Written by Jeff Mackey
ELAN, the übertalented band out of Guadalajara, Mexico, represents a unique voice in rock 'n' roll—and now they're urging everyone to speak up for animals. In both English- and Spanish-language interviews with PETA, brother-and-sister band members Elán (lead singer) and Jan Carlo DeFan (guitar) explain why animals deserve our consideration, how the overpopulation crisis causes suffering, and the importance of speaking up for all animals who need help.
Every different culture has a different respect for certain kinds of animals, but very rare cultures have respect for all animals," Jan Carlo explains. He adds that in touring around the world, they've seen how an animal may be considered a companion in one country and something less in another, "and it's really, really unjust." The main takeaway? Be responsible and take care of animals because "they can't speak for themselves.
Find your voice—never be silent when animals are in need.
Written by PETA
The following is a guest post by Heather Carlson, PETA's manager of Communications.
This year for spring break, I was looking forward to spending a week in Mexico with my family. We planned to relax, scuba dive for the first time, and enjoy each other's company. But when we looked out our bus windows while traveling in the rural Yucatán Peninsula, we saw chickens and pigs in small crates, underweight cows tied to trees, and stray dog after stray dog.
As we arrived in a small Mayan village, I glimpsed a small, seemingly hairless figure out of the corner of my eye. I thought to myself, "That could not possibly have been a dog." The tour bus pulled into the parking lot of a flea market, and as the other tourists filed in to the store, my family and I ran back up the street to the tiny convenience store where I thought I had spotted the dog. Sure enough, there she was: small, nearly hairless, and riddled with mange. Although we approached slowly so that we wouldn't spook her, she cowered and ran away. We were close enough to see that she was dreadfully thin and that her body was riddled with open abscesses—her skin cracked from the progression of the disease that was eating her alive.
The people working at the little store didn't understand our questions about the dog, so we ran back to the tourist market and asked if there was an animal shelter or a vet in the area who could help us with a dog suffering from mange. They did not fully understand us, but they nodded and said "sarna" (which I later learned means "mange") and indicated that there was no animal hospital anywhere in the area. With the tour bus leaving; no car, taxi, or bus services nearby; and barely anyone who spoke English there to help us, my family and I left some food near where we'd seen the dog and reluctantly left her there in Ebtún.
From that moment forward, I made it my mission to find her help. I called home, and PETA's Casework Division worked hard to put me in touch with activists in the area who might be able to help get medical treatment for the dog, whom we had started to call "Maya." One of PETA's caseworkers helped me find someone willing to drive me back to Ebtún, and we spent a day walking around the village looking for her. The villagers indicated that Maya frequented the spot in front of the store but that they hadn't seen her since early that morning. I had to fly back home the next morning and, upon nightfall, we had to leave Ebtún—without little Maya.
When I got back home, I continued looking for someone who could make the journey back to Ebtún to try again to find the dog. After e-mailing, networking via Facebook, and getting in touch with animal lovers in the area, I learned more about the plight of animals in the Yucatán Peninsula. Activists there have quite a challenge in front of them—in a country that openly advertises cockfights on city streets, little is known about spaying and neutering, and there are few protections for animals.
Even though significant time had passed and the odds were clearly stacked against her, I recently received some amazing news—Maya had been rescued. Sophie Van Den Abeele and Emma Guerrero of Cancun Animal Rescue made the three- to four-hour journey from Cancun to Ebtún and spent the day trying to find the little street dog with "sarna"—who, as it turns out, the local villagers had named Muñeca. They found Muñeca just as scared, still suffering from mange, and seemingly pregnant. While they were loading her into the van, another dog approached, and they quickly discerned that she was suffering from a tumor in her vulva. The locals reported that she was also a stray, and so Abeele and Guerrero were able to bring her back with them as well. They arrived back home late at night, and a local vet they often work with tended to the dogs' immediate needs—including removing the second dog's tumor. Both dogs were spayed and have started on the road to rehabilitation.
