Shake Shack Stock Snatched Up by PETA in Early Bid

Among the First Shareholders, PETA to Ask Restaurant Chain to Offer Vegan Options

For Immediate Release:
January 30, 2015

Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382

When Shake Shack stock debuted on the open market, PETA was among the first to leap at the chance to purchase a number of shares—enough to give the group the right to attend and speak at annual meetings and submit shareholder resolutions. PETA’s goal? To encourage Shake Shack to follow on the heels of a surging number of restaurants—including popular favorites Denny’s, Johnny Rockets, and Red Robin—that have already met the rising demand for vegan fare with delicious animal-free options. And this morning, PETA sent a letter to Shake Shack CEO Randy Garutti asking him to introduce vegan burgers, dogs, and shakes.

“Shake Shack can live up to its motto to ‘stand for something good’ by offering vegan foods that help the planet, customers’ health, and animals,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “A vegan shake spares infant calves the torture of being burned in the head with searing-hot irons during dehorning—only one of many painful abuses they routinely endure in the dairy industry.”

PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way,” notes that farms deny animals killed by the meat industry everything that is natural and important to them. They are confined to filthy, cramped cages, stalls, and sheds. Cattle used by the industry are castrated, branded, and dehorned and eventually shipped off to slaughterhouses, where they’re hoisted by one leg as their throats are slit. Vegan options are also the healthier and more environmentally friendly choice, as animal agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every level—from local to global.

PETA’s letter to Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack Inc., is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.