PETA Latino Came Out in Full Force for Animals in 2023
PETA Latino brings PETA’s outreach to Spanish-speaking U.S. and Latin American communities and serves as an independent powerhouse for animal rights. In 2023, the group cranked its protest game to 11 and championed animal rights from Mexico to the Vatican!
Mouse’ Overboard at IPN!
PETA Latino teamed up with Animal Heroes to rally with “lifeguards” and a “drowned mouse” outside Mexico’s Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) to demand that the university ban the forced swim test. In this test, experimenters dose mice, rats, or other small animals with substances, drop them into inescapable beakers of water, and force them to swim to keep from drowning, purportedly to find treatments for human depression.
Laboratory experiments often occur in places few people ever see, but animal defenders pushed the horrors of the forced swim test into the public conversation. Universidad del Valle, a top Colombian university, has already banned the experiment. Now it’s time for IPN to follow its lead by banning this cruel and ineffective test outright.
¿Perro o Pollo? PETA Latino Grills a ‘Dog’ on the Streets of Mexico
Why put a cow, a pig, or a chicken on the grill if you wouldn’t barbecue a dog? That’s the question PETA Latino and Animal Heroes supporters—complete with chef hats and aprons—asked in Guadalajara, León, and Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico.
The protesters “barbecued” a shockingly lifelike “dog” prop as food for thought while handing out vegan starter kits—a great resource for any aspiring vegan to start cooking delicious, healthy meals.
PETA Latino Builds a Beautiful Ofrenda to Remember the Victims of Bullfighting
On the Day of the Dead, PETA Latino supporters built a beautiful ofrenda in Tijuana, Mexico, in memory of the countless victims of bullfighting. Supporters wearing “bull horns” and traditional La Catrina makeup handed out flyers that detailed why bullfights are nothing short of animal torture.
PETA Latino Reveals Urban Outfitters’ Leather ‘Mess’
PETA Latino supporters drenched themselves in black sludge outside an Urban Outfitters store in Houston to show that leather is a dirty business. The sludge represented the massive harm that leather production causes to animals, humans, and the environment. Cows and calves lead short, miserable lives for leather bags and shoes, which require dangerous chemicals and enormous amounts of national resources to produce.
It doesn’t have to be this way—vegan leathers are readily available, kinder, and more sustainable than animal skin. The fashion world is steadily going animal-free, and we’ll keep boosting vegan leather and making sure people know that using animal skins is harmful to the environment.
Our ‘Pig on a Plate’ Shows Skin and Turns Heads in Phoenix
Portraying a “pig,” a nearly nude PETA Latino supporter lay on a giant plate near downtown restaurants and a supermarket in Phoenix, urging people to think of the millions of pigs killed every year for Nochebuena. With signs reading, “Tradition Is No Excuse to Kill” and “Culture Should Never Mean Torture,” other animal defenders handed out vegan starter kits to eager passersby.
Choosing a delicious vegan roast that spares pigs a terrifying death is the perfect way to honor the spirit of the season and extend goodwill to all, so enjoy “Noche Vegana” with an animal-free feast!
PETA Latino ‘Traps’ Christopher von Uckermann in a Bubble for Corky
Corky, the longest-held captive orca, has been kept in cramped marine park tanks ever since she was abducted from her family as a baby 54 years ago. Unable to experience any semblance of a natural life, she’s been forced to perform tricks for crowds. A much more fulfilling life awaits her in a seaside sanctuary—SeaWorld only has to agree to let her go.
That’s why a group of PETA Latino supporters rallied on Mission Beach Boardwalk in San Diego to demand Corky’s release from SeaWorld to a seaside sanctuary. Actor and musician Christopher von Uckermann even took a break from his pop group RBD’s blockbuster reunion tour to “trap” himself inside a snow globe that mimicked the minuscule tank in which Corky continues to languish.
PETA Latino Calls On Pope Francis to Forbid Bullfighting
PETA Latino teamed up with PETA U.K. near the Vatican to call on Pope Francis to condemn bullfights. Gathered in a cross formation and wearing “horns” and red floor-length veils, the activists held a banner reading, “Catholic Church: Silence Is Violence! Denounce Bullfighting.”
Many bullfights take place on Catholic holidays in honor of religious figures, so PETA Latino appealed to the highest Catholic authority’s senses of empathy and reason to ask for an end to the madness. Pope Francis is widely revered for his kindness to animals, and we’re urging him to communicate to the more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide that bullfights violate Christian virtues.
Feeling Inspired? Join PETA Latino’s Activist Network
If you’re feeling fired up, sign up for the PETA Latino’s Activist Network. It will keep you updated on events near you and ways to take action for animals.
Whether you like to stay on the front lines or prefer to work behind the scenes, PETA Latino’s Activist Network has everything you need to promote animal rights in your area—wherever you are in the Americas.
