On Thursday, just days before Valentine’s Day, a troop of PETA protesters in chimpanzee masks will descend on American Greetings’ headquarters and deliver a giant valentine plea as part of a protest to urge the company to “have a heart” and stop using degrading images of great apes on its cards.
When: Thursday, February 11, 12 noon
Where: American Greetings, 1 American Blvd., Westlake
Chimpanzees and other great apes may face extinction within our lifetime, and American Greetings’ cards featuring clownish images of them are getting in the way of conservation efforts. Studies show that unnatural images of chimpanzees wearing costumes, displayed in studios, or interacting with humans mislead consumers into believing that the species is thriving rather than endangered. These portrayals also increase the black market demand for endangered great apes as “pets,” which is one of the main forces driving them toward extinction.
“PETA is asking American Greetings to have a heart this Valentine’s Day and stop exploiting chimpanzees,” says PETA primatologist Julia Gallucci. “Chimpanzees aren’t models or props, and photos of them wearing clothes or sitting at desks put these endangered animals at risk.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
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