PETA to Qatar World Cup Fans: ‘Give Meat and Dairy the Red Card!’

Posted by on December 12, 2022 | Permalink

A referee on stilts representing PETA entities stood tall for animals and the planet today when she descended on the FIFA World Cup to call on football fans to “Give Meat and Dairy the Red Card” and go vegan.

The towering activist distributed cards explaining why plant-based eating is a winning move. Each person who goes vegan saves nearly 200 animals a year – and as the consumption of animal-derived products has been linked to increased rates of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, the lives a person saves by eating vegan foods could include their own. According to scientists, cutting out meat, eggs, and dairy is also “the single biggest way” an individual can reduce their environmental impact.

Score Big for Animals

Cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals exploited in the meat, egg, and dairy industries are often confined to filthy, crowded sheds and barns where they spend the majority of their lives indoors without sunlight or fresh air. Chickens’ lungs are often burned from breathing the ammonia in the air, piglets’ tails are cut off without painkillers, and cows’ udders become painfully inflamed due to milking.

Animal agriculture is also responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions and is devastating the planet.

Ditching meat, eggs, and dairy is an easy thing we can all do to save precious resources and spare sensitive animals. Football fans can score big for animals and the planet by enjoying delicious vegan meals on match day and every day.

Chickens crammed together on "free-range" egg farm.

Athletes Thrive on Vegan Food

More and more athletes around the globe – including Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, Chris Smalling, and Héctor Bellerín – are ditching animal-derived foods in favour of vegan eating. Legendary club Real Madrid recently partnered with plant-based meat company Meatless Farm to promote the benefits of vegan eating, while Liverpool FC encourages fans to get behind its “meat-free match days” initiative.

What You Can Do to Help Animals and the Planet

The best thing anyone can do for animals is not eat them!

Curious about going vegan? Make a New Year’s resolution to be kinder to animals: try our 30-day vegan challenge and receive top tips and recommendations.