A CAMPAIGN group has called for an end to an animal parade, describing it as “cruel and outdated”.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said it wants the grand parade of livestock at the Three Counties Show to be replaced with a plant parade, which it said could feature people dressed up as wheat, barley, asparagus or potatoes.
The grand parade takes place on all three days of the annual show at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern.
Handlers parade various breeds of sheep, cattle, pigs, horses and other livestock around the main arena in front of a crowd.
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Campaigners have written to David Prescott, the chief executive of the Three Counties Agricultural Society, calling for a parade without “non-consenting” animals.
In the letter, PETA raises a number of concerns about the impact of farming, both on animal welfare and on climate change.
The group, whose motto states “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”, urges people to go vegan.
“Parading non-consenting animals is a sad spectacle that belongs in the past, but celebrating the thousands of edible plants that can be grown in Britain would be a brilliant way to champion the future of farming,” said Dawn Carr, vice president of vegan projects at PETA.
“PETA urges the Royal Three Counties Show to stop normalising a violent industry that rips babies from their mothers and kills animals for their body parts.”
The Three Counties Show has declined to comment.
The event, which is due to take place from June 12 to June 14 this year, has existed in various forms since 1798, with the first show taking place on Broad Street in Hereford.
In the 1920s, it started rotating between Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, before moving to its permanent site in Malvern in 1958.
