Ferrari Driver’s ‘PETA Car’ Races Into Bowmanville

PETA Member Promotes Cruelty-Free Shopping During North American Ferrari Challenge

For Immediate Release:
September 5, 2013

Contact:
Allison Lakomski 202-483-7382

Bowmanville, Ontario – Look out, Bowmanville motorsport park: It’s the PETA Mobile. Amateur Ferrari driver Jim Weiland, who will be in Bowmanville for the North American Ferrari Challenge from September 6 through September 8, has plastered his Ferrari with several “PETA” signs and a “cruelty-free” bunny image, which the group licenses to companies that don’t test their products on animals. It’s all in support of PETA’s campaign against blinding rabbits and poisoning other animals in archaic product tests, and Weiland will drive the “PETA car” throughout the remaining two tournaments of the series. A photo of Weiland’s car is available here. 

“By putting PETA’s cruelty-free bunny logo on his Ferrari, Jim Weiland is helping racing fans across North America learn how easy it is to help animals simply by shopping cruelty-free,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA’s bunny logo makes it easy to find the thousands of companies that sell top-quality personal-care and household products that were never tested on animals.”

Rabbits and other animals used for product testing have harsh chemicals force-fed to them, rubbed into their raw and abraded skin, or dripped into their eyes, leaving them with chemical burns, swelling, hemorrhaging, or blindness. When the experiments are over, the animals are killed. These archaic tests are banned in the European Union and Israel and are not required by the U.S., and more than 1,300 companies have pledged to PETA that they will use only non-animal testing methods. A list of these cruelty-free companies is available on PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies website, where consumers can also order a free copy of PETA’s global cruelty-free shopping guide.

A native of Cleveland, Weiland is one of four drivers on the Ferrari Challenge’s R3 Motorsports “The Auto Gallery” team. He, his wife, and his young son share their home with several dogs and are proud to support PETA’s work. 

For more information, please visit PETA.org.