PETA has called on Kid Rock to help end the "mutilating of Clydesdale horses" by beer brand Budweiser.
The animal rights group sent a letter to the country musician asking him to stop serving the beer in his Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock 'n' Roll Steakhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, as a form of protest against what it says is a cruel treatment of the iconic horses.
Budweiser has used the horses in its marketing campaigns for years, but PETA claimed it "quietly severs the magnificent 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—just so that the horses will look a certain way when hitched to a beer wagon."
Newsweek has contacted Budweiser's parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, by email for comment.
"Only God knows why Budweiser gets away with such a lowlife thing as cutting off horses' tailbones," said PETA senior vice president Kathy Guillermo in a statement. "PETA is painting Kid Rock a picture of the company's cruelty to Clydesdales in the hope that he'll make his restaurant a Budweiser-free zone."
In the letter to the musician—whose given name is Robert James Ritchie—PETA said the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medical Association "condemn severing horses' tails unless it's medically necessary."
Anheuser-Busch previously responded to PETA's claims in February by saying the health of its Clydesdales was a "top priority."
"The safety and well-being of our beloved Clydesdales is our top priority. Combined with our highly trained staff of professional caretakers, we partner with an equine medical expert to ensure our animals receive the highest level and quality of care," a company spokesperson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in February.
The practice is banned in 10 U.S. states and a number of European countries.
"If Budweiser is concerned that tail hair might become entangled in a wagon's hitch equipment, simple braiding and wrapping of the tails would prevent this possibility," PETA wrote in the letter.
Newsweek contacted Kid Rock by email for comment.
It's not the first time PETA has called out Budweiser for its alleged treatment of the famous horse breed. They condemned the brand's recent ad campaign and even reached out to former President Donald Trump for support.
Trump, who reportedly owns stock in Anheuser-Busch InBev, was contacted by PETA to step in and end the alleged practice.
"Will you, as a shareholder in the company, speak with AB InBev executives and urge them to end this heinous tailbone severing?" Guillermo wrote to Trump in May after a report by the U.K.-based newspaper The Independent alleged that the former president held stock in the company.
The calls for Kid Rock to stop selling Budweiser come after the musician claimed to have banned its stablemate brand, Bud Light, from his bar after the company partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
In April, Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting up multiple cases of the beer after the brand sent Mulvaney commemorative cans of beer to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her gender-affirming transition.
"Grandpa is feeling a little frisky today. Let me tell you as clear and concise as possible," the rapper said before turning to shoot the beer while wearing a MAGA (Make America Great Again) baseball hat.
"F*** Bud Light and f*** Anheuser-Busch," Rock shouted as he turned his back to the camera and raised his middle finger.
Update 7/19/23, 7 a.m. ET: The headline on this article was updated.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
