Yonkers Firefighter Is a Finalist in PETA’s ‘Sexiest Vegan’ Contest

New York Ironman Battles It Out in an Attempt to Take Top Honors—and a Tropical Vacation

For Immediate Release:
April 22, 2019

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA is preparing to crown this year’s “Sexiest Vegan Next Door“—and Yonkers firefighter Kevin Duffy has beaten out hundreds of other entrants from across the nation to advance to the final round of 20 contestants. Visitors to PETA.org can now help PETA select the two winners, who will each receive a free vacation for two to Hawaii, courtesy of Humane Travel.

Duffy—a New York Times–profiled five-time Ironman, eight-time half-Ironman, and five-time marathon finisher—went vegan in 2015 to improve his athletic performance, and he reports that since then, his skin has improved, he’s had more energy, he’s recovered faster from workouts, and he’s reduced his Ironman time by over an hour. He’s been a professional firefighter with the city of Yonkers since 2011, and his example has prompted two of his fellow firefighters (and his mother) to go vegan, too. He also credits his vegan food choices with having helped to improve his mental health since his brother’s death on 9/11: “Healthy living, my new lifestyle, and plant-based food have helped me to change my life around, live with purpose, and give back to others,” Duffy says.

“Kevin Duffy is a living, breathing example of the strength and energy that can come from going vegan,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “All the finalists in PETA’s Sexiest Vegan Next Door contest prove that there’s nothing sexier than striving to make the world a kinder place.”

Voting to help PETA determine which finalists it should select as the winners ends at 12 noon EDT on May 13. The winners—who will be selected based on several factors, including vote count—will be announced on May 20. This is the first year that the contest is gender neutral. See the full contest details here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.