International Falls became a rendezvous point for an unusual donation Friday, when area residents Joe Guastafeste and Brontë Jornod donated a recreational vehicle to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
PETA staffers drove to the Falls to meet Guastafeste and Jornod, who divide their time between Chicago and Borderland. They purchased the Forest River Sunseeker Class C motorhome to transport their five dogs and seven cats to Bordeland. Because Jornod found the Sunseeker difficult to drive, they decided it would be a good donation to PETA.
“This was a huge commitment on their part,” said Caleb Wheeldon, PETA youth coordinator. “PETA members are truly the best in the world.”
Wheeldon was amazed by the gift and said it shows that PETA members “put their money where their mouth is.” He also called them generous with their time as advocates of the cause through their local media. They wear animal rights T-shirts and talk about the issues with their friends and communities.
A writer and consultant originally from Indiana, Jornod was a volunteer at a no-kill shelter for several years. She took in the “rescue pets" that never seemed to get adopted from the shelter.
Guastafeste, the artist who created the “Basshenge” sculpture in Birchdale, is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and the principal bass of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The three PETA staff that came to the Falls were led by Eric Deardorf, summer coordinator and graduate student of philosophy and applied ethics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. With him were contract staffers Sarah Russell and Sabrina Wirey.
Deardorf said that PETA is blessed with many members that donate large gifts in many ways, but that to his knowledge, this was the first RV it had ever received. The organization plans to use the RV in their tour of summer concert performances by artists that support PETA.
Living and eating in the RV will reduce the tour expenses by up to $10,000 for the rest of the year, according to Wheeldon.
Deardorf added that the funds can then be focused on the PETA mission of exposing and ending the worst abuses against animals.
Other than sharing a common compassion for animals, Jornod said she liked PETA because the organization is not afraid to take on the difficult issues. She said PETA teaches others that the kindness we expect for domesticated animals also applies to animals that are slaughtered for products.
Deardorf said he and the other PETA staff drove from Hollywood, Calif., where they had represented the organization at a concert by performers who support PETA’s work.
PETA, a nonprofit organization with more than two million members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Its focus is primarily on factory farms, laboratories, the clothing trade and the entertainment industry. The group claims these four areas are where the largest numbers of animals suffer the most. Staff also work in areas of what the group believes is undue cruelty, including with the killing of beavers, birds and the abuse of backyard dogs.
PETA conducts investigations and performs policy, legal and advocacy work. The group conducts an education and awareness campaign which is where the RV will come in handy at special events and concerts where celebrity involvement helps with the campaigns.
Wheeldon said the RV would help in their featured campaign, Woof!, www.peta2.com/woof, concerning the ethical treatment of pigs at industrial farms and slaughterhouses. They compare the treatment of pigs with dogs.
“It’s a general knowledge thing,” said Wheeldon. “If a pig said ‘woof’ would people still eat them?”
The RV will be retooled a bit including the screening to turn it into mobile PETA billboard to promote various campaign efforts on the highway and at events.