New ‘Believe’ Ad Includes Animal Rights

PETA Urges Opening Our Hearts and Rejecting All Prejudices That Cause Pain, Including Speciesism

For Immediate Release:
October 27, 2020

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

PETA has a long history of supporting Pride marches and protests against racism, and now it’s putting up a billboard that links every form of injustice, from homophobia to denying rights to immigrants to speciesism—the belief that, despite their complex social structures and intelligence, all other animal species are inferior to humans.

Although other animals differ from humans in various ways, those differences do not justify exploitation. It’s as indefensible as denying women the right to vote because they’re different from men or forcing children to work in sweat shops because they’re powerless to defend themselves. Other animals are the same as humans in the ways that matter: They feel pain, joy, love, fear, and despair—and only tyranny allows them to be exploited in laboratories, in the meat and dairy industries, on fur and wool farms, at roadside zoos and marine parks, and wherever else they’re treated as commodities rather than individuals.

“Bigotry and bullying are always wrong—the identity of the victim is unimportant,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is encouraging everyone to challenge prejudice, confront cruelty, and work hard for a fair and peaceful world for all.”

Although it’s 2020, because of prejudice, highly social monkeys are caged alone in laboratories; billions of cows, chickens, pigs, and other animals are cut to pieces in slaughterhouses every year; sheep are beaten with metal shears and mutilated on wool farms; and tigers are whipped to force them to perform.

To erode speciesism, PETA recommends buying only cosmetics and household products that weren’t tested on animals, choosing vegan foods and fashions, avoiding animal entertainment, and otherwise rejecting all forms of animal exploitation.

The billboard is located on Orleans Street, 400 feet west of Gay Street. PETA has also placed the ad in Washington, D.C., and the group offers a T-shirt and lawn sign featuring the same message in the PETA Shop.

PETA’s motto reads, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.