‘Hell on Wheels’ Is Coming—Pig Truck to Blast Dying Animals’ Cries at Nathan’s Famous Contest
For Immediate Release:
July 2, 2024
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Following the news that 16-time champion Joey Chestnut was kicked out of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest for repping a vegan wiener, “Hell on Wheels”—PETA’s life-size, hyperrealistic pig transport truck covered with images of real pigs crammed into crates on their way to slaughter—is headed to Coney Island on Thursday to bombard the competition’s spectators with actual recorded sounds of the animals’ panicked screams along with a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan.
Where: Outside Nathan’s Famous, 1310 Surf Ave., Coney Island, Brooklyn
When: Thursday, July 4, 11 a.m.
“Behind every hot dog is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats pigs, cows, or other animals to remember that the meat industry is cruel to them and the only kind meal is a vegan one.”
In the meat industry, workers chop off piglets’ tails, clip their teeth with pliers, and castrate the males—all without pain relief. When the time comes for slaughter, they’re crammed onto trucks and transported hundreds of miles through all weather extremes without food, water, or rest. Every year, more than 1 million pigs die and at least 40,000 others sustain injuries during transport to slaughterhouses. It’s common for pigs on the way to slaughter to suffer from heat exhaustion or even become frozen to the sides of trucks.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. PETA’s free vegan starter kit is filled with tips to help anyone looking to make the switch.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
