Redditch Native Violently Assaulted During Peaceful Protest at Crufts
12th March 2025
Redditch Native Violently Assaulted During Peaceful Protest at Crufts
Redditch, Worcestershire – On Sunday night, 39-year-old PETA supporter Calvin Tasker was violently assaulted by security staff while peacefully protesting the “Best in Show” at Crufts, the world’s largest “pedigree” dog show. The animal ally attempted to hold a sign reading, “🖤 Dogs? Boycott Breeders,” and was repeatedly punched by security staff and forcibly removed from the premises. Another protester, who is disabled and in a wheelchair, was roughly flipped on his back. Footage of the action is available here.
“When it comes to Crufts, the show must not go on. I was assaulted by the event’s hired thugs merely for highlighting that it’s plain wrong for breeders to glamourise dogs with painful physical deformities,” says Tasker. “Pedigree dogs are suffering, and I’ll continue to use my voice to spread the message that if you love dogs, you won’t perpetuate their misery by lining breeders’ pockets.”
The BBC dropped Crufts in 2008 after revelations emerged about the prevalence of hereditary defects among pedigree dogs, including some Crufts prize winners, and the RSPCA refuses to attend the show. A group of veterinary professionals have also previously spoken out against Crufts, noting that the “arbitrary breed standards that the competition’s judges use to rate the dogs call for them to be bred for extremely exaggerated physical features, regardless of the damage to their health. As a result, dogs are suffering.”
In addition to promoting these grotesque standards, Crufts also exacerbates the homeless companion animal overpopulation crisis by encouraging people to dash out and buy the latest “must-have” breed. Meanwhile rescue centres – which take in an estimated 130,000 dogs every year – burst at the seams with lovable animals waiting to be adopted.
Tasker is available for interviews.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Lucy Watson +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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