Two years ago, Joey Chestnut was interrupted by a protester and put in a headlock, but still managed to eat 63 hot dogs and buns at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Chestnut will not be present at this year's event (which takes place on Thursday), but activists will be there.
PETA, the People's Organization for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, announced that they will be “bombarding spectators at the competition” with a truck encouraging attendees to become vegan.
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Baldwin sent the letter to the CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group on behalf of animal rights group PETA. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
The organization claims it is a “life-sized, hyper-realistic pig transport truck” carrying images of pigs in cages being sent to slaughter. The truck is called “Hell on Wheels.”
“Behind every hot dog is a sensitive individual who lived and was put on a truck for a terrifying and miserable ride to his death,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “PETA's 'Hell on Wheels' truck is a call to all who eat pigs, cows, or other animals to remember that the meat industry is cruel to them and that the only kind food is vegan.”
PETA will be attending Thursday's hot dog eating contest at this truck. (Action for Peace and Well-being)
JOEY CHESTNUT WILL COMPETE IN A HOT DOG EATING CONTEST ON JULY 4TH AFTER ALL
The truck will be placed outside the competition at 11am (US Eastern Time), one hour before the competition begins.
The organization also criticized the “shameful” National Dog Shot and the use of live mascots for sports teams, most recently with the Cleveland Browns after their mascot, a bullmastiff named Swagger Jr., died at the age of 5.
Chestnut was banned from this year's competition after teaming up with a rival of Nathan's. Major League Eating said it would lift the ban if the partnership ended, which never happened.
FILE – Joey Chestnut, winner of the 2021 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, poses for photos at Maimonides Park in Coney Island, on July 4, 2021, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)
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This will be the first time since 2015, and only the second time since 2007, that someone other than Joey Chestnut will be the champion. Chestnut lost the competition in 2015 to Matt Stone.
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