PETA Says No More ‘Breakfast Octopus’ for Bezos—to Help Save the Amazon and the Rest of the Earth, He Must Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
July 22, 2021

Contact:
Tapi Mbundure 202-483-7382

When Jeff Bezos returned from Blue Origin’s inaugural rocket launch, he pledged a renewed commitment to fighting climate change—but as PETA points out in a letter sent to him this morning, those words conflict with his pre-launch meal of chicken thighs and his notorious “breakfast octopus.” The United Nations states that a global shift toward a vegan diet is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of the climate crisis. But the increased carbon in our atmosphere isn’t attributable to the razing of the Amazon rainforest to grow feed for chickens and cows alone—it’s also because of what’s on people’s plates worldwide.

“When someone talks about saving the planet while their mouth is full of animals, that’s just blowing hot air,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is eager to help Jeff Bezos launch into a healthy, humane, vegan way of life that will help preserve this planet.”

PETA notes that each person who goes vegan saves nearly 200 intelligent, sensitive, and remarkable animals a year. Octopuses, for example, are known to caress and kiss one another, attempt escapes, and even squirt their captors with water. Chickens talk to their chicks before they hatch and can solve puzzles.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Bezos follows.

July 22, 2021

Jeffrey Bezos

Executive Chair

Amazon

Dear Mr. Bezos:

I’m writing on behalf of our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide to congratulate you on your space flight and your commitment to fighting climate change on Earth. Regrettably, one key part of this commitment is missing, and we urge you to correct that omission. We were horrified when your pledge conflicted with your publicized breakfast of octopus and your pre-launch meal of chicken thighs.

The United Nations states that a global shift toward a vegan diet is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of the climate crisis and that animal agriculture is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has declared it imperative for all sectors to mitigate climate change, which cannot be achieved without addressing meat and dairy production. Will you please go vegan now?

Given the link between climate change and animal agriculture, a massive reduction in meat and dairy consumption is essential. Commercial fishing has already caused vast habitat destruction and a drastic decline in marine diversity, which is weakening the ocean’s ecosystem and its ability to function as a key climate regulator—not to mention that trash produced by fishing kills more dolphins, rays, turtles, and whales than all other forms of pollution combined.

Beyond sustainability, animals used for food think, feel pain, and experience loneliness, joy, fear, and love as strong as the one you have for Lauren. Octopuses are among the most highly evolved invertebrates, considered by many biologists to be the most intelligent. They have about 10,000 more genes than humans, possess both long- and short-term memory, use tools, resolve conflicts, and have even been known to cuddle and kiss their partners. Chickens are loving mothers who talk to their chicks before they hatch, they’re thoughtful, and they can even solve puzzles. Today, food innovators offer delicious vegan proteins that don’t cost lives.

By going vegan, humans can reduce the amount of diet-related greenhouse gases they produce by up to 60%. We’d be happy to help with your transition, although I’m sure that you have access to vegan chefs and anything else you might need.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President