Now that the Cleveland Indians have scored a home run by pledging to change their name to the Cleveland Guardians, PETA sent a letter this afternoon to the team\u2019s general manager, Mike Chernoff, asking him to continue the spirit of inclusivity by adding a vegan hot dog mascot to the Hot Dog Derby tradition. The group has offered to purchase the meat-free mascot\u2019s costume and to treat all the players to veggie dogs, which are already sold at Progressive Field<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPigs, cows, and turkeys used for hot dogs value their lives and don\u2019t deserve to become a stadium snack, so let\u2019s go to bat for them,\u201d says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. \u201cPETA hopes the team will introduce a delightful vegan wiener in a win for animals, the environment, and the health of its fans.\u201d<\/p>\n PETA\u2014whose motto reads, in part, that \u201canimals are not ours to eat\u201d\u2014opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org<\/strong><\/a> or follow the group on Twitter<\/strong><\/a>, Facebook<\/strong><\/a>, or Instagram<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n PETA\u2019s letter to Chernoff follows.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n August 9, 2021<\/p>\n Mike Chernoff<\/p>\n General Manager<\/p>\n Cleveland Indians<\/p>\n Dear Mr. Chernoff:<\/p>\n I\u2019m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide, including thousands in Ohio and countless sports fans. Now that you\u2019ve scored a home run<\/em> by switching your team\u2019s name to the Cleveland Guardians, we have a pitch<\/em> that we hope you\u2019ll embrace as a way to continue that spirit of inclusivity: Will you please add a vegan hot dog mascot to your Hot Dog Derby? If you agree, we\u2019ll gladly buy the Veggie Dog\u2019s costume and veggie dogs (sold in your stadium) for all the players.<\/p>\n I assure you, our request isn\u2019t coming out of left field<\/em>. In 2019, Progressive Field was ranked among our top 10 vegan-friendly ballparks, and over the last 15 years, the number of vegans in the U.S. has risen by 3,000%. Whether it\u2019s for ethical, environmental, or health-related reasons, 57% of Americans now purchase vegan foods in place of meat and dairy, and vegan food sales have grown 43% in the past two years. Even Nathan\u2019s Famous recently added a vegan dog!<\/p>\n Promoting a vegan hot dog is also a great way to be a guardian<\/em> of your fans\u2019 health\u2014the World Health Organization reports that processed meats such as hot dogs cause cancer, and innumerable studies show that going vegan reduces the risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, and strokes. And of course, there\u2019s another reason to consider vegan hot dogs.<\/p>\n Pigs, cows, and other animals\u00a0commonly used for hot dogs are sentient beings who enjoy life, form strong bonds with others, and experience pain and fear, just like dogs (and baseball players). Yet the millions who are killed in the U.S. every year are raised on filthy factory farms, where they endure extreme crowding\u00a0and routine mutilations\u2014without any pain relief\u2014before they\u2019re sent on a terrifying journey to the slaughterhouse and violently killed.<\/p>\n We hope you\u2019ll take this opportunity to step up to the plate<\/em> by giving vegan fans someone to cheer for in your Hot Dog Derby and representation in Tribe Hot Dogs\u2019 community outreach. Thank you for your time and consideration\u2014I look forward to hearing from you. Best of luck this season!<\/p>\n Very truly yours,<\/p>\n Ingrid Newkirk<\/p>\n President<\/p>\n The post PETA Pitches Veggie Dog Mascot to Soon-to-Be Cleveland Guardians<\/a> appeared first on PETA<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n This post was originally published on Blog \u2013 PETA<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now that the Cleveland Indians have scored a home run by pledging to change their name to the Cleveland Guardians, PETA sent a letter this afternoon to the team\u2019s general manager, Mike Chernoff, asking him to continue the spirit of inclusivity by adding a vegan hot dog mascot to the Hot Dog Derby tradition. The… Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n The post PETA Pitches Veggie Dog Mascot to Soon-to-Be Cleveland Guardians<\/a> appeared first on PETA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":708,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2153],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/708"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":269846,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269845\/revisions\/269846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}