Tag: PETA

Brian Cox ‘interviews’ a cat to promote animal adoption, spaying, and neutering

“For the Family You Can Choose. Adopt. Spay. Neuter.”

That’s the message of Succession star Brian Cox‘s new PETA campaign, which sees the head of one of television’s most dysfunctional families share the screen – and a conversation – with an adorable cat from the Mayhew animal shelter named Patches, who has since been adopted into a loving home.

In the accompanying video “interview”, Patches shares with Cox that she’s spayed (“That’s rather personal, but yes”) and wearing her own fur (“I don’t really have much of a choice”) – and he’s quick to assure her that he’s a huge proponent of adoption and a big fan of felines overall. He’s the guardian of two adopted companion cats.

“The thing I love about cats is their independence,” he says. “They can take it or leave it, and that’s their power – that’s their strength. They’re very dependable. They have an instinct about what you need, and sometimes you don’t always know, and then a cat comes, and then you go, oh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” says Patches.

 

Brian Cox urges people to do right by cats like Patches by always adopting them from animal shelters and never buying them from breeders or pet shops, which only contribute to the homeless animal overpopulation crisis.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats end up in animal shelters, and many of them have to be euthanised simply because there aren’t enough good homes for them. The solution, as Cox notes, is prevention through spaying and neutering.

Cox joins a long list of celebrities – including Twiggy, Simon Cowell, Sir Paul McCartney, and Joaquin Phoenix – who have teamed up with PETA and its affiliates to promote kindness to animals.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.

Home Office imposes sanctions on Edinburgh lab

The Home Office has formally inspected Charles River Laboratories and sanctioned it for violating animal welfare regulations. The action follows a complaint filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

PETA uncovered shocking allegations regarding the extreme suffering and death of rats at the company’s Elphinstone location, near Edinburgh, after being approached by a whistle-blower who worked there.

Because of the severity of the incidents reported, PETA is urging the Home Office to revoke Charles Rivers Laboratories’ licence to experiment on animals.

According to the whistle-blower, the company reportedly crushed approximately 100 to 120 live rats – including pregnant females – in a rubbish compressor and administered the wrong dose of a compound to rats who were used in a cancer experiment.

It allegedly forced other rats to inhale a highly toxic compound in doses that exceeded the agreed maximum – and consequently, one distressed female chewed off an entire toe. More information about the reported welfare violations can be found here.

“Charles River Laboratories apparently can’t be trusted to follow the minimal laws that protect animals in laboratories, and the punishment should fit the crime,” says PETA Science Policy Adviser Dr Julia Baines.

“PETA is calling for the Home Office to revoke the company’s licence to inflict pain, misery, and death on animals immediately and for money to be invested in a new wave of science – one that’s effective, human-relevant, and animal-free.”

The Home Office confirmed that inspections have taken place and that ‘appropriate sanctions’ have been applied.

Charles River Laboratories responded: “The survival rates for major diseases are at an all-time high due in part to the discovery of new medicines and therapies. The use of animal research models remains a vital component of these discoveries and is required by international regulatory agencies.

“We are deeply committed to animal welfare and exceeding international standards for the care of research models under our stewardship. We are committed to the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) and, when possible, our goal is to reduce the number of animals used.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – notes that across the UK, millions of animals are locked inside barren laboratory cages, poisoned, burned, cut open, traumatised, and infected with diseases while they suffer from extreme frustration and loneliness.

Few experiments – no matter how painful or irrelevant – are prohibited by law, and almost all animals used in tests are later killed.

PETA supports the use of scientifically and ethically sound methods that better protect humans, animals, and the environment. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.