‘All Beings Bleed the Same’: New PETA Ads Challenge Speciesism

In slaughterhouses, pigs and cows are hoisted upside down by their back legs and their throats are cut, even though they often haven’t been properly stunned. If you aren’t already repulsed by that fact, would it shock you if the victim were instead a dog? Shocking new PETA ads aim to challenge viewers to question why they love some animals but eat others.

The “All Animals Bleed the Same” campaign was conceived by PETA Germany and advertising agency DDB Prague, working pro bono, and uses powerful images from animal rights photographer Tras los Muros. A simple line drawing of a dog has been placed over each photographed animal. The white lines represent the arbitrary boundary humans have created between animal species, and the images put domestic animals in the position of farmed animals about to be killed by humans for food, illustrating the thin line between life and death, comfort and suffering, and being loved and fed as opposed to being slaughtered and served on a plate.

“Speciesism” is the belief that some animals’ lives and experiences are inferior to those of humans or other animals simply because they are members of a different species, and it underpins all the most widespread forms of animal abuse.

This deeply damaging mindset fails to acknowledge that all living beings, including those who live in the ocean, have the capacity to suffer in the same way and to the same degree as the animals we share our lives and homes with. All sentient animals experience pain, pleasure, fear, frustration, loneliness, and familial love, just as we do.

There are easy ways to help end speciesism – we can all put the principle of equal consideration into practice every single day with the products we buy, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the way we choose to spend our time.

These choices are a form of non-violent protest that make a real difference – both by reducing the profits of corporations that harm or kill animals and by creating a growing market for cruelty-free products, vegan food, compassionate fashion, and animal-free entertainment.

To make kind choices, here are a few things you can do: