Anheuser-Busch’s newest advertisement, released on Friday after backlash over a transgender influencer partnership, has been criticized for showing a “cruelly amputated” horse. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) complained about the “needless mutilation of horses’ tails” caused by an advertisement featuring a Clydesdale that said that Budweiser, a company’s brand, was “rooted in the heart of America.” The ad depicts a Clydesdale horse galloping through rural areas, past the Lincoln Memorial, and across the Brooklyn Bridge. In addition, the video shows a father and son drinking beer on a porch and the Grand Canyon in Arizona, as well as an American flag being raised in slow motion. “This is a story bigger than beer,” says the voiceover in the commercial. “This is the story of the American spirit.” Previously, PETA claimed that its undercover operatives had discovered that Anheuser-Busch amputated the tailbones of its Clydesdale horses, which they use for marketing purposes and to pull traditional beer wagons in displays. It has now joined the chorus of outrage over the commercial.
“If Budweiser thinks ‘the American spirit’ condones the needless mutilation of horses’ tails just to make them look a certain way, it is out of touch with public sentiment against cruelty to animals,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. “It knows full well that many U.S. states, including at least one featured in its commercial, have banned severing horses’ tailbones for cosmetic purposes,” she added. “PETA is calling on the King of Tears to stop cutting into Clydesdales’ lower spines. As PETA recently revealed in a damning video exposé, Budweiser has been secretly severing horses’ tailbones either with a scalpel or with a tight band that stops the blood supply to the tail, causing it to die and fall off—even though equines need their tails for balance and to protect themselves against biting and disease-spreading insects. Tailbone amputation for cosmetic reasons is condemned by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Equine Practitioners and illegal in 10 states and a number of countries,” the message continued. PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.”
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As the statement mentioned, the practice is prohibited in 10 states, including New York, and allowed only under a vet’s supervision in others. Two methods are used to amputate horses’ tails: “docking” (tying a tight band around the tail, cutting off the blood supply) or “nicking” (severing the blood supply or tendons). Veterinary objections can be found in publications as far back as 1885, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The American Association of Equine Practitioners does not recommend tail amputations unless medically necessary. Although this procedure is generally performed to improve the animal’s appearance or to prevent the tail from interfering with the harness, which could cause the driver to lose control, there are medical concerns about the pain it causes and the risk of infection, warns the AVMA. The Association notes that many people do not consider tail docking to be beneficial to the horse for cosmetic reasons but also points out that “there is a lack of reliable data indicating when (or whether) tail docking is beneficial to the horse” when it is not injured or has a defect. The PETA organization has previously called for a boycott of Budweiser over the allegations of tail amputation, and the organization’s website states that as of Tuesday morning, nearly 53,800 people had signed a petition to “take action” on the situation, per Newsweek.
