Colts owner Jim Irsay praised by PETA for embracing vegan lifestyle

Jim Irsay

Animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is touting its growing relationship with Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.

The organization this week promoted a video of a discussion with Irsay, who lives a vegan lifestyle, about his expanded involvement in animal activism, his dog Drake and his team’s effort to expand the number of non-animal dining options at Colts games.

Irsay plans to open a new animal shelter in Indiana called Drake’s House. Details for the project haven’t been disclosed.

It’s not the first time he’s sought to help animals. Irsay earlier this year pledged $20 million to an effort to relocate a 57-year-old orca named Tokitae from the Miami Seaquarium to a new sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest. Tokitae died in August before the move could take place.

In the interview with PETA, Irsay also touted the conversion of his plane, named the Blue Vegan, to a vegan-friendly interior. The renovation included eliminating leather-based seats and wool-based carpet, replacing them with animal-free materials like vegan leather and synthetic-fiber carpet.

“I didn’t even realize you could create the seats and everything inside [a plane] with no animal products, for lack of a better word,” Irsay said in the two-minute video. “It’s exciting because people see this beautiful aircraft and [say] ‘Wow, that’s so cool,’ but then it raises awareness for such a good cause.”

PETA has also declared Lucas Oil Stadium one of the five most vegan-friendly venues in the NFL. Its concessions offerings now include smoked tofu couscous, tofu tenders and cauliflower wings, along with rice bowls and hummus wraps.

However, it is not expected Irsay’s advocacy for vegan practices will extend to the field of play. A spokesperson for the Indianapolis Colts told IBJ the owner “has not advocated for leatherless footballs” to replace the existing balls, which are made from cowhide leather.