PETA Names Bull After Sir David Attenborough for 100th Birthday Gift
In celebration of his devotion to helping people all over the world understand other species, fragile habitats, and the environmental cost of meat production, and to mark his 100th birthday on May 8, PETA has named a most engaging bull after Sir David Attenborough.
In a letter sent to Sir David, PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk writes that David Attenbullock was among the first cart animals rescued through PETA India’s Delhi mechanisation project, an initiative that replaces animal-drawn carts with electric vehicles so that overworked animals who have toiled under the yoke, observing life around them for years, can retire.
David Attenbullock spent years hauling heavy carts through the chaotic, crowded markets of Delhi, streets familiar to Sir David, weaving through dense traffic and enduring long hours in the heat and dust, often without rest or water. He endured exhaustion, injury, and strain, but today, like Sir David, he has an important educational role, accompanying sanctuary visitors through a birdsong-filled orchard in northern India, allowing people to appreciate nature and get to know the lives and habits of the rescued animals there.
In the letter, Newkirk writes that David Attenbullock, much like Sir David, is strong, yet gentle, and “… quietly inspires others to appreciate the richness of the natural world.” The now-elderly bullock’s name was chosen out of affection for Attenborough, and because “He has a presence that draws people into his world, including visiting children. He invites visitors to the sanctuary to pause with him, and in doing so, they notice more – the birdsongs, the life moving through the grass and trees, and the many other animals who share his home.”
The Environmental Cost of Meat
Animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate catastrophe – but is often left out of environmental conversations. It produces around a third of human-caused methane, a powerful greenhouse has that’s 80 times more warming than carbon dioxide in its first 20 years in the atmosphere. But emissions are just the start of the problem when it comes to meat.
Around 92 billion land animals are killed for meat every year – and they need somewhere to live and food to eat. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, with vast swaths of forest destroyed to house animals and grow their feed. Studies have shown that if the world went plant-based, we would free up 75% of agricultural land.
Sir David Attenborough recognised this problem, previously stating that plant-based diets are “so much more efficient” and urging that “we must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters.”
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