Viva! 8 York Court Wilder Street Bristol BS2 8QH Tel: 0117 944 1000 Fax: 0117 924 4646 email: media@viva.org.uk	7 September 1999 HYPOCRITICAL FARMERS DESERVE NO SYMPATHY, SAYS VIVA! "Farmer Giles" will be dumped on the steps of the National Farmers Union, Shaftesbury Avenue, London by Viva! campaigners dressed as a cow and a sheep on Thursday September 9 at midday. The campaigning animals will unfurl a giant banner saying "Farm animals bite back" to highlight the hypocrisy of livestock farmers who have been abandoning their animals in phone boxes and at animal sanctuaries in recent weeks. "Farmers are dumping animals all over the place just to attract cheap publicity," explains Viva! Campaigner Becky Smith. "They say they cannot bring themselves to shoot their own animals and yet they are happy to simply abandon them without giving a second thought to their welfare. "What do people think normally happens to these animals? They are forced to endure a brutal abattoir killing years before the end of their natural lifespan." Farmers are calling on the government to provide extra financial support for their industry. As a vegetarian charity, Viva! is campaigning for an end to the huge government subsidies which prop up the modern livestock business. 1998 figures reveal that livestock farmers received a massive £1.1 billion in direct subsidies. "Farmers receive enormous subsidies to maintain an industry which is destroying the British countryside and causing huge animal suffering. And all to produce a product which is known to contribute to human killer diseases like cancer and heart disease. Wheres the logic in all this?," says Ms. Smith. "At the same time, public demand for organic food is so high that supermarkets are having to import vast quantities from the continent. If the government were to start supporting organic horticulture rather than propping up intensive livestock production, there would be a real future for the UK farming industry." _________________ hotocall: Thursday September 9th at midday at the National Farmers Union, Agriculture House, 164 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2. More information: Becky Smith or Tony Wardle on 0117 944 1000. Note to Editors: 1. Provisional figures for 1998 state that livestock farmers received a total of £1.1 billion in direct subsidies (Source: Agriculture in the United Kingdom 1998 - MAFF publication). 2. Total direct subsidies amount to 39% of farm revenue for cattle and sheep farms in less favoured areas and 21.8% for lowland cattle and sheep farms (1997/98 figures). Direct subsidies for horticulture amount to only 0.4% of total revenue. Further information, click here