Liverpool Boy Wins PETA Prize For Sticking Up For Animals

For Immediate Release:
17 December 2008

Contact:
Sam Glover 020 7357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

Liverpool – For persuading his mother, sister and niece to kick the meat habit and for raising community awareness about the miserable conditions endured by animals in intensive farming systems, 11-year-old Liverpool resident James Maxwell will receive a Compassionate Kid Award from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Europe.

James came across PETA quite by accident when he misspelt his friend Peter’s name whilst entering it in the Google search engine and landed on the website of peta2 – the world’s largest youth organisation concerned with animal protection. After reading of how animals are raised for food and watching peta2 video documentaries, James decided to try going vegetarian for a week and see. He was surprised at how easy it was and said he felt better than he had before.

In fact, James was so convinced that going vegetarian was the best thing he’d ever done that he went to work on his mum, sister and niece to do the same – for the animals and themselves – and they did! Next, he began to distribute leaflets about the cruelty of factory farms and answer questions from people in the area. James has been a vegetarian for seven months now, and he even has his own website with a special section dedicated to PETA (www.j-a-h.synthasite.com).  

Although his favourite food used to be KFC chicken burgers, now he opts for a delicious vegetarian pizza or stuffed peppers instead. James is also a mad sports fan, enjoying everything from football and swimming to tennis and rugby.

“James is living proof that you’re never too young to make a positive difference in the world”, says PETA Europe Director Robbie LeBlanc. “His compassion for animals and determination to achieve justice for them is a wonderful example for other kids – and adults – to follow.”

James will receive a framed certificate and a letter of appreciation from PETA.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.