Rise Against, Craig Owens in the Running for peta2 Award

Artists’ Commitment to Helping Animals Is Music to Young People’s Ears

For Immediate Release:
November 24, 2014

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

With more animal-friendly celebrities on the scene than ever, peta2, PETA’s youth division, has nominated a throng of punk musicians for its ninth annual Libby Awards, with categories such as Most Animal-Friendly Band, Hero of the Year to Animals, and Best peta2 Ad. The Libby Awards (“Libby” for “liberation,” as in animal liberation) includes a record 26 categories this year. Visitors to peta2.com can cast their votes to help peta2 decide the Libby Award winners and enter for a chance to win a giant Libby prize pack filled with goodies from last year’s winners, including cookbooks, grooming products, and vegan treats.

This year’s music nominees include punk smash INVSN (fronted by longtime vegan Dennis Lyxzén), which will battle it out for Most Animal-Friendly Band with Rise Against, whose many animal-friendly credits include Tim McIlrath’s opposition to using animals for entertainment. Craig Owens, the lead singer of metal band Chiodos and an outspoken opponent of SeaWorld, is up for Hero of the Year to Animals, and Asking Alexandria, which starred in a pro-adoption campaign, has a chance to walk away with Best peta2 Ad.

“Today’s young people are socially conscious and engaged, which makes it vitally important for them to see their favorite brands and celebrities showing their support for animals,” says PETA Director of Youth Outreach and Campaigns Marta Holmberg. “All of peta2’s nominees are winners because they’re taking a stand for their beliefs and inspiring kids to do the same.”

Voting ends on December 12 at 12 p.m. EST. Libby Award winners will be chosen by peta2—whose motto reads, “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way”—based on several factors, including vote count, and will be announced on December 16. See the full contest details here.

For more information and to cast your vote to help peta2 decide whom it should choose as Libby Award winners, please visit peta2.com or click here.