Top PETA Victories for Animals in 2011

The year 2011 was an amazing one for PETA as many important victories for animals were scored. Here is just a sample (in no particular order as they were all so tremendous) of the many victories achieved throughout the year:

1. Lipton:

After more than 40,000 supporters of PETA entities around the world sent e-mails urging Unilever, parent company to Lipton, to stop testing tea on animals and after representatives from PETA and PETA entities in India and Europe flew to London to meet with Unilever—the world’s largest tea maker, which also makes PG tips tea—the company agreed to halt all such tests.

2. Mango:

Leading international clothing and accessory retailer Mango—which has a total of 2,060 stores in 104 countries worldwide—banned the use of exotic skins in its product lines after meeting with PETA and learning about the extreme animal suffering caused by the exotic-skins industry.

3. U.S. Army:

In a huge victory for vervet monkeys, the U.S. Army, following a massive PETA campaign, ended cruel and archaic training exercises at Aberdeen Proving Ground in which dozens of primates were poisoned.

4. Ringling Bros.:

Ringling Bros. circus allowed a lion named Clyde to bake to death in a boxcar, euthanized an 8-month-old elephant named Riccardo after he shattered both his hind legs during a forced training session involving a bullhook and a rope on his trunk, and violently beat a young elephant named Angelica with a bullhook while she was chained. Despite Ringling’s gross violations of the Animal Welfare Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) never took action against the circus. But after years of prodding and numerous meetings with PETA, the USDA finally acted and fined the hellhole known as Ringling Bros. a whopping $270,000—the largest fine in circus history.

5. Environmental Protection Agency:

Following five years of efforts by PETA’s scientists—which included lobbying, submitting testimony, and publishing scientific articles—as well as 25,000 letters and e-mails from PETA supporters, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a plan to switch to non-animal methods and implement changes to the endocrine-disruptor screening program that have the potential to save more than 3 million animals.

6. Brookstone:

After 18 months of protests and thousands of calls and e-mails, Brookstone pulled the cruel Frog-O-Sphere from its shelves.

7. Professional Laboratory and Research Services:

Following a PETA undercover investigation at Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS), a North Carolina grand jury indicted four individuals who worked at PLRS, including a supervisor, on 14 felony cruelty-to-animals charges. This case marks the first time in U.S. history that laboratory workers have faced felony cruelty charges for their abuse and neglect of animals in a laboratory and the second criminal prosecution of cruelty to animals used in experimentation. The best news of all: The laboratory was shut down.

8. California Milk Advisory Board:

PETA went after the California Milk Advisory Board and the California Department of Food and Agriculture for false statements made by the board about the health, welfare, and standard of care of California cows. After a major legal battle, the court ordered both agencies to turn over thousands of pages of documents that they were withholding illegally. The documents show that in part because of pressure from PETA, the board decided to discontinue the hideous “Happy Cows” campaign.

9. Simon Property Group:

After meeting with PETA and learning about the abuse of animals in circuses and other animal exhibits, Simon Property Group—the largest real estate company in the country—banned all wild-animal exhibits at all of its properties.

10. Medical Labs Across the U.S.:

As a result of pressure from PETA and more than 125,000 of our supporters, the University of Michigan and Utah’s Primary Children’s Medical Center ended cruel intubation training exercises in which cats were tormented. PETA also worked privately to convince the Naval Medical Center San Diego and the Nationwide Children’s Hospital to stop the practice as well.

11. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development:

PETA’s scientists convinced the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to accept a new reproductive toxicity test that cuts the number of animals used in half. This change saves 1,300 animals per test and will be accepted worldwide.

12. Sacred Vision Animal Sanctuary:

After being presented with evidence—including video footage from PETA’s undercover investigation—making the case that animals warehoused in Elizabeth Owen’s Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, storage units were in desperate need of emergency intervention and care, Horry County Judge Bradley Mayers signed an order to seize custody and control of the animals. While some were too ill and badly neglected to survive, many found loving homes.

While 2011 marked a year of impressive victories for animals, we are already hard at work to make 2012 an even more victorious year. Please consider supporting our efforts to help put a stop to cruelty to animals by texting PETA to 27722 to donate $10* and by taking the pledge to be cruelty-free in the new year.

*$10 will be added to your bill or deducted from your prepaid account. Messaging and data rates may apply. Full terms: http://www.mgive.org/T.