People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently staged a protest outside Ethiopian Airlines' office in the Washington, D.C. area. The protest was in response to allegations that the airline was involved in transporting monkeys as part of an illegal international smuggling ring.
The demonstration featured individuals dressed as Santa Claus and Christmas elves, who dumped coal on the premises instead of delivering holiday cheer. PETA campaigner Mason Melito stated, "This holiday, PETA is gifting a colossal amount of coal to Ethiopian Airlines on behalf of all the monkeys it has trapped into tiny wooden crates and crammed into dark cargo holds for over 30 hours at a time. It’s time for Ethiopian Airlines to join nearly every other major airline in ceasing its monkey shipments."
A video shared by ALX now showed coal being dumped inside the airline's office, though PETA denied responsibility, suggesting another group might have been involved. In response, employees from Ethiopian Airlines filed a police complaint against the protesters. Simple Flying reached out to Ethiopian Airlines for comments but has not yet received a response.