Cops stop animal rights activists in their tracks

VEGAN WATCH Dressed in animal costumes, activists from the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) give police a friendly wave and advice for a healthy earthfriendly diet, even after they were prevented from bringing theirmessage to Apec delegates, on Ayala Avenue, Makati City. JOSEPH AGCAOILI/AFP

There was no ignoring that elephant on the road.  Nor the seal, rat and cow that members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) had trotted out on a jeepney enroute to Ayala Avenue in Makati City, where delegates of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum were meeting on Wednesday.

The animal costumes were meant to send a message on climate change, the same issue the Apec leaders were discussing at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, but police stopped the group because they were unable to show a permit.

Jason Baker, Peta Asia vice president for international operations, said the group wanted Apec leaders “to address real problems in the world like climate change… which was having a massive impact in the world.”

Peta’s message, Baker added, “was for everyone. It is about freeing Mali from the Manila Zoo and doing what is best for all animals.”

It is also about going vegan, he said, adding that “the  No. 1 cause of global warming is the meat and dairy industry.”

Peta campaigner Ashley Fruno said the group was “shocked that the event was stopped as all we were doing was advocating kindness and reminding Apec leaders that animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change.”

But Insp. Bernard Bacalso of the Makati City Police said that though the animals looked cute and threatened no one, they had to secure the Makati Central Business District where a number of Apec events had been scheduled.

“They did not present any permit to us. We just want to be sure,” Bacalso said, adding that earlier, Peta members—who were not yet in costume—had asked police if they could pass by Ayala Avenue since, they said, they had an educational tour.

With no vehicles allowed in the area, the policemen blocked the group, prompting the campaigners to wear their animal costumes and bring out signages that read, “Stop Climate Change, Go Vegan.”

The same messages were written in Vietnamese and Chinese.  A kangaroo-clad member also held up a sign that read, “I am not leather.”

The original idea was a “jeepney jamboree,” Baker said, with members in their animal costumes waving at people along Ayala Avenue, while carrying campaign  materials and signages onboard a jeepney.