Video: Messi the Foal Is Sanctuary’s Soccer Star

For Immediate Release:
April 23, 2024

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Miami –

A heartwarming new PETA video shows a budding soccer superstar who, at less than a year old, is already wowing fans with his fancy footwork and masterful moves. Messi, an 8-month-old foal named after the Argentine soccer phenomenon and Inter Miami star Lionel Messi, was born to a horse who once pulled a heavy cart through the streets in Delhi, India, and was rescued by Animal Rahat, a PETA-supported organization that helps some of the most neglected animals—bullocks, donkeys, and other working animals—in India. Messi got his name after his caregivers witnessed his Messimerizing soccer skills using a giant rubber ball. Video available here.

foal messi playing with silver rubber ball at sanctuary seen in peta video — *Messi plays with a ball at the sanctuary. Credit: Animal Rahat*

horse seeta and her foal messi grazing on the grass — *Messi grazes with his mother, Seeta. Credit: Animal Rahat*

“Messi is now living out his days in comfort and safety with his mother, Seeta, and literally having a ball,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Thanks to Animal Rahat, Messi can practice his passes and run dribbling drills to his heart’s content.”

Messi’s mother was rescued through PETA India’s Delhi Mechanization Project—a winner of the Giving Economy Changemakers Award—which replaces the use of animal-drawn carts with battery-operated e-rickshaws that help animals retire from a hard life and their owners make a better living. The project’s fund supports cart owners, allowing them to purchase e-rickshaws to transport goods safely without using animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.