Paul S. Michaels, President Mars, Inc.
December 12, 2007
Paul S. Michaels, President
Mars, Inc.
6885 Elm St.
McLean, VA 22101
Dear Mr. Michaels:
When I helped promote Mars green M&M's last year, I had no idea that your company funded and supported hideous experiments that involved shoving feeding tubes down rats' throats for months, cramming mice into underwater chambers for hours, forcing mice to swim in pools of paint and water, cutting out rabbits' blood vessels to their hearts, surgically ripping open rats' legs to expose arteries, and sticking needles into rats' hearts. When my friends at PETA showed me evidence that Mars continues to fund cruel and pointless animal tests, I was shocked—and it takes a lot to shock me.
I'm aware that your largest competitor, Hershey's, has pledged not to fund or conduct animal tests in their research. Surely Mars can match Hershey's commitment to provide tasty treats without forcing animals to suffer in labs. Please don't be a grinch. Until you promise to end all support for animal experiments done for your ingredients, I'll be encouraging everyone I know to choose other candy, like Hershey's, this holiday season.
Please let me hear from you. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Pamela Anderson
Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland
20 June 2007
The Honourable Tarja Halonen
President of the Republic of Finland
Mariankatu 2 00170 Helsinki
Dear President Halonen:
As a person of Finnish descent, I am thrilled to be visiting Finland. I’ll be there for this weekend’s Rauma Festival. Although I am proud of my heritage, I was disappointed to learn that Finland kills more foxes for their fur than just about any other nation on the planet. My friends at PETA tell me that 4 million animals are raised and killed on Finnish fur farms every year. In this day and age, violence is not an export that any country should be proud of.
Maybe you’ve never thought about it, but from the moment they are born to the moment they die, animals on fur farms suffer tremendously. After months of being confined to crowded, filthy cages, animals on fur farms are killed by suffocation, neck-breaking, or genital or anal electrocution. Sometimes these crude killing methods only stun animals, and they end up being skinned alive.
As you are no doubt aware, Austria and the UK have banned fur farms, and Holland is phasing out fox and chinchilla farming. It’s time for Finland to move into the 21st century and follow suit.
President Halonen, will you please make the compassionate and progressive decision to ban fur farming in Finland? I look forward to your response regarding this important matter.
Kindest regards,
Pamela Anderson
Michael B. Polk, President Unilever
April 3, 2007
Michael B. Polk, President
Unilever
700 Sylvan Ave.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632-3201
Dear Mr. Polk:
Thank you for asking me to represent Unilever’s AXE brand. However, as a PETA supporter and a friend to animals, I cannot represent a company that continues to engage in animal testing.
I realize that Unilever has taken significant steps to reduce the amount of animal tests that it conducts. Although I appreciate the fact that you are making progress on this front, please note that I will only consider working with your company after it has eliminated all animal testing—regardless of circumstances, such as new ingredient technology.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Pamela Anderson
John E. Potter, Postmaster General and CEO U.S. Postal Service
January 10, 2007
The Honorable John E. Potter
Postmaster General and CEO
U.S. Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plz. S.W. Washington, DC 20260
Dear Mr. Postmaster General:
I’m writing on behalf of my friends at PETA to ask you to deny KFC’s request that you issue a Colonel Sanders postage stamp. KFC causes rampant cruelty to animals. Honoring a man whose legacy involves breaking animals’ bones and scalding animals to death in defeathering tanks is contrary to the values of most compassionate citizens, and I hope that you’ll deny KFC’s request. How about another Elvis stamp instead?
I recently hosted a video exposé documenting the unimaginable abuse found at the factory farms and slaughterhouses of KFC’s suppliers, and I invite you to watch it: www.KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. KFC’s animal welfare advisors and PETA have recommended that KFC require its suppliers to change the way they breed, gather, and slaughter birds so as to eliminate the worst abuses that these birds face, like suffering from crippling diseases and broken bones, having their throats slit, and being scalded to death while still conscious. Sadly, KFC refuses to take animal welfare seriously. Years after the company made assurances that its suppliers treat animals well, PETA documented workers in a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse who were slamming birds into walls, stomping on them, spray-painting their faces, spitting tobacco into their eyes, and worse. Other investigations at KFC suppliers worldwide have documented similar abuse.
