Warning: these images may cause some readers to become upset.
PETA have received some intense and warranted backlash due to their latest “Go vegan!’ stunt which saw them pretend to barbecue a dog in the streets of Sydney.
The protest saw the animal activists prepare a prop dog that looked like it had been cooked akin to a pig in the middle of the busy Pitt Street Mall today.
Beneath the dog was the question: “If you wouldn’t eat a dog, why eat a lamb?” followed by the “Go vegan!” slogan.
PETA said that they launched the stunt as a protest against ‘speciesism’: a form of discrimination against animals based on what species they are.
“Anyone who’s repulsed by the prospect of chowing down on dog meat should question the incongruity of their compassion towards other animals,” they said in a statement.
“Like all forms of discrimination, it cannot be justified.
“As humans, we instinctively feel compassion and empathy for animals, but we’re taught that it’s OK to enslave and eat some of them, without a second thought as to who they are as individuals.”
PETA chose to host their protest today ahead of Australia Day, which will see thousands of people around the country celebrate by barbecuing meat.
“While humans typically consider dogs to be loyal companions, with personalities of their own, the sheep, chickens, pigs, and cows who are cut up into bite-sized pieces for human consumption are just as feeling and loving,” they said.
“To care about animals – as most Australians claim to – should be to care about all animals.”
The relevance and importance of the organisation’s message was all but smothered by the image of the dog itself, charred and agonised atop a table in the middle of the city.
While many agreed that going vegetarian or vegan was a far more beneficial – and often necessary – dietary decision than eating meat, they criticised PETA’s choice to run another graphic and gruesome protest.
“This doesn’t make me want to stop eating meat,” said one person on the organisation’s Facebook page. “It just makes me hate you guys.”
“I’m an animal rights activist but this is absolutely deplorable,” said another. “You’ve managed to get the publicity you wanted from shock value, but you’re just a bunch of hypocritical twats.”
Another person suggested that PETA was going to make them “double” their meat intake – which absolutely isn’t the goal here, but yeah, we can see why this stunt hasn’t exactly changed many minds, tbh.
If you’re all interested in reducing your meat intake or stopping altogether, have a read of some of the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, or watch Netflix’s What The Health.
Don’t go barbecuing any more pets, please.
