Saturday, 11 November 2006: You Did It For Ducks Again!

On November 11 2006, Viva! supporters once again braved the elements to bring the story of Jake – the little duckling jailbird – to Britain’s consumers. Hundreds of dedicated animal lovers from across the country gathered in town and city centres asking people to set factory-farmed ducks free by simply not buying them and going veggie. A good number caused an even bigger splash by dressing up as Jake - complete with prisoner uniform and mask. Many more door dropped our heart-rending ‘Free Jake’ leaflets, taking his story directly into thousands of homes.

Hundreds of you took Jake's Story out to consumers - the very people who have the power to stop the suffering

The aim of the day was to lift the lid off the UK’s duck factory farms – and show the public exactly what goes on inside. Last year, 19 million ducks were killed for meat in the UK – over 95 per cent of them were condemned to a cramped, prison-like existence. Whilst conditions vary slightly between producers, one fact of startling cruelty remains: no ducks for sale at almost any major supermarket or restaurant will have had access to water for swimming.

This is why we created the character Jake – the little duckling prisoner. We’ve found that the public increasingly respond to hard-hitting messages if they are presented with that message via a softer approach. Most people abhor animal cruelty, and consumers are horrified to find out what really happens to ducks down on the factory farm.

Our intention was – rather than target any one supermarket chain – to raise awareness across the board and get the message out that all duck meat is cruel meat, and the best way to free Britain’s imprisoned ducks is simply not to buy them.

Success

The lead up to this Day of Action – and the day itself – has already begun to pay great dividends. Our campaign was boosted by the recent announcement that Waitrose has introduced outside ponds for their free-range flocks, and Tesco and M&S will also trial providing swimming water. Although it is incredible that this practice is not standard already, this is a real welfare improvement that has come about because of Viva!’s campaign and the strength we have through our supporters. We will continue to apply consumer pressure to ensure that other supermarkets follow suit and provide ducks with this most basic of requirements. Visit here for the latest information on the supermarkets and how to write to them.

Local press interest in Jake's Story was able to reach a much wider audience

However, whilst we welcome these moves towards higher welfare, as a veggie campaigning group we remain fundamentally opposed to the killing of any animal for meat, and we are still calling for the public to boycott all duck meat. At the time of writing, apart from Waitrose, every supermarket chain sells ducks that have been permanently incarcerated – with no hope of parole. Life means just that for these ducks – the only time they will ever leave their factory prisons is to go to the slaughterhouse. Any animal farmed for meat will suffer – and even if it is possible to give ducks a better life they certainly will not have a long one (even on Waitrose farms the ducks will be killed after just seven weeks). As we always say, the best way to end the suffering of animals is to not eat them – and the public is beginning to agree with us. Viva!’s Ducks Out of Water campaign has seen duck deaths dive in the UK by a massive 2 million in the last few years.

Download the new Jake leaflet

You can still help our fight to end the factory farming of ducks in the UK. Visit here to find out more ideas on how you can get involved. Also, we still have some ‘Free Jake’ leaflets left – help us get them to the people who can make the most difference to ending the suffering of animals: consumers. Door-dropping leaflets is a fantastic method of spreading this message to people who may otherwise get no opportunity to see it – and one or two people can door-drop hundreds of leaflets in a relatively short space of time! You can deliver as many or as few as you can manage and it will make a real difference. Order your free door drop pack here.

Thanks:

So many people took part in the Day of Action that we haven’t the space to name them all but we will be in touch with everyone very shortly. If you organised a demo; took part in one; distributed leaflets in your workplace, school or neighbourhood or supported the day in any other way, we thank you most sincerely. Your support is vital to the work we do.