Ashland Man Is a Finalist in PETA’s ‘Sexiest Vegan Over 50’ Contest

World Traveler Battles It Out to Take Home Top Honors—and a Free Luxury Cruise

For Immediate Release:
September 20, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA Prime is preparing to crown this year’s Sexiest Vegan Over 50—and Ashland resident Rick Schmitt is vying for the title. He beat out entrants from across the country to advance to the final round of six contestants. Visitors to PETA Prime’s Facebook page can now help the group select the lucky winners, who will each receive a free Holistic Holiday at Sea luxury cruise vacation to the Bahamas and Virgin Islands.

Seventeen years ago, the longtime vegetarian learned that the dairy industry tears calves away from their mothers and treats cows like milk machines until their bodies give out—so he went vegan and never looked back. Now 57, this world traveler makes vegan friends around the globe and shares the benefits of going vegan with every new community he visits.

“Thanks to Rick Schmitt, people all over the world have learned that going vegan can save animals and help us stay healthy,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Each of the finalists in PETA Prime’s Sexiest Vegan Over 50 contest is a testament to how sexy vegans of all ages are, inside and out.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that in addition to saving more than 100 animals every year from daily suffering and a terrifying death, people who go vegan are less prone to suffering from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity and, on average, are fitter and trimmer than meat-eaters.

Voting for the finalists to help PETA Prime determine who should be selected as the winners—one man and one woman—ends on September 27. PETA Prime will choose the winners based on several factors, including vote count. See the full contest details here. Winners will be notified and announced on October 4.

For more information, please visit Prime.PETA.org.