For immediate release:
March 2, 2021
Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382
Stockton, California. – In honor of Women’s History Month (March), PETA (an organization founded by a woman and led by women) selected a local icon. Dolores Huerta as one of five female pioneers to celebrate, and the millions who look to these women as role models may be surprised to learn that their social justice work includes protecting animals.
A pioneering trade unionist known for her fight to overhaul food production systems and protect agricultural workers, Huerta continued her work through the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which includes her advocacy for women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, civil rights and other goals. As she said: “[E]“Every moment is an opportunity for organization, every person is a potential activist, every minute is a chance to change the world,” and she brought these words to life by removing animals from the table.
“Dumping meat by the side of the road is the right move for anyone who cares about labor rights, food justice or the plight of others, whether we have fur, fins, feathers or hair,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA encourages everyone to join Dolores Huerta and her fellow visionaries to demonstrate solidarity between different species and to condemn the enslavement of any living being.”
PETA notes that sexual exploitation is widespread in the meat, egg and dairy industries, where female cows are artificially inseminated (raped by inserting a hand into the rectum and a metal rod in the vagina), chickens are sent to slaughter after their bodies are worn out. and mother pigs spend their entire adult life in cramped metal boxes. The slaughterhouses are also a nightmare for workers, many of whom are immigrants, who face some of the most dangerous working conditions in America, including the almost uncontrolled spread of COVID-19.
Other PETA award winners are educator and prison reform advocate. Angela Davis, leader of racial justice Coretta Scott King, The pioneer of Hollywood Cecely Tysonand feminist icon Gloria Steinem—All vegetarians or vegans.
PETA, whose motto is in part that “animals are not ours to eat,” is opposed to specisism, a human supremacist worldview that justifies violence against other animals. For more information please visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram…