PETA activists held a”naked truth” protest outside of Downtown Jersey City’s Whole Foods over their meat labeling practices, with three people who were nearly nude laying in giant packages similar to the ones raw meat products are sold in this afternoon.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Those activists were covered in fake blood and positioned themselves on giant meat trays that were wrapped in cellophane, complete with fake labels.
“Whole Foods is betraying animals and people who care about them,” PETA campaigner Wendy Fernandez declared.
“They’re duping customers into paying more for meat dairy and eggs for meat that still comes from factory farms where animals are routinely mutilated, forcibly impregnated: It’s the same old cruelty. They’re just paying more for it.”
She also insisted the activists were wearing some skin-tone colored clothing and were warm despite temperates hovering around 20 degrees.
“These activists are here using their bodies out of their own volition. They’re choosing to do this, opposed to the animals who never had a chance,” Fernandez argued.
The activists in questions were Danni Schulman of Dumont, Max Correa of Wayne, and Shannon Murphy, of Manhattan, none of whom seemed to mind the circumstances.
A security guard watched them put the trio in the large fake meat “packages” complete with saran wrap before two Jersey City police officers arrived.
One officer asked the group to move since they were blocking the sidewalk and asked for if they had a permit. This prompted one activist to show an email on his cell phone and the police went back to simply watching from a distance.
PETA said in a statement that the Global Animal Partnership (GAP), which certifies humane meat, allows companies to place its stamp of approval on factory-farmed meat, eggs, and dairy.
As a result, they are calling on the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States to cut ties with GAP since their representatives sit on that board of directors.
“We have been met with silence,” Fernandez exclaimed.
“They are robbed of their beloved offspring. They’re shipped in freezing cold or burning heat down the highway to the slaughter house where they will witness other animals having their animals slit,” she said about their living conditions.
Fernandez did not agree with the GAP’s interpretation of what humane meat is.
“The only humane meal is a vegan one: There’s no humane way to kill an animal.”
She also indicated that they are doing similar protests throughout the country as part of their continued efforts to seek animal liberation.
Fernandez continued that the GAP label is supposed to signify humane treatment of animals. But she said PETA found great abuses.
“We found workers stomping and kicking turkeys, breaking their necks, hitting them with an iron prod and even simulating sexual acts with them,” she further stated, indicating she has video evidence.
PETA’s investigation into Plainville Farms documented that workers kicked and beat turkeys, as well as leaving injured birds to suffer without treatment. They were GAP-certified at the time.
PETA previously said that former workers at Plainville Farms were charged with six felonies and a total of 141 counts of cruelty to animals. 10 workers have been convicted so far.
“Whole Foods’ standards still allow for ‘certified’ facilities to mutilate piglets without pain relief, cram cows into filthy pens, force chickens to grow morbidly obese until they can barely walk, and kill these animals at a fraction of their natural life expectancy,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement.
“PETA encourages everyone to see the naked truth behind deceptive ‘humane’ labels, and please go vegan.”
Inside the Whole Foods, behind the butcher’s counter, was a sign that said “committed to transparency and traceability to farm or ranch.”
There was another sign that said they set the standard for animal welfare with outdoor access, pasture raised, and no “crates, cages or crowding.”
Yet another sign said “our meat department requires animal welfare certified beef, pork, chicken, and turkey. No added hormones or antibiotics ever.”