I look forward to hearing back from you on this matter.
Kindest regards,
Pamela Anderson
Matt Tupper, President and CEO POM Wonderful
October 19, 2006
Matt Tupper, President and CEO
POM Wonderful, LLC
11444 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90064-1549
Dear Mr. Tupper:
I just learned from my friends at PETA that POM has been funding deadly animal tests. I’m shocked that these experiments—like the one in which an experimenter artificially created erectile dysfunction in rabbits with painful balloon injuries to their arteries—are being conducted to test the health effects of juice, especially when there are alternatives that provide accurate results without hurting anyone.
That’s why I’ve decided to call for a boycott and post a feature on my Web site highlighting the horrible things that POM has paid experimenters to do to animals, unless you can assure me of two things:
1. POM and the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Trust will follow the lead of Welch’s and many of your pomegranate juice competitors (e.g., Frutzzo, Naked, Old Orchard, etc.) by signing a statement promising not to fund or conduct tests on animals ever again, unless it is legally required.
2. If POM believes that some test is legally required, POM will discuss that test with PETA’s director of regulatory testing first, so that PETA can suggest alternatives. POM must also show that any such test is legally required and make a documented attempt (e.g., filing waivers with the FDA) to avoid such testing.
I’m sure that my fans will be as disgusted as I am when they watch the video I’ll post about vivisection and learn about POM’s support for such horrible and unnecessary treatment of animals. I also have many friends in the nightclub business; you can be sure that they won’t be serving any “POMtinis” until POM agrees to never test its products on animals again.
I hope to hear back from you about this issue soon.
Sincerely,
Pamela Anderson
Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
March 27, 2006
His Excellency Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington St.
Ottawa K1A 0A2
Canada
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
First, welcome to office. I know you have countless issues to deal with—among them the global uproar over the seal hunt. As you may know, I am a long-time animal advocate and am leading a PETA petition drive against the hunt.
I’m writing you today not so much about the horrific cruelty involved in the hunt, but about the impact of the government’s indifference to such violence on Canada’s image around the world. As a proud Canadian who frequently travels abroad, I am alarmed that people are starting to see Canada as a country more beholden to a pack of greedy hunters and to the seal-skin “fashion” whims of a few countries than to the massive international outcry against such a barbaric activity. One of the biggest problems facing the U.S. government is appearing arrogant and oblivious to world opinion; I’d hate to see that happen north of the border too.
I’ll be in Halifax this weekend hosting the Juno Awards. On Monday, I’d love to come to Ottawa to meet with you personally about these concerns as well as to deliver the thousands of petitions I’ve collected. I look forward to your response.
Kindest regards,
Pamela Anderson
Ernie Fletcher, Governor of Kentucky
December 28, 2005
The Honorable Ernie Fletcher
Governor of Kentucky
700 Capitol Ave., Ste. 100 Frankfort, KY 40601
Dear Governor Fletcher:
I learned from my friends at PETA that your state capitol houses a large bust of Colonel Sanders. On behalf of kind people everywhere, I urge you to remove it.
As you may know, KFC is under worldwide pressure to eliminate its cruelest abuses of chickens, such as cutting the beaks off baby birds; breeding chickens to grow so large, so quickly that many suffer crippling injuries; and slitting the birds’ throats or dropping them into tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still alive and able to feel pain. Workers at one KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in West Virginia were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco into their eyes, spray-painting their faces, and slamming them on the ground.
Please watch my video at KentuckyFriedCruelty.com and join compassionate consumers in sending the message that KFC’s cruelty to chickens is unacceptable by removing the bust of Colonel Sanders from your state capitol. My PETA colleagues would happily volunteer to remove it at no cost to the state.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Pamela Anderson