Walmart has become the latest retailer to pull Chaokoh coconut milk from its store shelves and online shopping outlets due to the forced monkey labor allegations by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The store chain follows the likes of Kroger, Costco, Target, Wegmans, Walgreens, and Stop & Shop who have all decided to stop stocking and selling the product. The decisions came after an investigation from PETA accused the Thailand-based supplier of using chained monkeys as forced labor to pick coconuts.
Monkey Cruelty
In a statement, PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said that the coconut trade uses social monkeys as "chained-up coconut-picking machines," arguing that it deprived them of any opportunity to eat, play, or spend time with their families. She added that the PETA has confirmed the cruelty on coconut farms, forcing retailers to drop Chaikoh from their stocks.
The animal welfare agency also added that Walmart received 86,000 emails from their supporters to make the decision to drop the product. PETA has been pushing for the coconut milk product to be pulled from shelves since 2019 when investigators based in Asia visited eight farms in Thailand and discovered the horrible state of the monkeys, as per USA Today.
The investigators noted that the animals were forced to pick coconuts and were "abused and exploited," being chained and confined in small cages. The Bureau Veritas Certification (Thailand) Ltd. conducted an audit in 2020 that was contracted by Theppadungporn Coconut Co.
Investigators involved in the audit randomly visited 64 of the 817 farms and found that no monkeys were being used to pick coconuts. However, PETA claims that another investigation proved the audit was "misleading and inadequate" and noted that companies and consumers were being lied to about the use of the animals.
According to Euronews, the situation comes as every UK airport has banned an anti-animal cruelty advert, PETA claims. The animal rights agency initially contacted every airport in Britain advertising a new "cruelty doesn't fly" campaign. The image shows a cow turned into a leather handbag and asks travelers, "was she killed to make your carry-on?"
Animal Rights
However, every single airport rejected the image, with some warning that the ad was too "political" or risked "potential negative customer reaction." PETA Director Elisa Allen said that the public deserved to know that behind every leather bag was a "sensitive individual" who died a painful death.
She added that vegan leather did not come with the emotional baggage of knowing an animal was killed for it. Allen said PETA called on everyone to consider the gentle cows who were carved up for leather and stick to cruelty-free carry-ons.
The animal rights agency has also criticized Lego for using farmyard scenes which it claims mislead children about the "blood-soaked" reality of farming. The group has already written to the toy firm about its sets containing farm animals.
PETA is calling for toy farms to be "rebranded" as animal sanctuaries so that children are not misled about the "horror and cruelty" of farmed food. The organization's letter came after a journalist and environmental campaigner, George Monbiot, attacked the "cozy story" told to children about farms, the Daily Mail reported.
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