PETA to Jeremy Clarkson: Stop Telling ‘Porky Pies’ About Where Bacon Comes From
London – Following the release of PETA’s new animated short film, a humorous but dark look at the reality of where pig flesh comes from, the group sent a special letter to vocal anti-vegan TV presenter and animal farmer Jeremy Clarkson urging him to stop telling porky pies about how bacon, ham, and sausages are really made.
“The reality is that when it comes to raising and slaughtering animals on an industrial scale – 10 million pigs a year are farmed and killed for their flesh in the UK alone – any measure of kindness, respect, or decency goes out the window,” PETA reminds Clarkson in its letter.
“It’s time to stop peddling industry lies and admit that the notion of a ‘happy’ pig farm is utter hogwash,” concludes the appeal.
The film – which was created in partnership with London-based advertising agency Grey – begins with a father and his daughters sitting down for breakfast, gathered around plates piled high with sausages and bacon. After the girls ask their father what he does for a living, he launches into a tune about his work as a pig farmer. But the visuals quickly begin to take a sinister turn, revealing the horrifying truth behind his trade.
More images are available here.
The group has also offered to send Clarkson some of the pig-themed plates featuring scenes from the film to display at his Diddly Squat Farm Shop to serve as a further reminder of the suffering behind each bacon buttie or pork sausage roll.
“It’s time for Jeremy Clarkson, and everyone else who is not yet vegan, to admit that the bacon on his plate was once a thinking, feeling being who desperately wanted to live,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen.
Crammed by the thousands into barren concrete pens, pigs raised for their flesh may never see the sun or breathe fresh air. The frustration and stress can drive them to engage in aggressive behaviour such as ear- and tail-biting, so farmers routinely cut off pigs’ tails and grind down their sensitive teeth, usually without painkillers. At the abattoir, these gentle animals may be hoisted upside down by their back legs while their throats are cut, sometimes without effective stunning.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview – offers a free vegan starter kit. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]
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