
For Immediate Release:
January 27, 2025
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
Tucson, Ariz. –
Shelling it out!On Wednesday, PETA supporters led by PETA’s “Tommy Tofu” mascot will hand out 500 free vegan egg salad sandwiches made with a delicious mix of tofu and Just Egg from Tucson’s Midtown Vegan Deli & Market. And there’s no bird ‘flu about it!
Where: 904 E. University Blvd. (at the corner of N. Tyndall Ave.), Tucson
When: Wednesday, January 29, 12 noon
The lunchtime giveaway—hitting back at the national egg shortage—comes as the latest bird flu outbreak spreads across the country, with Arizonans feeling the pinch. In November and December alone, 17.2 million egg-laying hens died as a result of the virus, which has also resulted in dozens of reported human cases and a man’s death, as well as the killing of over 43 million chickens nationwide and the infection of more than 900 herds of cows in the dairy industry.
“Shoppers may pay a high price for chicken eggs, but chickens pay a higher one, spending years crammed tightly into sheds and then being sent to slaughter when their bodies wear out,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Egg, meat, and dairy industries are both cruel to animals and hazardous to human health, and PETA reminds everyone that stopping bird flu is as simple as going vegan.”
Chickens can distinguish between more than 100 faces of their own species, have full-color vision, and experience rapid eye movement sleep, which means they dream just like we do. But hens used for egg production are crammed together inside wire-floored cages where they don’t even have enough room to spread their wings. At slaughterhouses, workers cut their throats—often while they’re still conscious—and scald many to death in de-feathering tanks.
PETA points out that while tofu never caused a pandemic, breeding and raising animals for food creates hotspots for potentially deadly zoonotic diseases, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in humans are transmitted due to contact with animals, primarily those used in animal agriculture.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone looking to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.