PETA calls on Cleveland Guardians to add a vegan hot dog to their hot dog mascot derby

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is calling on the Cleveland Guardians baseball team to add a vegan hot dog to the lineup of their hot dog mascot derby.

PETA is asking for the concession after the Cleveland Indians announced that they would change their name to the Guardians in order to stop offending Native Americans.

"Pigs, cows, and turkeys used for hot dogs value their lives and don't deserve to become a stadium snack, so let's go to bat for them," read a statement from PETA President Ingrid Newkirk released on Monday.

Newkirk is referring to a mascot derby run by the team with costumed hot dogs for Onion, Ketchup, Mustard, and occasionally a Bacon Hot Dog.

"PETA hopes the team will introduce a delightful vegan wiener in a win for animals, the environment, and the health of its fans," Newkirk added in the letter sent to Tribe general manager Mike Chernoff.

She offered to have PETA pay for the cost of the Veggie Dog costume and to buy veggie dogs for all the team's players. Newkirk noted that Progressive Field was ranked among the group's top 10 vegan-friendly ballparks.

PETA has been mocked and ridiculed in the past for the pro-animal demands. In 2020, they objected to U.S. Marine training that included drinking snake blood and eating live scorpions, and demanded that the jungle survival training use virtual and vegan alternatives.

In January, the group objected to the use of animal names as insults and offered a list of replacement words so that animals aren't denigrated by being rhetorically connected to a lack of character and virtue.

Here's an interview with the Cleveland Tribe Hot Dogs:

In-depth interview with CLE Indians hot dogswww.youtube.com