People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a prominent animal rights nonprofit organization, has joined the Bud Light controversy.
But the group has a different take on the subject than many others.
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When a social media advertisement, a small partnership between Anheuser-Busch (BUD) -) and transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, aired in April, a backlash came quickly.
People on social media who were critical of transgender advocacy called for boycotts of the beer product.
In some instances, social media videos were uploaded of people destroying cans and cases of Bud Light.
The most famous of these depicted musician Kid Rock shooting Bud Light cases with an automatic rifle.
Anheuser-Busch has seen a large decrease in sales of Bud Light as the boycott has shown no signs of slowing down in recent months.
PETA Sends a Letter to Kid Rock
A letter was crafted and sent from PETA July 17 to Kid Rock, explaining its entirely different reason for encouraging activism against the beer company.
"This morning, PETA sent a letter to Kid Rock asking him to take a stand against Budweiser for mutilating the Clydesdale horses it uses as marketing tools -- including one they apparently named after him -- by removing the beer brand from his Nashville restaurant, Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock 'n' Roll Steakhouse," the organization told TheStreet in an email.
"Only God knows why Budweiser gets away with such a lowlife thing as cutting off horses’ tailbones," said PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. "PETA is painting Kid Rock a picture of the company's cruelty to Clydesdales in the hope that he'll make his restaurant a Budweiser-free zone."
In the letter itself, PETA explained some of the details of the procedure it is protesting with regard to its alleged treatment of the horses.
"You may not know that Anheuser-Busch, the company that produces that beer, is cruelly amputating the tailbones -- part of the spine -- of its famous Budweiser Clydesdales just so they’ll look a certain way, a mutilation long considered a form of emasculation, something knights did to their enemies' horses to cut their enemies down to size," PETA wrote. "Budweiser named one of the horses who has been disfigured in this way 'Kid Rock' after you."
PETA Asks Kid Rock for Action
The animal rights organization, also in the letter, suggested something it believes Kid Rock can do to protest the practice.
"Will you consider halting sales of Budweiser products at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock ’n’ Roll Steakhouse until Anheuser-Busch commits to stopping the amputation of its Clydesdales' tailbones?" PETA asked.
Below are a few more details on PETA's alleged claims.
The company severs horses’ tailbones or puts tight bands around their tails to cut off blood flow so that the bones will die and fall off. It’s an unnecessary and permanent disfigurement that causes immense pain, affects the horses’ balance, and leaves them without natural protection from flies and other biting insects. Horses also depend on their tails to communicate with others in their herd.
Both the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association condemn severing horses’ tails unless it’s medically necessary. Ten states -- as well as many European countries, including Belgium, where Anheuser-Busch is headquartered -- have banned this practice. If Budweiser is concerned that tail hair might become entangled in a wagon’s hitch equipment, simple braiding and wrapping of the tails would prevent this possibility.
Anheuser-Busch has not responded immediately to a request for comment.
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