Budweiser Clydesdales make their way around Busch Stadium as part of the opening day festivities before the start of a baseball game, Thursday, April 7, 2022, in St. Louis. The iconic Budweiser Clydesdales will no longer have their tails shortened using a common, yet controversial, procedure that has drawn the ire of animal activists, parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev announced Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
By Heather Hollingsworth
The iconic Budweiser Clydesdales will no longer have their tails shortened using a common, yet controversial, procedure that has drawn the ire of animal activists, parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev announced Wednesday.
The brewer said in a statement that the change was made earlier this year, stressing that the safety of the horses was a “top priority.” The statement coincided with an announcement that it had obtained an animal welfare certification for the horses, as well as the dalmatians that serve as their companions.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, led protests and mounted a nationwide ad campaign, with billboards depicting the horses reading “Severed Tails: Cruelty to Clydesdales.” With the announcement that tail-docking has ceased, PETA is “cracking open some cold ones to celebrate," Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said in a news release.
The Clydesdales, mainstays in commercials and parades, were first introduced in 1933 after Prohibition was repealed. They can be viewed at Grant’s Farm, a St. Louis attraction initially built by former President and Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant.
Large draft horses like Clydesdales, Shires, and Percherons frequently have the boney part of their tails amputated to a length of about 6 inches (15.24 centimeters). The process is called docking and often is performed on foals using a special constricting band, the American Veterinary Medical Association explained on its website.
The purpose is to prevent the tail from interfering with the harness and carriage. But opponents argue it is unnecessary, and the practice is now banned in several countries, including Belgium and Finland, as well as some U.S. states.
The tail-docking blowup is just the latest controversy to embroil the company. Earlier this year, critics who were angered by the brewer sending a commemorative Bud Light can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney vowed to boycott the brand. Bud Light also faced backlash from Mulvaney’s fans, who think the brand didn’t do enough to support her.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
