Siouxsie Sioux Speaks Out for Dogs and Pigs Killed for Food Tests in Japan

Siouxsie and the Banshees’ historic final concert took place in Tokyo – and now, Siouxsie Sioux is picking up a pen instead of a microphone to speak out for animals in Japanese laboratories.

FIONA FREUND

Sioux sent a message to Taro Fujie, President and CEO of Japan-based conglomerate Ajinomoto Corporation, the world’s largest manufacturer of the controversial seasoning monosodium glutamate (MSG), known for its brands Hondashi, Consommé, and Knorr, calling for an end to its shameful and ineffective tests on animals.

I know that Siouxsie and the Banshees fans around the world – including the thousands who attended our final concert in Japan 20 years ago – will be just as appalled as I was to learn that thousands of dogs, gerbils, guinea pigs, fish, mice, pigs, and rabbits have been tormented and killed in cruel experiments since the 1950s.

– Siouxsie Sioux

Sioux, a long-time vegetarian, previously teamed up with PETA to urge Fortnum & Mason to ban foie gras and to call for the King’s Guard’s bearskin caps to be replaced with faux fur, and she lent her song about the fur industry, “Skin”, to the 1987 Animal Liberation album benefiting PETA US.

Nearly 70 Years of Torture

Since the 1950s, Ajinomoto has tormented and killed animals in experiments that are neither relevant to human health nor required by law. Recently, experimenters repeatedly deprived mice of water overnight, fed them common food substances such as miso and MSG, cut off their tongues, cut open their faces to expose a nerve, inserted electrodes, and killed them – purportedly to establish health claims for marketing the company’s food products and ingredients.

Some of Ajinomoto’s other tests have involved dissecting monkeys, bleeding mice to death, and cutting out dogs’ stomachs and intestines.

It is unconscionable to kill sensitive animals to make dubious health claims about MSG and other foods.

“Japan is a beautiful country, which I have visited many times, but these shameful experiments are a stain on its reputation,” concludes Sioux. “As a major manufacturer, [Ajinomoto] should be leading the way with compassion, not falling behind. Please, stop being spellbound by bad science and end these cruel tests immediately.”

PETA demands that Ajinomoto follow the lead of other global food companies, such as Kikkoman and Barry Callebaut, and end its unsavoury tests on animals.