PETA Challenges FIFA: Kick Out Budweiser and Its Animal Abuse

For Immediate Release:
June 21, 2023

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Following reports that Budweiser will be the official beer of the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the 2026 Men’s World Cup, today PETA called on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to score a goal for equines by giving the boot to Budweiser if the beer-maker won’t stop amputating the tailbones of its iconic Clydesdales.

PETA’s recent video exposé reveals that Budweiser, whose parent company is Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev, has been severing the famous horses’ tailbones with either a scalpel or a tight band that stops the blood supply to the tail, causing most of the bone to die and fall off—just so the Clydesdales will look a certain way when hitched to a beer wagon. Horses need their tails for balance and to protect themselves from biting and disease-spreading insects. This practice is illegal in many European countries, including Belgium, where AB InBev is based, as well as in 10 U.S. states.

“FIFA needs to give the red card to cruelty and drop Budweiser as a sponsor,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “There’s nothing sporting about severing Clydesdales’ tailbones.”

Both the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Equine Practitioners condemn tailbone amputation for cosmetic reasons.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Infantino follows.

June 21, 2023

Gianni Infantino

President

Fédération Internationale de Football Association

Dear Mr. Infantino:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally—to share some disturbing information and to ask for your help.

We understand that Anheuser-Busch InBev, Budweiser’s parent company, has renewed its contract with FIFA to be the official beer provider during this summer’s Women’s World Cup and the World Cup in 2026. We think you should know that Budweiser is associated with cruelty to animals. PETA has documented that the company is amputating the tailbones of its famous Budweiser Clydesdales. These amputations are done just for cosmetic reasons and serve no medical purpose. They’re performed either by severing the tailbone or by putting a tight band around the tail to cut off blood flow so that the tail and most of the bone will die and fall off. This unnecessary and permanent disfigurement causes immense pain, affects horses’ balance, and leaves them without natural protection from flies and other biting insects. Horses also depend on their tails to communicate with herdmates and humans.

Both the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association condemn severing horses’ tails unless it’s medically necessary. Many European countries, including Belgium, where Anheuser-Busch is headquartered, have banned this practice, as have 10 U.S. states. If Budweiser is concerned that tail hair could become entangled in a wagon’s hitch equipment, simply braiding and wrapping the tails would prevent this possibility.

Budweiser presents the iconic Clydesdales as symbols of traditional American values, but harming horses is the antithesis of what all fans in the U.S and around the world hold dear. Anheuser-Busch is choosing to align the Budweiser brand—and now FIFA—with the disfigurement of horses. Will you speak with the company’s executives to urge them to discontinue tailbone severing and if they refuse, drop them as a sponsor?

Thank you very much for your consideration. I’m available to answer questions, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,

Kathy Guillermo

Senior Vice President

Equine Matters Department