4 Shocking PETA Investigations That Sparked Major Action for Animals in 2023
PETA celebrated many massive victories this year after blowing the lid off cruelty to animals on farms, at racetracks, and at roadside zoos all over North America and rallying our supporters to help end it.
These four PETA investigations revealed shocking animal abuse in 2023:
1. Exposed: Anheuser-Busch Amputated Budweiser Clydesdales’ Tailbones
PETA investigators went undercover at Warm Springs Ranch in Missouri (the official breeding facility for the Budweiser Clydesdales), visited Grant’s Farm, and talked to handlers who travel with teams of the adult horses.
We learned that Anheuser-Busch, which produces Budweiser beer, amputated the tailbones of the famed Clydesdales—primarily so they’d look a certain way as they pull a wagon.
Following a massive campaign in which more than 100,000 PETA supporters took action, Anheuser-Busch InBev—Budweiser’s parent company—announced that had stopped cutting the tailbones off Clydesdale horses.
This PETA victory sent a message to other companies: Animal abuse doesn’t sell.
2. Inside a Drive-Through Tourist Trap That Tore Baby Bears Away From Their Mothers
A PETA investigator worked undercover at Bear Country U.S.A., a roadside zoo in South Dakota. There, supervisors tore bear families apart, instructed staff to kick cubs, and denied elderly animals timely veterinary attention.
Acting on evidence from our undercover investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cited Bear Country U.S.A. for multiple violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
According to a USDA report, a representative of this callous roadside zoo admitted to inspectors that the facility had used fireworks to terrify mother bears while separating them from their cubs and that staff “had been recorded suggesting handling the bear cubs in an aggressive and inappropriate manner, such as ‘holding their muzzles,’ ‘pinching their noses,’ and ‘kicking or pushing them away.’”
Join us in urging this tourist trap to end its cruel breeding program and send the animals there to reputable facilities before more cubs are forced to endure horrific trauma:
3. PETA Exposé Reveals ‘100% Grass-Fed’ Water Buffaloes Suffering on Filthy Canadian Farm
Following a whistleblower complaint alleging that animals were languishing with painful ailments amid piles of manure on a farm owned by the Ontario Water Buffalo Company, PETA investigators took a scheduled tour of the hellhole and found systemic animal neglect and suffering.
Despite claiming to raise buffaloes “how nature intended,” the farm confines these animals—who are native to a tropical environment in Asia—in filthy, profoundly unnatural conditions, including in subfreezing winters, to exploit them for meat and dairy, including buffalo mozzarella and other cheeses.
After hearing from PETA supporters, grocery chain Loblaws, which had sold cheese made from these animals’ milk, reported that Quality Cheese, the company that makes Bella Casara buffalo mozzarella, had cut ties with the farm.
PETA is asking Canadian grocer Longo’s to reconsider selling buffalo cheeses made from the milk of animals like these. Please join us:
4. The Killing of Juvenile Horses at ‘Under Tack Shows’
A 2023 PETA investigation revealed that, every spring, 2-year-old Thoroughbreds are forced to sprint at breakneck speeds in “under tack shows” to impress prospective buyers and inflate sales prices at auctions.
Trainers and veterinarians agree that forcing fragile young horses—some of whom are still biological yearlings—to run in speed trials is dangerous and damaging.
PETA previously compiled video footage of injuries at under tack shows, showing how deadly these reckless sprints can be. On one occasion, our investigator was able to get onto the track and behind a screen—set up to hide what was happening—to film a horse who had endured a fatal cardiac event while sprinting in extreme heat.
No screen is large enough to hide the countless corpses of the horses who have already been fatally injured in these events. But there is a way to reduce further carnage.
PETA is offering a solution that should be acceptable to all stakeholders—and most importantly, it would protect horses. You can urge major auction companies and top consignors, breeders, trainers, and owners to agree to it:
Donate Now: Support PETA’s Investigations & Rescue Fund
With your financial support, PETA’s eyewitness investigators are able to expose—and ultimately end—the cruelty that animal abusers try so desperately to hide. Donors also make it possible for PETA to provide animals experiencing emergencies with immediate veterinary treatment, transport, and humane shelter.