Please never leave a suffering animal behind if you find one while on vacation. I'm not the only person whose life was touched by what we learned in Mexico—in part because of the suffering of the animals they witnessed from the bus windows on the way to Chichén Itzá, two more members of my family went vegetarian. As a result of our spring break vacation to Mexico this year, I have reserved a special place in my heart for the animals there and for compassionate people like Sophie and Emma who have dedicated their lives to helping them.
Donations to help fund Sophie and Emma's work can be made to the PayPal account of Cancun Animal Rescue Change My World A.C.
Given the escalating violence among young people, it's impossible to understand how anyone can cheer for 12-year-old bullfighter Michel Lagravere, who boasts that he has stabbed seven bulls to death. It's also disturbing that people continue to egg the young man on even after he was recently tossed around by a bull in a Mexican bullfight:
The misguided child walked away with only minor injuries, but that bull's days are still numbered. Bulls don't stand a chance in the arena—especially not when even a 12-year-old is permitted to torture them to death.
Did you know that bulls are physically harmed and provoked before they are let into the arena? They are beaten and sometimes have their horns shaved. Then, surrounded by the screaming crowd, the confused bulls will naturally fight for their lives as men on horses run them in circles and stab them with knives until the animals are dizzy and weakened from blood loss. Finally, the matador comes in for the killing stab when the exhausted bull is already near death.
Please contact Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhán to politely voice your objection to bullfighting and to tell him that you won't be vacationing in Mexico until bullfights are banned for good.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
It's been a whirlwind week for PETA's seal. To keep pressure on Canada to stop letting people shoot baby seals and bash their heads in, PETA's sombrero-sporting seal followed Mexican President Felipe Calderón around to all his stops during his visit to Canada on Thursday.
President Calderón's visit received tons of media attention, and PETA's seal even got a shout-out from Canwest News Service. The seal almost got to shake hands—er, flippers—with President Calderón, but I'm sure that the seal would have preferred to give him a hug, considering that Mexico banned seal imports years ago.
On Monday, PETA's seal was back in action—this time wearing a yarmulke—while tailing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Canada.
What hat will PETA's seal wear next? Stay tuned for updates. And in the meantime, why not let Canadian officials know that the cruel seal slaughter makes you want to blow your top.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
Our neighbors to the south have been busy bees for animals lately. Last Saturday, more than 9,000 people took part in a massive activist-organized march for animal rights in Mexico City. How inspiring are these pics?!
The event raised tons of awareness, got lots of media coverage, and allowed organizers to gather more than 6,500 signatures on a petition asking the government to introduce tougher penalties—including jail time—for people who are convicted of cruelty to animals. Not bad for a day's work.
If you are the mood for a margarita and a march for animals, swing by Mexico City on June 27 to join this stellar group of people for another march in honor of Mexico City's official Animal Rights Day. Or if you are just feeling inspired by all this activism, be an amigo to animals by trying one or two of PETA's easy summer outreach ideas.
After dealing with the pot smugglers who hid almost a ton of marijuana in a banana delivery near the U.S.-Mexico border last month, David Aguilar—the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection—could probably use a boost. So we've got a proposal that's sure to make him smile: Help get rid of another addiction epidemic by hanging our "Say No to Pot (Roast)" signs on the border.
Knowing that meat consumption is linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and many types of cancer, you'd have to be on drugs to willingly eat carcasses. And that makes sense because meat-eaters are on drugs. Animal products are loaded with antibiotics, dioxins, and hormones that have all been linked to myriad health complications. The green godsend that we can't get enough of? Vegan cooking.
Written by Logan Scherer
Thanks to all the bad habits immigrating from north of the border, the childhood obesity epidemic in Mexico is growing quickly, and school lunches loaded with fattening meat and dairy products are largely to blame. Luckily, we know just how to help Mexican schools tackle this hefty issue: Meat-Free Mondays.
