Will Houston’s National Museum of Funeral History Think Outside the Box? PETA Offers a Casket Display With a Lasting Message

For Immediate Release:
October 29, 2024

Contact:
Maddy Missett 202-483-7382

In time for Halloween, PETA sent a letter today to the National Museum of Funeral History with a deadly serious offer. The group will provide a full-size casket for animal rights–oriented loved ones bearing the message “Life Is Short—Don’t Wait to Go Vegan” to display in the museum’s collection as well as a vegan food giveaway to promote the new installation if the funerary facility agrees to let those who wish to continue their activism from beyond the grave do so. PETA points out that its casket would help educate the living about the animals who are tormented and killed every day for human use and remind everyone about the reapercussions of eating cholesterol-laden meat, eggs, and dairy, which increase the risk of suffering from heart disease, strokes, obesity, and numerous other potentially fatal ailments and conditions.

“Cows, chickens, pigs, and other animals feel pain and fear as acutely as humans do and have lives precious to them, but they’re condemned to die in blood-soaked facilities that are straight out of a horror movie,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is asking the National Museum of Funeral History to display a coffin that would encourage visitors to spare animals’ lives and possibly keep the need for their own caskets at bay by going vegan.”

Newkirk has bequeathed her body parts to PETA to use in various forms of activism after her departure from this mortal coil.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

I can be reached at 760-994-8576 or [email protected]. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

PETA’s letter to the National Museum of Funeral History follows.

October 29, 2024

Robert M. Boetticher Sr.

Chair

The National Museum of Funeral History

Dear Mr. Boetticher:

Greetings! I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters worldwide, including thousands in Texas—with an offer to die for: May we send you a full-size PETA-inscribed casket to display in the National Museum of Funeral History?

In 2022, PETA created a series of caskets in partnership with Titan Casket to help animal rights supporters continue their activism beyond the grave by inspiring others to put a nail in the coffin of animal slaughter. We’d be bury happy to send you a blue casket adorned with a message for those left behind: “Life Is Short—Don’t Wait to Go Vegan”:

Like you, PETA aims to educate the public about death—specifically, the deaths of other species exploited by humans for experiments, food, clothing, and entertainment. Our investigations show that animals are beaten, stomped on, choked, mutilated without painkillers, forced to live in filthy and crowded conditions, and hacked to pieces in slaughterhouses and on fur and “exotic” skin farms, often while still conscious. As we all know, every sentient being, including you and me, feels fear and pain and craves freedom from oppression. Every museum visitor who takes our message to heart and chooses to go vegan would spare nearly 200 animals each year.

Such a memournable display would also remind humans about the ways they can improve their own health and so avoid an early trip to the grave. A 2024 analysis of more than 20 years of research found that vegan eating significantly reduces the risk of various types of cancer, heart and cardiovascular diseases, and obesity—and of course, there’s no nutritional need for humans to consume flesh, eggs, or dairy, as all our dietary needs can be met with vegan food.

If you like our offer, we’d be delighted to also send materials, including posters showing how animals are treated in the meat and dairy industries and even to host

a vegan food giveaway or wake with you to promote the new addition to your museum. I look forward to digging into this opportunity with you. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President