PETA's Vital Work
We believe that animals have an intrinsic worth of their own, quite apart from their utility to humans, and should not be treated as commodities. Therefore, PETA’s motto is “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.”
Animals are
Not Ours to Experiment on
PETA had another milestone year in our work to free animals from laboratories.
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced that it would stop funding most sepsis experiments on mice, and NIH included recommendations from PETA in a plan to invest in animal-free research.
The U.S. Army ended funding six months early for a brain-damage experiment on ferrets after hearing from PETA. Albania is joining 22 other countries that have ended the use of animals in Advanced Trauma Life Support training. PETA’s donations of 124 TraumaMan simulators since 2012 encouraged countries to make this move.
A Wisconsin National Primate Research Center sleep deprivation experiment that subjected 32 marmosets to blaring noises ran for just one night before PETA shut it down. Our vigorous activism also preceded Michele Basso’s removal as director of the Washington National Primate Research Center. PETA prevented the construction of a massive monkey importation and breeding warehouse in Texas, and our complaints about animal importer and animal testing behemoth Charles River Laboratories’ monkey business prompted an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The couple who ran a shady U.S.- funded monkey and mouse laboratory in Colombia that PETA exposed was fined more than $281,000. Criminal charges could be on the way.
It’s now illegal to conduct forced swim tests on animals in New South Wales, Australia, and the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration decided that companies wanting to make certain human health claims for food and beverages can’t test on animals. PETA worked with Virginia lawmakers to pass an animal testing transparency bill, and Louisiana’s highest court affirmed that Louisiana State University must release records to PETA regarding cruel experiments on songbirds.
PETA Science Consortium International e.V. coauthored papers on why rabbits and rats make poor substitutions for humans in eye, lung, and cancer studies that are being used to support non-animal testing. It also awarded researchers for embracing animal-free testing, led meetings at the world’s largest toxicology conference, and participated in a key meeting where 38 countries decide on international regulatory testing requirements.
PETA’s Science Advancement & Outreach division and partners won the Lush Prize, the largest award in the animal-free research community. At PETA’s request, four scientific journals will include how animals are treated in all published studies. Executive producer Bill Maher released a new PETA documentary series, The Failed Experiment, and Hilda Abrahamz, James Cromwell, and Atiana De La Hoya also joined in PETA’s campaigns to end experiments on animals.
Animals are
Not Ours to Eat
PETA exposes how animals are abused and killed in the food industry, calls on authorities to hold abusers to account, and makes vegan eating easy and popular.
In 2024, we uncovered and shared the stories of individual animals whose suffering and horrible deaths in slaughterhouses would otherwise have gone unknown: a lamb struck on the head with a crowbar, a cow whose spinal cord was hacked into while she was conscious, a lame steer who was whipped for 20 minutes, a chicken who was punched, and a turkey who was beaten. We revealed that a cow was hoisted upside down and crying out while a worker slashed her throat and left her to bleed to death.
With the help of whistleblowers, we exposed cruel practices at Ontario Water Buffalo Company and Lone Star Organic Dairy in Texas. At Lone Star, a cow was found struggling to stay afloat in a 14-foot-deep pit of feces and urine. After hearing from us, Horizon Organic, the largest supplier of organic milk in North America, suspended sourcing milk from the farm.
And when we heard that birds were being beaten and froze to death in muddy pens at American Ostrich Farms in Idaho, PETA exposed the cruelty and got local grocers to distance themselves from the farm. Our campaign to help monkeys in Thailand who are forced to pick coconuts for the coconut milk industry scored big when Thailand-based Chef’s Choice announced that it would stop sourcing from farms in Thailand and switch to importing coconuts from other countries. And thanks to PETA Asia’s investigators and negotiators, forced monkey labor has been eradicated from Whole Foods’ supply chain.
In the courts, a judge ruled that Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) unlawfully rejected PETA’s ads asking passersby to show kindness to animals by eating and shopping vegan. LA Metro was ordered to pay PETA $250,815, plus interest, for our legal fees. We will also collect legal fees for our successful challenge of North Carolina’s “ag-gag” law, which quashed free speech.
Thanks to consumer demand, compassionate diners continue to have more options, including vegan creamer on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, and United Airlines flights—a move PETA pushed for.
Many PETA friends— including Joe Duplantier, Edie Falco, and Joaquin Phoenix— helped draw massive attention to animals used for food. Cuban-Mexican actor and model Livia Brito’s anti-dairy video received 3.6 million views on her Instagram!
