‘ASPCA Supports Sexual Abuse of Turkeys!’ Emblazoned on PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ Transport Truck
For Immediate Release:
December 11, 2024
Contact:
Maddy Missett 202-483-7382
Starting Thursday, “Hell on Wheels”—PETA’s life-size, hyperrealistic turkey transport truck covered with images of the birds crammed into crates on their way to slaughter—will circle The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) headquarters at 520 8th Avenue while broadcasting actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries. The mobile protest is a public condemnation of the ASPCA for promoting sham “animal welfare certified” labels on meat, eggs, and dairy sourced from factory farms, hoodwinking the public into paying more for the same old cruelties PETA and others have documented for years.
The side of the truck is emblazoned with a sign pointing out that the ASPCA put its stamp of approval on Plainville Farms, where a PETA investigation documented workers there simulating sex acts on the birds as well as kicking, beating, and throwing turkeys and leaving ailing birds to suffer without treatment. PETA’s investigation resulted in now-former workers being charged with six felonies and a total of 141 counts of cruelty to animals—the largest number in any factory-farmed animal case in U.S. history—and 10 former workers have been convicted so far.
When: Thursday, December 12, 12 noon (the truck will circle and park intermittently outside ASPCA headquarters through December 23rd)
Where: ASPCA Headquarters, 520 8th Ave., New York
“Through its deceptive ‘humane washing’ scheme, the ASPCA is responsible for seducing well-intentioned people into paying for abject cruelty to animals on factory farms,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is a way of calling out this harmful hypocrisy and inspiring people to choose vegan meals this holiday season and beyond.”
PETA points out that its investigators have documented systemic cruelty and suffering at all 12 “certified” factory farms they visited, including Plainville Farms and Sweet Stem Farm, where pigs were crammed into severely crowded sheds and had painful, bloody rectal prolapses. PETA’s campaign against humane-washing by supposed “animal welfare” groups also includes an ad blitz by the DC headquarters of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). PETA has disrupted HSUS and ASPCA events, and Succession star James Cromwell has thrown his HSUS Lifetime Achievement Award in the trash.
In nature, turkeys spend their days caring for their young, building nests, foraging for food, taking dust baths, and roosting in trees, and they can live for over 10 years. But in the meat industry, turkeys’ throats are slit within their first six months of life. More than 46 million of them are killed each year at Thanksgiving alone, and more than 22 million are killed at Christmas.
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 also offers a free vegan starter kit on its website for anyone ready to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
