was sold in a shop near a police station. In Ongole, children were forced to help with the slaughtering and skinning, exposing and desensitizing them to violence. Safe at Last Blowing the lid off illegal donkey slaughter throughout Andhra Pradesh, PETA India worked with the police and local animal welfare groups in a series of raids – including one in which a truck carrying over 20 donkeys was stopped and the donkeys seized. They also confiscated and destroyed over 1,100 pounds of donkey flesh and body parts. Some of the donkeys had serious injuries or multiple wounds – all were

L ina was exhausted. She had spent most of the night in a truck with more than a dozen other donkeys. It was hot and stifling as they careened down winding dirt roads riddled with potholes and were pitched this way and that. They were unloaded in a strange, confusing place. Men yelled at them and hit them. Lina watched the donkeys in front of her being yanked away. Their eyes were scared and pleading. Then she saw it: the glint of a knife. Right in front of her, a man slit a donkey’s throat. She knew he was coming for her next and that he didn’t care that she was pregnant and didn’t want to die! Suddenly, PETA India, local activists, and police officers burst onto the scene. They were busting black-market donkey-slaughter operations in Andhra Pradesh. They rescued more than 70 traumatized donkeys in the raids, and one of them was Lina.

One equine veterinarian calls tail amputations “surgical abuse.” Except for emergencies, it’s banned in 10 US states and several countries, is condemned by the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and violates the American Veterinary Medical Association’s principles of veterinary medical ethics.

PETA-supported Animal Rahat has saved more than 260 donkeys from abuse.

PETA is calling on Anheuser-Busch to stop this cruel mutilation.

Take Action Now Contact Anheuser-Busch at PETA.org/Budweiser and demand that the company stop tail amputations.

Smuggled and Slaughtered in Secret It’s illegal to kill and eat donkeys in India, but that

Global 11

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A DONKEY’S TALE