Animals are
Not Ours to Wear
PETA pushes companies and consumers to evolve beyond using any material derived from animals.
After PETA shared how animals on fur factory farms suffer inside cramped cages before they’re electrocuted, gassed, or poisoned, high-end outerwear brand SAM. confirmed that it no longer uses fur. Winter apparel brand Pajar Canada also ditched fur following years of pressure from PETA, and home furnishings leader Kravet Inc. confirmed that its current inventory of cruel cashmere will be its last.
Based on evidence from PETA’s 2019 investigation into the world’s largest privately owned alpaca farm, which found that alpacas were cut up and left with bloody wounds and abused in other violent ways, Peruvian authorities charged five shearers with cruelty to domestic animals, a historic first in the alpaca industry!
When PETA called foul on retailer and fundraiser GreaterGood’s claim that its products are made from “100% verified and cruelty free” wool, “[h]umanely gathered alpaca wool,” and “cruelty-free” silk, the company removed the absurd assertions from its website.
After hearing from PETA, fashion company Marc Jacobs confirmed that it would no longer sell products made from wild animals’ skin and Bulova—which is owned by industry giant Citizen Watch Company—confirmed that it no longer buys new reptile skins for its products. We worked with PETA Asia to release an investigation into how pythons are abused at facilities in Thailand that supply Caravel, a tannery owned by Gucci’s parent company. In these factories, snakes are confined before workers bash them over the head with hammers, drive metal hooks through their heads, and inflate them with water, even as the animals continue to move.
After hearing from PETA about the cruel ways birds are raised and killed for their feathers, Victoria’s Secret announced that its fall 2024 fashion show would feature only faux feathers. Fashion and accessories retailer Claire’s stated that it no longer buys feathers for its products, after we contacted the company.
We shined a spotlight on cruelty in the wool industry when PETA carolers serenaded tourists in Nashville, Tennessee, with spoof carols such as “Violent Night,” “Rudolph the Vegan Reindeer,” and “Let Wool Go” (to the tune of “Let It Snow”).
Canadian singer Bryan Adams helped us call on the Canadian Armed Forces to ditch bearskin caps as part of its ceremonial uniforms. Adams narrated our investigation showing hunters gunning down Canadian black bears, often to sell the fur to those who make ceremonial caps.
In addition to Bryan Adams, we thank Donna D’Errico, Nikki Glaser, and William Valdés, who helped us inform millions about the cruelty hiding in animal-derived materials.
Animals are
Not Ours to Use for Entertainment
PETA’s campaigns to end the use of animals in the entertainment industry were in full force in 2024.
Our undercover investigation into Atlanta Film Animals found that animals used in film and TV were denied food during “training,” sick animals were deprived of veterinary care, and workers warehoused dogs in cold, barren kennels.
We dramatically rescued American racehorse My Elusive Dream (pictured above) just in the nick of time outside a Korean slaughterhouse. Acting on a PETA complaint, Texas law enforcement raided a black market horse racing track and arrested 14 people for money laundering, unlawful racing, illegal gambling, and racketeering. For dogs used for sled racing, we kept up our calls for an end to the notorious Iditarod. This year’s race was one of the deadliest in recent years, with Bog, George, and Henry dying on the trail.
After years of pressure from PETA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a $16,000 civil penalty to tiger exhibiter Lisa Lopez of All Things Wild in Texas. Following our persistent complaints, the SeaQuest shopping mall petting zoo in Littleton, Colorado, shut down; the Sandusky County Fair in Ohio stopped using monkeys in organ grinder exhibits; and Riverside County, California, issued a cease-and-desist order to Wyld Jungle, an illegal roadside zoo in the state run by Michael Holston, a social influencer with a history of violating state wildlife laws.
Following a dynamic PETA campaign that included more than 250,000 e-mails from our supporters, spirited protests, and letters to sponsors, the Hadi Shrine Circus in Indiana will no longer exploit elephants in its shows. The use of bullhooks was banned in Virginia after our work with state legislators.
Hallmark is no longer producing cards featuring unnatural, degrading images of chimpanzee infants taken from their mothers, after years of lively PETA protests and other actions. After hearing from PETA, vegan brand Azuna stopped promoting the Kentucky Derby and Palace Tours will never sell another ticket to the Running of the Bulls.
