‘COVID Cow’ to Give Away Toilet Paper Outside Local Grocery Store

PETA Will Point Out That Animal Markets, Transport, and Slaughter Are Linked to Fatal Viruses—and the Solution Is to Go Vegan

For Immediate Release:
May 14, 2020

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

In the time of this novel coronavirus, PETA’s “COVID Cow” is heading to a Whole Foods Market to pass out free rolls of toilet paper to shoppers, along with the message that the way to save animals and prevent the spread of deadly diseases is to go vegan. Accompanied by PETA supporters—all standing 6 feet apart—the “cow” will also offer a hands-free virtual vegan starter kit via a QR code for shoppers.

When:    Friday, May 15, 1 p.m.

Where:    Whole Foods Market, 8825 Villa La Jolla Dr., La Jolla

“Filthy factory farms, slaughterhouses, and meat markets threaten the health of every human on the planet by providing a breeding ground for viruses that cause SARS, bird flu, swine flu, COVID-19, and other diseases,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘COVID Cow’ is hoofing it to La Jolla with a hot commodity as well as a plea to food shoppers to avoid meat like the plague.”

The coronavirus originated in a Chinese “wet market,” where live and dead animals are sold for human consumption. Health authorities confirm that influenza viruses and coronaviruses are zoonotic (transmissible from other animals to humans). Previous influenza viruses originated in pigs and chickens.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.