‘Pope Francis, Please Condemn Vile Donkey Gelatine!’ Demonstrators Urge

For Immediate Release:

21 December 2018

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]

‘POPE FRANCIS, PLEASE CONDEMN VILE DONKEY GELATINE!’ DEMONSTRATORS URGE

PETA and Animalisti Italiani Supporters Protest at the Vatican to Call On His Holiness to Defend Jesus’s Mount From Slaughter Ahead of Christmas

Rome – PETA and Animalisti Italiani supporters were outside the Vatican today to urge Pope Francis to denounce ejiao – a Chinese “medicine” used for everything from erectile dysfunction to boils and even sold in energy drinks and sweets – which is made from the boiled-down hides of baby donkeys who are often bludgeoned and killed in Africa and shipped to China. With a banner proclaiming, “Jesus’ Donkey: Millions Killed for Gelatine. Please, Holy Father, Stop This!”, the animal rights advocates reminded His Holiness that donkeys are sacred animals who feature prominently in the Bible and deserve our protection from enduring a painful death.

Photos from the action are available here, here and here.

A PETA video exposé of the ejiao industry reveals that thousands of donkeys are kept in filthy, cramped, concrete-floored pens and beaten when they reach the market. Workers strike them over the head with a sledgehammer, slit their throats, and cut off their skin. The footage shows that some animals continued to breathe and move even after this horrific abuse. The gelatine from their boiled hides then goes into “superstition medicines”.

“Every bit of ejiao represents the pain and fear of a gentle baby donkey who was violently killed,” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “PETA is calling on Pope Francis, who has a history of standing up for those in dire trouble, including animals, to defend the noble donkey this Christmas by denouncing this atrocity.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – named Pope Francis its Person of the Year in 2015 for his long history of calling on his followers to show kindness to animals.

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

#