PETA “elves” dumped massive piles of coal in front of Radio City Music Hall in New York to protest its Christmas Spectacular, which exploits camels, donkeys, and sheep in Nativity scenes. Dozens of animal rights advocates rallied outside city hall in Los Angeles to urge officials to ban rodeos. Two bodypainted “orcas” wearing shackles made a splash at San Diego International Airport in behalf of Corky, a prisoner at SeaWorld San Diego.
We thank Georgina Amorós, Alec Baldwin, Kate del Castillo, Sherlyn Gonzalez, Kathy Najimy, Maura Rivera, Bella Thorne, and Christopher von Uckermann for their help with these campaigns.
Animals are
Not Ours to Abuse in Any Other Way
PETA educates people about cruelty to animals, helps animals in danger, and holds abusers accountable.
Our undercover investigation into The Veterinarians’ Blood Bank, which confines dogs and cats and sells their blood to veterinary clinics, prompted BluePearl Pet Hospital and VCA Animal Hospitals to cut ties with the Indiana facility. A canine blood prison that we exposed in 2018, Hemopet, finally went out of business. These investigations have led to nationwide coverage about the cruelty of captive-animal blood banks.
PETA exposes a variety of cruel situations, ensures the rescue of countless animals, and pushes for—and often secures—criminal charges. Just a few examples: We exposed Pennsylvania’s massive guinea pig industry, a self-proclaimed “rescue” in Indiana where sick animals were left to suffer without veterinary care, illegal neglect at an Iowa puppy mill, and ongoing cruelty at a Virginia pet store.
PETA’s Emergency Response Team responds to thousands of calls to help animals in dire situations every year. Here are just two examples: We coordinated the surrender of 19 cold, neglected dogs in Pennsylvania, and our painstaking sleuthing resulted in the swift arrest of and multiple charges against a woman in that state who had posted “crush” videos of herself torturing and killing animals.
Our vigilance helped secure the rescue of many individual animals, including Dave, a puppy chained outside and suffering from a flea infestation, internal parasites, and mange; Pearl, a dog whose deceased companion was still chained a few feet from where she was also chained; and Jacko, an emaciated dog whose owner refused to provide him with veterinary care.
After PETA and other animal allies took action, Ojai, California, banned the sale and use of glue traps. We also persuaded Adams Fairacre Farms to ban and remove glue traps from its stores and got Singaporean company LightInTheBox to ban the sale of the vile devices.
After hearing from PETA, RKD Group—a company that serves nonprofits—will stop using flat-faced dogs in its advertisements. Rite Aid agreed not to sell greeting cards containing images of breathing-impaired dogs.
We partnered with the Humane Society of Puerto Rico for several spay/neuter events, which sterilized and vaccinated over 400 animals. We also held several spay/neuter events in rural Southwest Virginia, an underserved area of the state, sterilizing hundreds of animals free of charge.
Our annual adoption event, Poochella, included 11 participating shelters! Many dogs found homes, and several city officials stopped by to show their support.
We received help with our anti-cruelty campaigns from Irene Aldana, Sam Asghari, Kelsey Cook, Chad Daniels, John 5, Kathy Griffin, Joan Jett, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Eli Rodriguez, Marjorie de Sousa, Daniel Suárez, Solomon Thomas, and Lisa Ann Walter.
Animal Rights:
The Next Generation
PETA’s youth division is empowering young people with the knowledge and tools to reject the speciesist status quo and change the future for animals.
We brought PETA’s animatronic educators, Carly the cow and Ellie the elephant, to more than 19,000 students at schools and after-school programs across the country to teach young people about kindness to animals.
Our jaw-dropping Abduction tour landed at more than 20 schools to “abduct” over 1,000 students into a virtual reality experience that shows them what it’s like for animals in laboratories. Tour stops included high-profile universities such as Yale, Princeton, MIT, Brown, and Johns Hopkins. We also brought Abduction to the PETA exhibit at the South by Southwest media convention in Austin, Texas. Professionals and creatives around the world were blown away by the exhibit, using words like “strong,” “powerful,” and “thought-provoking.”
We brought to life the peta2 “Your Sign to Save Animals” campaign at several music events throughout the U.S. Attendees were invited to spin our zodiac wheel to discover their astrological constellation and how they should help animals according to the stars.
We launched “Cut Out Dissection,” a campaign that features everything a student needs to know about animal dissection and how to get it out of their school. TeachKind Science, PETA’s humane science education division, donated nearly 1,500 eMind accounts and more than 600 synthetic frogs to help schools replace archaic animal dissection with superior, modern, humane teaching methods. TeachKind Science gained visibility by sponsoring educational organizations, attending their conferences, and presenting dissection-themed displays.
