‘I Am You but Different’: PETA President’s Video Calls for Nonviolence
PETA helps as many animals as we can when we’re able to race to the site of a natural disaster or the scene of human-made destruction. We do everything we can to rescue, treat, and comfort them and restore their peace of mind. In some situations, that is impossible to do when borders are closed and supplies can’t get in.
When humans wage war, everyone suffers—certainly including our fellow animals. In this video, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk calls for understanding of each other and an end to violence everywhere and for everyone and makes the case that while most of us are powerless to bring about peace, we can choose nonviolence daily by leaving animals off our plates and backs:
How Does PETA Take Action During Disasters?
Because dogs, cats, donkeys, and other animals are dying of starvation, dehydration, and untreated injuries in the Gaza Strip, Ingrid sent an urgent letter on behalf of over 9 million PETA entity supporters to Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, asking him to add essential supplies for animals in desperate need to aid plans for the area.
PETA Germany and its partners have been on the ground in Ukraine since the country was invaded. Their determination and grit have helped thousands of animals reunite with their families after they were separated by deadly shelling. Rescuers in the field continue to go back to known, dangerous areas to help the dogs, cats, horses, and others left behind who are suffering from severe emotional distress, dehydration, starvation, and infected wounds. The animals didn’t start the war, and fieldworkers on the ground are determined to help as many as they can survive it by placing their own safety on the line to deliver food and provide on-the-ground veterinary care before transporting as many animals as possible to safer areas.
Teams supported by PETA’s Global Compassion Fund were there to navigate the murky waters of flooded streets to save frightened animals clinging to rooftops or struggling to reach a patch of dry ground after the destruction of a major dam in southern Ukraine, too.
When war broke out in Lebanon between Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military, PETA Asia representatives went to the war zone to help dogs, cats, and other animals who were abandoned after government officials ordered the citizens to evacuate.
When Taal Volcano in the Philippines violently erupted, sending a massive plume of smoke and lava 9 miles into the air, PETA Asia was there within 48 hours of the first eruption. The team was dashing across Taal Lake in a boat loaded with hundreds of pounds of food and fresh water to help the dogs, cats, pigs, goats, horses, chickens, ducks, and other animals who were stranded as the rumbling volcano threatened to erupt again.
It took the entire staff and a dedicated group of volunteers working around the clock—soon in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic—but hundreds of animals were saved. Many were reunited with their guardians, and more than 100 others found refuge at PETA Asia’s partner veterinary clinic. Here, they received baths, treatment for their injuries, vaccinations, spay/neuter surgeries, leash training, exercise, socialization, and love.
We’ve been on the ground after many a hurricane and tornado. For instance, when those in Hurricane Katrina’s path were told they were forbidden from bringing their animal companions on the ferry boats to safety, thousands of animal companions were left behind. As guardians desperately fled their homes, PETA volunteers were rushing to the scene of the fifth-deadliest hurricane in U.S. history to enter boarded-up houses, scour flooded neighborhoods, and save as many abandoned animals as they could.
After a whopping 31 inches of rain fell in parts of Louisiana in less than three days, causing half a dozen rivers to overflow their banks and flooding 40,000 homes in 30 parishes, PETA sent a team of emergency responders to Baton Rouge to assist with efforts to locate and rescue stranded animals. Due in part to PETA, more than 1,000 animals were rescued from the deluge of water.
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Animals don’t belong to religions or have nationalities, and they own no bombs or tanks—yet they suffer in our wars. When animals are forced to suffer from human-induced violence or natural disasters, PETA entities do as much as we possibly can to help them survive the devastation.
We’ll keep you updated on lifesaving work for animals in Israel and Gaza in coming days as this latest crisis unfolds. You can help teams prepare for the many challenges to come—and strengthen vital rescue work in Jordan, Romania, Ukraine, and other beleaguered parts of the world today—by making a special gift to PETA’s Global Compassion Fund.
