Group Honors Superstar's Advocacy for Animals
For Immediate Release:
November 23, 2012
Contact:
Wendy Wegner 202-483-7382
Los Angeles -- One of PETA's biggest supporters on social media is Miley Cyrus, whose continuous efforts on Twitter to promote the group's work to help animals—including encouraging her more than 10 million followers to urge Walmart to ban cruel gestation crates, which confine mother pigs so tightly that they can't even turn around—inspired her fans to create a PETA donation page in honor of her 20th birthday on November 23. And to help Cyrus—who recently remarked on Ellen that she wishes that she could adopt a pig—celebrate her upcoming birthday, PETA has sponsored a pig named Nora, whom PETA also helped to rescue. She is now thriving in her permanent home in Florida at Kindred Spirits Sanctuary.
"PETA knew that sponsoring a rescued pig was the perfect birthday present for a young woman who spends so much time encouraging others to help animals," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "From promoting animal adoption to speaking up for cows who suffer on dairy farms, Miley never stops letting her millions of fans know what they can do to make the world a kinder place."
On factory farms, pigs' tails are chopped off, their teeth are clipped with pliers, and males are castrated—all without any pain relief. Mother pigs on factory farms spend most of their lives in tiny gestation crates and are artificially inseminated again and again. When their bodies can no longer churn out litter after litter of piglets, they are sent to slaughter.
At Kindred Spirits, Nora has the opportunity to express natural behavior: playing, lying in the sun, exploring her surroundings with her powerful sense of smell, and enjoying the company of other rescued farm animals. Pigs—considered by animal behaviorists to be smarter than 3-year-old children—enjoy listening to music, playing with soccer balls, and even learning "tricks."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.