PETA to ‘Shut Down’ Ottawa Esso Gas Station for Cruelty to Dogs
For Immediate Release:
October 23, 2020
Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382
Because ExxonMobil—the parent company of Esso—continues to pump money into the deadly Iditarod dog race even as other sponsors have pulled out, PETA supporters armed with yellow caution tape will “close” a local Esso station for cruelty tomorrow. The action follows PETA protests outside Exxon’s headquarters in the U.S. and at the company’s gas stations around the world.
When: Saturday, October 24, 1:15 p.m.
Where: Esso gas station, 450 Bank St. (at the intersection with Gladstone Avenue), Ottawa
“Esso’s parent company has the shameful distinction of being one of the last major sponsors of the Iditarod’s cruelty to dogs,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is urging it to cut ties with an evil industry that forces dogs to run so far and so fast that they often die after inhaling their own vomit.”
Jack Daniel’s, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Alaska Airlines, and many other companies cut ties with the race after PETA pointed out that more than 150 dogs have died in the Iditarod since it began. In addition to being tied up on mushers’ properties (as revealed in this PETA exposé), dogs are forced to pull heavy sleds 1,000 miles through blinding blizzards and subzero temperatures.
More than 220 dogs were pulled off the trail during the 2020 race because of exhaustion, illness, injury, or other causes. One, Cool Cat, developed twisted intestines and almost died. Another, Betty, had pneumonia and was in critical condition, and two others refused to eat and had fevers, diarrhea, and persistent coughs.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
