Coronavirus Prompts ‘Go Vegan’ Face Masks

For Immediate Release:

28 January 2020

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 222; [email protected]

CORONAVIRUS PROMPTS ‘GO VEGAN’ FACE MASKS

PETA US Points to Culprit Behind Deadly Outbreaks: the Meat Industry

London –  Following the announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care that it’s conducted 73 tests for suspected cases of coronavirus in the UK, PETA US is offering new face masks (available to pre-order here) that spread a lifesaving message: Go vegan. The SARS-like virus is believed to have originated in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China – a “wet market” where live and dead animals are sold for human consumption.

Coronavirus has already infected thousands and killed at least 81 humans in China. The first cases have recently been confirmed in Australia, Mexico, and the US.

“Filthy factory farms, abattoirs, and meat markets threaten the health of every human being on the planet by providing a breeding ground for deadly diseases like coronavirus, SARS, bird flu, and more,” says PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk. “The masks urge everyone to protect themselves by avoiding meat like the plague.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – notes that, in addition to carrying a high risk of contamination from pathogens, including E coli, campylobacter, and salmonella, meat contains no fibre and is packed with artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol. Each person who goes vegan reduces their own risk of suffering from heart disease, obesity, cancer, strokes, and numerous other health concerns – and spares nearly 200 animals every year daily misery and a terrifying death. In today’s meat, egg, dairy, and fishing industries, piglets are castrated without painkillers, chickens’ throats are cut while they’re still conscious, cows are forcibly separated from their beloved calves, and fish are cut open while they’re still alive.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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