TeachKind organized “Meet the Author” events with Stewart Mitchell, author of Liberation Summer, at 18 New York City–area elementary schools; awarded its first Chicken Crusaders Award to Camille Licate, author of Bree and Me: A True Story of a Rescue Rooster’s Journey, and rooster Bree; printed its first book, Unlocking the Animal World: Incredible Facts and How Kids Can Be Superheroes for Animals by Ingrid Newkirk, and mailed thousands of copies to public libraries around the country; and launched “Words Matter,” a language guide to help teachers and parents avoid speciesist language.
PETA friends Dana Heath, Alicia Silverstone, and her son, Bear, helped with PETA’s youth outreach efforts.
PETA's
Global Compassion Fund
PETA’s Global Compassion Fund helps groups provide animals in dire situations around the world with vital resources.
Humans aren’t the only ones victimized by the war in Ukraine. This year, PETA’s Global Compassion Fund helped rescue more than 17,000 dogs, cats, goats, pigs, horses, and other animals and delivered more than 3 million pounds of food and other provisions for hungry and often shell-shocked animals. When Kharkiv was under siege, we rushed to help a rescue group evacuate the more than 800 animals in its care from the battle zone to safer areas.
PETA supports a free veterinary clinic for animals in Petra, Jordan. When a rabies outbreak among free-roaming dogs jeopardized public safety, including the lives of already weary working animals, clinic staff quickly began vaccinating any dog they encountered. They also helped horse and donkey handlers replace horrible chain halters, which cause painful wounds to their noses and jaws, with more comfortable harnesses; sterilized more than 30 cats who were living in squalor and breeding outside a luxury resort; and presented a Compassionate Citizen workshop to the Petra military school for boys.
PETA entities are running robust spay/neuter programs around the world:
- Volunteer pop-up clinics in Argentina, Mexico, and Peru sterilized more than 1,485 animals.
- A PETA Asia clinic sterilized 422 animals.
- In Mexico, it’s been estimated that 79% of dogs and cats are homeless. PETA and our partners are working to address the homeless-animal crisis there. Since 2021, the Global Compassion Fund has supported 19 spay/neuter clinics, sterilizing more than 5,270 animals, mainly in Yucatán, southern Mexico, and Zamora. We’ve also helped hundreds of dogs in the field, providing doghouses and lightweight tie-outs, cleaning up living areas, and treating dogs for fleas, ticks, and mange. This year, we helped rescue and find adoptive homes for chained dogs and brought four dogs to the U.S. for adoption.
PETA India’s and Animal Rahat’s emergency response teams continue to respond to calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, rescuing dogs, cats, cows, bullocks, camels, horses, donkeys, goats, monkeys, and other animals from desperate circumstances. This year, in addition to opening a temporary sanctuary in Kolkata for horses recovering from neglect and abuse, Animal Rahat rescued 23 donkeys toiling in brick kilns, including five who were pregnant. At its three peaceful sanctuaries for retired and rescued animals, Animal Rahat is now caring for more than 550 animals of 17 species.
PETA India is committed to ending animal exploitation and fostering sustainable livelihoods by replacing working animals with energy-efficient, mechanized rickshaws and carriages. This year, the group celebrated its 150th animal retired from a lifetime of miserable work.
PETA India also celebrated Gemini Circus’ decision to make history as the first in India to introduce robotic animals. In addition, actors Aindrita Ray, Diganth Manchale, and Priyamani—along with PETA India—donated life-size mechanical elephants to Sri Suttur Math and the Thrikkayil Mahadeva Temple so that devotees can participate in sacred customs in a safe and animal-friendly manner.
PETA India’s lifelike animatronic elephant, Ellie, was on tour across Delhi teaching children the importance of kindness and empathy. Since her first tour in India in May 2023, Ellie has visited 66 schools with 284 workshop sessions that have reached a whopping 58,440 young learners.
Animal Rahat and PETA India are visiting schools throughout India, engaging millions of children through Compassionate Citizen, an award-winning humane education program that’s designed to help students ages 8 to 12 better understand and appreciate animals. Thousands of children participated in Animal Rahat’s drawing contests, expressing the importance of helping birds. The group also hosted several fun-filled field days, including one at a local orphanage, to teach kids about treating all animals with compassion. Students who visited the group’s sanctuaries in Gundlupet and Ranapur enjoyed delicious vegan lunches donated by actor Alicia Silverstone.