‘Grim Reapers’ to Haunt Local Grocery Store
Amid Pandemic and Slaughterhouse Shutdowns, PETA Will Urge People to Move Away From Meat
For Immediate Release:
May 20, 2020
Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382
As the world battles a deadly virus that originated in a meat market—and as slaughterhouses across the country scramble to contain outbreaks of COVID-19 among workers—a pair of PETA “Grim Reapers” will descend on a local Publix to remind people that meat kills and to urge them to choose life-sustaining vegan foods instead. They will also offer a hands-free virtual vegan starter kit via a QR code for shoppers.
When: Thursday, May 21, 12 noon
Where: Outside Publix, 250 Third St. S. (at the intersection with Third Avenue S.), St. Petersburg
“The meat industry breeds killer diseases, and filthy, wet, blood- and offal-soaked slaughterhouses are the least safe workplaces in the world,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is asking food shoppers to push their carts right past the meat aisle, for everyone’s sake.”
The novel coronavirus originated in a Chinese “wet market,” where live and dead animals are sold for human consumption; swine flu began on a U.S. factory farm; and other influenza viruses have been traced to chickens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that approximately 75% of recently emerged infectious diseases affecting humans originated in other animals.
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.
