This is your opportunity to have a huge and lasting impact on the gross injustice of factory farming.
Help end the suffering of billions of animals now.
I founded Viva! 30 years ago and want to thank you for being a part of our journey – fighting against animal cruelty and saving animals. In our anniversary year, I’m delighted to tell you that we are launching an impactful new campaign, Are You an Animal Lover?.
I have investigated many factory farms across the UK and am more determined than ever to end the exploitation and abuse of animals.
As I write to you, I’m reviewing abhorrent footage obtained by Viva! Campaigns’ investigators earlier this month from an intensive pig farm supplying major British supermarkets. You’d think I’d be used to the horror by now, but my heart never hardens to scenes of cruelty and neglect. One of our investigators described to me the night they filmed inside the farm.
“I filmed row upon row of mother sows confined in farrowing crates little bigger than their bodies. I stopped at one where a large sow was imprisoned with her newborn piglets. She was desperately pushing the solid iron bars with her snout and as she looked me in the eyes, I knew she was pleading for me to let her out. The piglets sought out her teats with their tiny mouths to suckle. Trapped as she was in her iron cage, that’s all she could offer them – she couldn’t nuzzle her babies, comfort them or nurture them. A solitary piglet was crouching in the corner, eyes half-closed, shaking.
“In a shed nextdoor with small windows, older piglets were crowded into pens with nothing but a pathetic dangling chain to entertain them – it’s called enrichment.” I was aware that the only time any of these animals leave this filthy prison is when they are sent to the slaughterhouse.
This is not a one-off, one rotten apple. Within the dim, suffocating confines of Britain’s factory farms, animals endure unrelenting suffering from birth to death. These sentient beings, with the capacity to feel pain and fear, are confined to tiny cages or overcrowded pens, unable to move freely or experience the natural warmth of sunlight.
The relentless machinery of factory farming puts profits first and is indifferent to their suffering. Chickens endure painful hock burns from ammonia in faeces-sodden litter on which they have to live. One-fifth of dairy cows are zero-grazed in concrete sheds – and never see a blade of grass. All mother cows suffer their calves being snatched from them shortly after birth.
Piglets have their main teeth snapped off and their tails cut short with pliers and no anaesthetic. Whatever the farm, the air is always thick with the stench of waste, a constant reminder of their inescapable plight. We have to walk away when we finish our investigations but they are trapped like this for life.
The lives they are forced to endure are in stark contrast to the natural lives they long for and deserve. They are mere commodities in a system that sees them only as units of production. It is a hidden world of sadness and abuse, masked by glossy packaging and deceptive marketing extolling the cheapness of little body parts. The true cost of cheap animal products is paid for by the suffering of these innocent creatures.
It has to end and we are determined to change the nation’s hearts and minds more than ever. Time and again, you’ve played a crucial role in helping us reach the public with our impactful campaigns.
This piglet will live for six months in a crammed pen until killed (most likely by being gassed to death)
Are You an Animal Lover? campaign
Our new campaign will once again awaken our nation of ‘animal lovers’ to a stark reality – if they truly love animals, they can’t eat them. Nearly 60 per cent of all UK households have animal companions and even more people call themselves animal lovers. We intend to tap into this compassion and help people see that the only difference between their beloved animal companions and the animals on their plates is their perception.
All animals play, feel joy and pain, and seek to avoid harm. Pigs love belly rubs. Chickens have their own language; chicks and their mothers even communicate before hatching. Cows form close friendships. Let’s unite to change perceptions and make a difference.
Viva! launched The Great Dog Roast at Henley Regatta, sparking excellent conversations. (The dog was made from synthetic materials.)
How are we going to do this?
The Great Dog Roast
On 3 July, we launched our new campaign at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta, packed with celebrities, royalty and over 300,000 spectators. A Viva! campaigner, dressed as a chef, unveiled a lifelike model of a lurcher dog being roasted on a spit, while I talked to the punters. A banner declared The Great Dog Roast, a phrase that quickly echoed across national and local newspapers.
All hell broke loose with security guards, police and even the fire service roaring into action – everyone thought the dog was real. The impact was immense, sparking many fantastic conversations with regatta attendees. On the other side of the hedge, a hog roast was underway and considered quite acceptable…
With your donation, we intend to take The Great Dog Roast to many more locations, engaging the public in conversations about why they would eat a hog roast but not a dog roast and why the only right thing to do, if you really are an animal lover, is to stop eating them.
Animal Lover tour
You might have seen videos from our first events on social media but that’s only the beginning. The Animal Lover tour is a huge success and will be hitting the road across the UK. We’re handing out delicious free vegan hot dogs to entice crowds and instigate thoughtful discussions about whether it’s genuinely possible to call yourself an animal lover while paying for the suffering of so many. We’re also taking our new video challenge along, where we are asking the public to watch footage from our investigations, as well as showing a farrowing crate as too many people are ignorant of how cruel and widespread they are.
You can also help us spread the word by ordering our new Are You an Animal Lover? leaflets here.
Pig farm exposé
We are taking the findings of our new investigation of a major player in the pig industry to the media. We will be challenging the nation – how can they condone pig cruelty whilst professing to love animals?
TV ad
With your support, we’ve already shown our powerful vegan TV ad, Take Away the Meat, to 36 million viewers nationwide, putting veganism in the spotlight and challenging perspectives. Now, we’re aiming even higher and need your help to reach a further 18 million Brits!
Last year’s ad received overwhelming praise, with viewers calling it “truly inspirational” and “pure genius”. Most importantly, meat-eaters began reconsidering their diets. The ad gained significant media coverage, featuring in the Daily Mail, and sparked international discussions in the German and Australian press.
A major anonymous donor has again committed to double every single donation for this campaign, including the airing of our powerful ad in order to reach new viewers and those who are familiar with it but are yet to take action. The positive feedback we’ve had shows that it can make people stop eating animals. With your support, we can seize this opportunity to air the ad a third time and make an even greater impact.
We need your help to make this campaign as big as possible and reach millions more because we cannot do it on our own! Together, we can make a huge difference.
Yours for the animals
Juliet Gellatley
Founder & Director