We sent a letter to Mexico's secretary of education, Alonso Lujambio Irazábal, asking that the government adopt Meat-Free Mondays in all public schools. Meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than vegetarians are, and researchers have found that children as young as 3 years old can already begin to show signs of coronary heart disease. Vegan meals don't have any heart-clogging cholesterol and are some of the healthiest options for any cafeteria lunch line.
While we wait to hear back from Mexican officials, it's easy to get your local schools to adopt Meat-Free Mondays. To participate, schools simply need to commit to cutting out meat once a week. In return for their commitment, we'll honor any schools that sign up with a launch party, free materials, and a certificate.
Fit students, an exciting party, and delicious, healthy food—what more could a school ask for?
Written by Liz Graffeo
In a landmark move, the jockeys at the Penn National Race Course voted last week to refuse to ride in any races in which horses owned by Michael Gill would be running. Jockeys only get paid when they win, place, or show in races, so giving up a job is a serious move. The vote came after a horse owned by Gill, one of the horse-racing industry's most prominent horse owners, collapsed 20 yards past the finish line at Penn National and had to be euthanized. Gill has a long history of animal fatalities, and this was the breaking point for the jockeys, who in the last 13 months alone saw 10 of Gill's horses be euthanized after suffering injuries during races. At long last, Penn National has finally asked the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission to investigate the fatal breakdowns of Gill's horses. And just this week, Michael Gill announced that he is quitting the business because of the boycott and the investigation. Good riddance.
While Gill's case might seem extraordinary, the problems within the industry are systemic. Every year, more than 1,000 thoroughbreds die on tracks in the U.S., and this death toll does not include those injured horses who are euthanized away from the track or the 15,000 thoroughbreds who are sent to slaughter in Canada and Mexico every year.
Part of the problem is that injured and sore horses are pumped up with medications and painkillers to keep them running when they should be resting. Racing these horses just to squeeze out a paycheck leads to breakdowns and death. Because many veterinarians in the horse-racing industry are complicit in these practices, PETA is calling on the Pennsylvania State Board of Veterinary Medicine to investigate the vets at Penn National—especially those used by Gill.
It goes without saying that you should shun all horse races and urge the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to enforce breeding limits. As evidenced by the case of Michael Gill—who is only a single person in a huge industry—this is a matter of life and death.
Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams already has enough accolades to span two lifetimes—Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and Pro Bowl MVP, to name a few—and after he reigned over our Faux–Chicken Wing Taste Test today, we'd like to dub him an MVP: Most Valuable Palate.
The vegetarian NFL star hosted our event at his restaurant, Proof, in Miami. The winning wings may have been gardein buffalo wings, but considering all the chickens who got to keep their own wings, all the arteries that didn't get clogged, and all the taste buds that were more-than-tickled, it sounds to me like the party left everyone happy!
Sure, some men joke about how to score with women, but the horse-racing industry's use of stallions to impregnate tens of thousands of mares—in the quest for one big winner—is no laughing matter.
The good news is that thoroughbred breeding stats for 2009 show a decline in the number of horses who were bred. The number of stallions bred dropped almost 9 percent, and the number of mares bred fell 13.5 percent, according to The Jockey Club. Don't misunderstand—there's still a whole lotta suffering in the making. This year alone, more than 45,000 mares were "covered" (bred), which means that tens of thousands of foals will be born into the racing industry and face the risk of suffering broken bones, being drugged, and being abandoned, neglected, or shipped overseas for slaughter when they are no longer considered "useful." Most of the slaughtering of U.S. horses takes place in Mexico and Canada: More than 100,000 U.S. horses per year are trucked to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered (and more than 10,000 of those horses are thoroughbreds formerly used for racing).
The Kentucky Derby and other high-stakes races represent the suffering of thousands of horses—day in and day out, year in and year out. While the drop in breeding means that fewer horses will be born to suffer a lifetime of abuse, there's still much more work to be done. Take a minute to check out our investigation into a Japanese horse slaughterhouse and write to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and demand breeding limits.
Written by Karin Bennett
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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