It’s been a landmark year for animal rights, thanks in no small part to PETA’s relentless work. Bolstered by the support of our compassionate donors, we helped shut down laboratories in Colombia that were torturing monkeys on U.S. taxpayers’ dime, we provided aid and rescue to animals in war-torn Ukraine and other disaster zones, we pushed for a historic bill that could prevent countless animals from being used and killed in new drug experiments, and much more.

Here are just a few of PETA’s victories for animals in 2023:

• PETA’s 18-month probe into a Colombian research consortium—where experimenters tortured owl monkeys and mice in useless tests, kept monkeys in filth, and allegedly mishandled human samples and manipulated data—blew the lid off an outrageous revelation: that U.S. taxpayers had been bankrolling the shady operation for nearly two decades. The explosive exposé resulted in the largest animal rescue in the country’s history, the termination of funding from the National Institutes of Health, and multiple investigations into the facilities’ owners.
• Following a plea from PETA, the Sri Lankan government nixed a plan to export 100,000 macaques to China, where they likely would have ended up in laboratories to be tormented and killed in useless experiments.
• PETA’s Global Compassion Fund helped animal rescue organizations in war-torn Ukraine and other disaster zones. Many of PETA’s own fieldworkers risked their lives to save dogs, cats, and other animals from the aftermath of devastating earthquakes in Turkey.
• PETA’s fieldworkers delivered 200 free sturdy doghouses in underserved communities, we spayed and neutered more than 11,000 animals to curb the companion animal–homelessness crisis, and we helped more than 700 animals have a chance at finding a loving home.
• After months of communication with PETA and local animal defenders, West Hollywood became the first U.S. city to ban the use and sale of all glue traps—which are among the cruelest methods of killing animals in existence today.
• Our case against yet another “ag-gag” law—designed to stifle and punish the free speech of whistleblowers who try to investigate agricultural businesses—in North Carolina ended in a victory for both freedom of speech and exposing cruelty to animals.
• The California Horse Racing Board passed a first-in-the-nation regulation prohibiting horse racing licensees from participating in or attending illegal—or “bush track”—races in the wake of a PETA exposé that revealed rampant doping, the use of prohibited electric shock devices, fatal horse breakdowns, jockey injuries and deaths, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal gambling.
• Congress passed the historic FDA Modernization Act 2.0, removing the mandate for animal tests for new drugs and giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to consider superior, non-animal methods, instead of relying on deadly, scientifically flawed animal tests.
• PETA’s Big Cat Public Safety Act was signed into law, prohibiting private ownership of big cats and banning public contact with them.
• Retail giants Walmart and Walgreens banned greeting cards mocking great apes, which hinder conservation efforts in behalf of these endangered species.
• Following a letter from PETA, the U.S. Navy pulled funding for decompression experiments on sheep at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
• After decades of exploiting elephants, tigers, zebras, camels, and other animals in cruel acts, UniverSoul Circus went animal-free.
• PETA distributed more than 100,000 free vegan starter kits to underserved communities.
• Nine former workers for Plainville Farms—a self-professed “humane” turkey supplier—were convicted of cruelty to animals, based on evidence gathered during a groundbreaking PETA investigation.
• Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of iconic American beer brand Budweiser, agreed to stop cutting the tailbones off its Clydesdale horses—a cruel practice exposed by a PETA investigation.
• Following PETA’s lawsuit against one of the worst roadside zoos in America, the facility was finally shut down and the remaining animals were sent to an accredited sanctuary, where they’ll be able to live free from exploitation.

Help PETA Set Our Sights Even Higher in 2024

PETA’s trailblazing victories wouldn’t be possible without our kind donors. On behalf of everyone at PETA, thank you for supporting our vital work to end speciesism. In 2024 and beyond, we hope you’ll join us—always and in all ways—in uprooting the notion that one species is more important than another.