Giant Plucked ‘Goose’ To London Pillow Fighters: Down Hurts!

For Immediate Release:

5 April 2014

Contact:

Ben Williamson +44 (0) 777 577 0787; [email protected]

Tormenting Live Birds Doesn’t Fly, Says PETA

Photos are available here, here and here.

London – A massive pillow fight in Trafalgar Square seems harmless enough, but you can bet that for the ducks and geese who were plucked alive to the point of bleeding, down pillow stuffing is anything but fun. That’s why to mark International Pillow Fight Day today, a PETA member in a giant plucked-goose costume joined in, hoping to persuade pillow fighters to get down on down.

“With all the warm and cosy options available, compassionate people can sleep easy in the knowledge that there’s no excuse for mutilating geese and ducks just to stuff a pillow”, says PETA’s Kirsty Henderson. “We’re calling on London pillow warriors to choose ‘weapons’ that weren’t produced by committing violence against birds.”

As seen in PETA US’ video exposé of the down industry, narrated by Hollywood actor Alicia Silverstone, birds used for down are tightly restrained as feathers are violently torn from their bodies, often resulting in gaping wounds. The down industry also helps support producers of foie gras – which is made by forcing tubes down the throats of geese and ducks and pumping grain into their stomachs until their livers become enlarged and diseased – as the feathers of many of the birds on foie gras farms are sold for down.

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

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