PETA Petitions to Have Companion Animals Evacuated from Egypt

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has gotten involved in the Egypt protests, pleading with US authorities to allow US citizens being evacuated from there to take their companion animals with them on the plane.

As most of you must already know, Egypt is now the theater of violence as protesters are asking for President Mubarak to step down from power.

At the same time, pro-Mubarak protesters are clashing with the first group. Street confrontations have already caused hundreds of injuries and some deaths.

PETA believes US authorities should also think of the pets of the people they’re evacuating from Egypt and flying back to the US.

Right at this moment, they’re not allowed to take their pets with them on the plane, which means they have to choose between staying in Egypt for the sake of their pets – and risk coming to bodily harm – or flying home in the US without them.

There is only one way out of the predicament, PETA believes, which is why it has started an online campaign to bring awareness to the issue and get US authorities to reconsider.

“PETA has sent a second letter to Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton urging that the Department of State allow US citizens in Egypt to allow their companion animals to be evacuated with them,” the organization writes in a post on the official webpage.

“The evacuation of companion animals from disaster zones is a life-or-death issue affecting animals and people. Please help these animals and US citizens in Egypt and use our e-mail form to urge the State Department to allow companion animals safe transport out of Egypt with their families,” PETA says.

“Evacuees are being told that they are not allowed to take their companion animals on the planes. People are being forced to choose between risking their lives by staying in Egypt or abandoning their nonhuman family members to fend for themselves,” the group points out.

Pets are also members of the family and leaving them behind should not even be an option, PETA goes on to argue. Therefore, they too must be evacuated from Egypt together with their owners.