PETA Pitches Vegan Dogs to Fightin Phils

For Immediate Release:
June 23, 2021

Contact:
Tapi Mbundure 202-483-7382

With the Reading Fightin Phils’ season underway again after being halted last year because of the pandemic—during which sales of vegan items increased by 90%—PETA let fly a letter this morning to Scott Hunsicker, the Fightin Phils’ general manager with an idea. If the team agrees to change its name to the Reading Plant-Based Phils for a select game or two, PETA would gladly give away free veggie dogs to the first 100 fans arriving at upcoming baseball games.

“The Reading Plant-Based Phils would be a wiener of a team in PETA’s playbook,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “We hope to see the team step up to the plate and hit a home run for animals, the Earth, and human health by accepting our offer with relish.”

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

PETA’s letter to Hunsicker follows.

June 23, 2021

Scott Hunsicker
General Manager

Reading Fightin Phils

Dear Mr. Hunsicker:

I’m writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide, including many thousands across Pennsylvania, with a proposal we hope you’ll sink your teeth into: Because of the increased demand nationwide for vegan hot dogs, we would be delighted if the Reading Fightin Phils would change their name to the Reading Plant-Based Phils or something similar for select games this year or next. If you agree, we will gladly hand out delicious, free vegan hot dogs to the first 100 fans as they arrive at upcoming baseball games.

The World Health Organization reports that processed meat, such as hot dogs, causes cancer, and innumerable studies show that going vegan reduces the risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, and strokes, so it’s important to do all we can to improve the fans’ health. Of course, there is another reason to consider vegan hot dogs.

Pigs, cows, and other animals commonly used for hot dogs are intelligent, sensitive individuals who feel pain and form strong bonds with others. Yet the millions who are killed in the U.S. every year are raised on filthy factory farms and endure extreme crowding and routine mutilations—without any pain relief—before they are sent on a terrifying journey to the slaughterhouse to experience a violent death. Forgoing products made from animals and opting for delicious vegan choices instead would spare living, feeling beings this miserable fate.

The number of vegans would blow the stadium roof off, rising by 3,000% in the last 15 years and continuing to climb rapidly and exponentially now. Since the start of the pandemic, 23% of Americans have been eating more cruelty-free food, and sales of vegan items in the U.S. increased by 90%. Several major brands, including Nathan’s Famous and Nestlé, are introducing their own vegan hot dogs, and many major and minor league stadiums have earned national attention for their plant-based dishes.

Eating animals is cruel and completely unnecessary. Going vegan is responsible, healthy, kind, and smart. We hope you’ll grab this opportunity like a fly ball! Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President