Free Franks From PETA if Local Hot Dog Eating Contest Goes Vegan

For Immediate Release:
August 25, 2022

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

With Rockin Burgers N Dogs’ hot dog eating competition just around the corner, PETA sent a letter today to the food truck’s owner, Ticker Lock, offering to supply all the franks for the competition—if Lock agrees to dump the meaty hot dogs (known carcinogens) and make the event 100% animal-friendly.

“It’s a no-brainer to switch to vegan hot dogs, knowing that sensitive animals are killed in filthy slaughterhouses and that their body parts are pulverized into the paste that becomes cancer-causing meat hot dogs,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on this contest to protect cows and consumers by embracing an all-vegan competition that celebrates life.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—notes that Field Roast, Nestlé, and many other major brands sell delicious vegan hot dogs. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Lock follows. 

August 25, 2022

Ticker Lock
Owner
Rockin Burgers N Dogs

Dear Mr. Lock:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals U.S.—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, including many thousands across Wyoming, and PETA U.S. is the largest animal rights organization in the world—with a proposal we hope you’ll sink your teeth into. Because of the increased demand nationwide for vegan hot dogs, we’d be delighted if you would offer exclusively plant-based hot dogs for the annual Wyoming Hot Dog Eating Championship this year. If you agree, we’ll gladly supply all the delicious vegan hot dogs for your competition’s participants.

The World Health Organization reports that processed meat—including hot dogs—causes cancer, and innumerable studies show that going vegan reduces the risk of suffering from certain types of cancer, heart disease, and strokes. A vegan hot dog– eating competition would be a great statement about your interest in safeguarding participants’ health and a public relations hit.

And there’s another excellent reason to consider vegan hot dogs. Pigs, cows, and other animals commonly used for hot dogs are intelligent, sensitive individuals who feel pain and form strong bonds with others. Yet the millions of these animals who are killed in the U.S. every year are raised on filthy factory farms and endure stressful crowding as well as routine mutilation, such as castration and tail-docking—without any pain relief—before they are sent on a terrifying journey to the slaughterhouse, where they undergo a violent death. Ditching products made from animals and opting for tasty vegan choices instead would spare living, feeling beings this miserable fate and win you a place in all compassionate hearts.

The number of vegans is skyrocketing—there’s been a 500% increase in the U.S. since 2014, and more than half of all U.S. households now buy vegan food products. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 23% of Americans have been eating more cruelty-free food and sales of vegan items in the U.S. have increased by 90%. Several major brands—including Portillo’s, Lightlife, Field Roast, Wienerschnitzel, and Nestlé—are currently selling their own vegan hot dogs.

We hope you’ll accept our offer to supply tasty vegan hot dogs for your competition. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk
President