PETA to Push for Unity—Across Species and Across the Aisle—With Inaugural Eve Drive-In Party

PETA is not letting recent events prevent it from welcoming the new administration with a safe, socially distant drive-in inaugural eve party that will celebrate animals and their champions in Congress, as well as welcome Major, the first “first dog” (FIDO) to be adopted from an animal shelter.

“COVID-19 didn’t stop us from working to protect animals, and we are not going to roll over because bullies have attacked our hometown of D.C.,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA intends to raise spirits, commemorate those who have been on the front lines during the pandemic, and welcome in a new administration with a wish for compassion, unity, and understanding across all party lines.”

Held at Washington’s The Drive-In at Union Market, the event—by invitation only—will be hosted by Edward James Olmos and feature stories about past FIDOs and the presidents who loved them, a screening of Disney’s Lady and the Tramp, and special digital appearances from members of Congress who have helped advance animal protection, from proposing a ban on trophy-hunting imports to getting the military to replace animals in trauma-skills training with sophisticated human-simulation technology.

Guests will enjoy a multicourse vegan menu that includes vegan shrimp rolls with gochugaru sauce, crispy sweet potato chips, coconut bacon tartlet, vegan maple glazed chicken drumsticks with lemon parsley beurre blanc, piping hot cider, chocolate mousse, and much more—plus plenty of vegan peanutty treats for dogs! Event sponsor Maker’s Mark has also donated “doggie bags” packed with everything needed to carry on the celebration at home with a vegan hot toddy, including bottles of its oak-finished 46 bourbon (for the 46^th POTUS), “bee-free” honey, cinnamon syrup, and even a lemon.

Attendees are invited to bring donations of supplies, such as dog food, bedding, and toys, for PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—to distribute to disadvantaged dogs this winter, as shown in the documentary Breaking the Chain, produced by Anjelica Huston.

PETA opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org