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.
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.
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