Update: PETA Protester Cited at Chrysler Iditarod Protest
For Immediate Release:
January 14, 2019
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Earlier today, PETA members descended on the Detroit Auto Show for a peaceful protest of a Chrysler franchise that continues to support the deadly Iditarod dog race. During the event, an activist in a dog costume took a sledgehammer to a Chrysler car spray-painted with the message “Chrysler Drives Dogs to Death.” She was handcuffed and cited for disorderly conduct. Video footage is available here. Police seized the car and sledgehammers.
“The public has a right to know that the Iditarod forces dogs to run so far, so fast, and in such extreme weather conditions that some choke to death on their own vomit,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA hopes Chrysler will join Costco, Rite Aid, Wells Fargo, and the many other companies that have cut ties with this cruel event and refused to support the despicable dog-killing Iditarod.”
PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and more information about the Iditarod is available here. A copy of PETA’s media alert about today’s event is available below.
MEDIA ALERT – MEDIA ALERT – MEDIA ALERT
‘DOG PACK’ TO PROTEST CHRYSLER OVER IDITAROD SPONSORSHIP
PETA Presence at Detroit Auto Show Will Urge Anchorage Dealership to Stop Bankrolling Race That Hurts, Kills Dogs
A Chrysler franchise in Anchorage, Alaska, still sponsors the Iditarod, even though 150 dogs have died since the race began, prompting a pack of PETA “dogs” to descend on the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Monday with a Chrysler car spray-painted with the message “Chrysler Sponsors Dog Abuse.” Protesters will also hold signs proclaiming, “Chrysler: Stop Driving Dogs to Their Death.”
When: Monday, January 14, 12 noon
Where: At the intersection of Washington Boulevard and W. Jefferson Service Road, Detroit
“No company should want its name attached to a race that forces dogs to run so far, so fast, and in such extreme weather conditions that some choke to death on their own vomit,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Chrysler to cut ties with the despicable, dog-killing Iditarod.”
PETA, whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” notes that hundreds of dogs are pulled from the Iditarod every year because they’re too injured or ill to go on—and countless ones die immediately after the race, during training, or while chained to plastic barrels outside during the off-season.
Jack Daniel’s recently ended its 15-year Iditarod sponsorship, adding its name to a long list of companies—including Costco, Maxwell House, Nestlé, Pizza Hut, Rite Aid, Safeway, and Wells Fargo—that have cut ties with the race.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
