Crack in Panguitch Lake Dam Prompts PETA’s Proposal: Place Vegan Ad and We’ll Help Pay For the Patch!

For Immediate Release:
April 15, 2024

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

As officials continue monitoring a massive 60-foot-long crack that’s threatening the integrity of the Panguitch Lake Dam, PETA sent a letter today to Allen Henrie, president of the West Panguitch Irrigation & Reservoir Company, offering to contribute to the considerable cost of fixing the fissure—provided that the company agrees to place PETA’s eye-catching appeal on the dam urging residents to go vegan.

“Going vegan not only spares animals a miserable life and a terrifying death but is also one of the best things an individual can do for their own health by slashing their risk of cancer, heart disease, and other deadly illnesses,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is eager to help shore up the dam and the health of Panguitch residents with this win-win offer.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out thatEvery Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Henrie follows.

April 15, 2024

Allen Henrie

President

West Panguitch Irrigation & Reservoir Company

Dear Mr. Henrie:

Greetings! I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, including thousands across Utah, with an offer: We’ll contribute to the cost of repairing the Panguitch Lake Dam if you’ll allow us to place an eye-catching public interest message on it reading, “Give a dam about your health. Go vegan.” This win-win offer would spread a lifesaving message not only for residents and visitors but also for farmed animals. Please allow me to elaborate.

Our message is something that everyone could benefit from absorbing. The research is watertight: Consuming meat, eggs, and dairy is unhealthy and unnecessary. When it comes to our health, it’s not dam’d if I do, dam’d if I don’t: According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegans reduce their risk of developing diabetes by 62%, their chance of being hospitalized for a heart attack by 33%, their risk of suffering from heart disease by 29%, and their risk of developing cancer by 18%.

In addition, every person who goes vegan after seeing our ad would prevent nearly 200 animals a year from suffering on factory farms—where cows are routinely castrated and branded without painkillers, their horns are seared off, and newborn calves are dragged away from their loving mothers. Chickens and turkeys are crammed into filthy, ammonia-filled sheds with tens of thousands of other birds. These animals would also not be subjected to the horrors of transport trucks and slaughterhouses, where U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors report that the throats of animals are sometimes slit while they’re still conscious. We invite everyone to watch videos of all these horrors on PETA.org, and we stand ready to help everyone make the switch to healthy, humane vegan eating with the free vegan starter kits available on our website.

I hope you’ll agree that our offer holds water. We’d be happy to provide delicious vegan snacks for everyone to enjoy at the ad’s unveiling. Thank you for acting in the public interest. We look forward to your response.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President