Simon Cowell: Please Leave Domesticated and Wild Animals Off TV!

Simon Cowell: Please Leave Domesticated and Wild Animals Off TV!

London – Reports that television personality Simon Cowell may launch a Britain’s Got Talent spin-off focused on animals was hardly music to PETA’s ears due to the serious cruelty involved in using both wild and domesticated animals for TV, so PETA sent a letter to the long-time anti-fur advocate urging him to leave all animals out of the spotlight.

Reminding Cowell that he has “many fans at PETA” for actions that include speaking out against the cruel fur industry and warning people not to leave dogs in hot cars, PETA Vice President Elisa Allen spelled out some of the problems with using and training animals for TV that PETA entities have uncovered out of view of the public, sometimes using hidden video cameras.

“Cats have been starved for days, and dogs have been kept in cages stacked on top of one another on trainer’s premises. Wild and domestic animals have been traumatically separated from their mothers prematurely, suffered abusive training practices, been denied vital veterinary care, and been found confined in distressing conditions – their needs ignored,” writes Allen. “People who yearn to be on TV and gain fame will sometimes do awful things to get an animal to perform.”

Should Cowell proceed with an animal-themed spin-off, PETA has offered an outline of minimum requirements to ensure safety, such as “no fear-based training, no food deprivation, and no tricks that cause pain” and not allowing any wild or exotic animals.

More information about PETA US undercover investigations into animal suppliers for the TV and film industries is available here.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 207-837-6327; [email protected]

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