Prescot Councillor Nabs PETA Award for Live-Animal Event Ban

Prescot Councillor Nabs PETA Award for Live-Animal Event Ban

Green Party Councillor Jo Burke Led Successful Campaign to Keep Reindeer and Other Exotic Animals Out of Council Events

Prescot – In recognition of leading a months-long campaign to ban reindeer, donkeys, and other captive animals from being exploited for entertainment at council-led events, Green Party Councillor Jo Burke has received a framed Compassionate Action Award from PETA. Knowsley Council unanimously passed a ban on the use of animals at its events last month.

“Jo Burke’s drive to keep sensitive animals from being exploited on her watch is laudable,” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “PETA is recognising this compassionate councillor for using her position to be an ally for animals and push for a kinder world.”

All captive animals live in a perpetual state of confinement, discomfort, and stress. While reindeer in nature live in herds and roam freely over vast open ranges in the Arctic and subarctic regions, captive reindeer used in seasonal displays are carted around from one event to another, kept in small sheds and pens, forced to pull sleighs, and exposed to bright lights and loud noises. They have been found to suffer from diarrhoea, skeletal abnormalities, and raw, exposed skin – and they can transmit numerous diseases to humans, including salmonellosis, ringworm, and rabies.

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.

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 222; [email protected]

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