April 2004 PETA got a butterfly release canceled as part of the butterfly festival at a California mall. Children were going to be given nets to chase down and capture the released butterflies. After learning about the cruelty involved in raising and releasing butterflies, the mall administrators not only agreed to cancel the event and create … Read more »
April 2004 PETA received calls of concern from parents, students, and community members in Gilbert, Arizona, following a “Spirit Week” event at Mesquite High School during which several students participated in a goldfish-swallowing contest. We immediately contacted the school’s administrative officials to remind them that such sophomoric and cruel pranks have no place in an educational … Read more »
April 2004 James Cochran, an Alabama man accused of allowing 31 chickens who were allegedly being raised for the rural area’s cockfighting industry to die of neglect, was convicted of cruelty to animals. Cochran was sentenced to a suspended jail term of 90 days, unsupervised probation for one year, and a fine of $250, plus court … Read more »
January 2004 MasterCard joins Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and Visa to become the third national sponsor to end its Ringling promotions amid a flood of complaints. PETA had written to the credit-card giant describing Ringling’s record of tragic animal deaths, USDA investigations, penalties, and warnings and recently sent MasterCard’s president and board of directors undercover videotape … Read more »
January 2004 UPDATE! After contacting Let’s Help, Inc., a local charity that benefits from the chicken fly contest, about the cruelty inherent in this spectacle, the decision was made to stop using live animals–this ends a 22-year “tradition”! PETA was contacted by a county commissioner in Kansas who was upset about an annual “Chicken Fly Contest” … Read more »
January 2004 For two years, Clarke County, Alabama, authorities have ignored the occurrence of hog-dog rodeos, a cruel bloody event during which dogs are sicced on defenseless hogs for the sake of so-called entertainment. Thanks to public pressure triggered by this footage, which was posted on PETA TV, as well as a PETA action alert, the … Read more »
January 2004 When we learned that the University of New Mexico (UNM) was considering a plan to use a wolf as its football mascot, PETA fired off a letter to the school’s athletic director, asking him to reject this cruel plan. We had been inundated with calls and e-mail messages from people who were outraged by … Read more »
January 2004 North Carolina officers found two treadmills fitted to train and condition dogs, a dog-fighting ring, tools used to pry the animals apart, and animal carcasses throughout the yard of a Halifax County residence. PETA wrote to the district attorney asking that the abuser be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and he … Read more »
January 2004 Following a letter from PETA and complaints from students, the Wayne State University student council made the compassionate decision to prohibit the use of live animals at campus events. PETA’s letter was prompted by the university’s “Let’s Get Wild” event, which featured numerous exotic animals for students to touch, hold, and have their pictures … Read more »
January 2004 PUMA created a commercial in which a very young chimpanzee is seen admiring a shoe. PETA and other animal protection organizations contacted the company to alert them to the cruelty inherent in forcing baby and juvenile chimpanzees to “perform” for ads and asked that it remove the commercial from the air immediately. After reviewing … Read more »
January 2004 PETA received complaints from mall shoppers that an exotic-animal display called “The Zoo” was set up at Colonial Mall Temple in Texas. We contacted the mall manager, as well as the CEO of Colonial Properties Trust, which owns the mall, asking that the company prohibit animal displays at all its locations. Colonial Properties Trust is … Read more »
January 2004 PETA received complaints from mall shoppers that an exotic-animal display called “The Zoo” was set up at Victoria Mall in Texas. We contacted the mall manager, as well as the CEO of Hull Storey Retail Group, which owns the mall, asking that the company prohibit animal displays at all its locations. We also posted … Read more »
January 2004 PETA was contacted by students and staff at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania about a donkey basketball game planned at the school by the student senate. We immediately contacted the student senate president, as well as the president of the university to inform them of the cruelty inherent in these games. In addition, we alerted … Read more »
January 2004 Honda’s advertising agency, Rubin Postaer and Associates (RPA), created a commercial for Honda in which an orangutan portrays a beauty contestant’s assistant. PETA contacted RPA to alert the agency to the inherent cruelty involved in forcing young orangutans to “perform” for ads and asked that the commercial be removed from the air. RPA and … Read more »
October 2003 PETA was alerted by a concerned Louisville resident that the owners of a bar under construction planned to build an alligator pit under a see-through dance floor. Alligators are highly sensitive to vibrations, and alligators in such circumstances would be bombarded with pounding, bright lights, and blasting music. We immediately contacted the mayor and … Read more »
