Media Release

26 July 2004; immediate use

Bristol Butcher Bins ‘Exotic’ Meats in Response to Viva!’s Cruelty Claims

Don Hayes Butchers, of Staple Hill, Bristol, has announced that it has withdrawn from sale all so-called ‘exotic’ meats - ostrich, kangaroo and crocodile - after an approach from Bristol-based animal campaign group, Viva!

Viva! provided the family butcher with details of the extensive cruelty involved in the slaughter of wildlife for meat and asked him to stop selling it.  Shop owner Don Hayes responded immediately by dumping all exotic meats.

Viva! has been campaigning against the destruction of wildlife for meat for several years and its campaign persuaded all major supermarkets to withdraw exotic meats from sale.  The only outlets now selling wild animals is a small chain of pubs and a few bistros and independent butchers.  The outspoken group has also played a major part in the collapse of the UK ostrich industry, which has gone from sunrise to sunset in a few short years.

" Every year, millions of kangaroos are shot in the wild, at night – unmonitored and out of sight of any witnesses”, says Viva! campaigner, Justin Kerswell.  “But we have obtained personal testimonies and video footage which shows appalling cruelty.  It depicts animals being shot through the neck or throat and being hung upside down on metal hooks while still conscious.  The worst cruelty of all is reserved for baby ‘joeys’, hundreds of thousands of whom are all killed by being stamped on, smashed against wheel braces, by being decapitated or left to die of starvation in the bush. The story is little better for ostriches and crocodiles, all of which suffer enormously before being served up as meat.

“ We congratulate Don Hayes for having taken this moral stand. Obviously, due to the nature of his business as a butcher, Viva! will never see eye-to-eye with Mr Hayes on everything, but we welcome his principled decision.  There are still a few outlets in Bristol who persist in profiting from the death of wildlife and who seem to be oblivious to the fact that 75 per cent of the world's species are in decline or facing extinction.  We ask all Bristol people to turn their backs on exotic meats and to let Viva! know of any shops still selling them so we can provide the proprietors with the facts of this barbaric trade.  Wildlife belongs in the wild, not on people’s dinner plates”.

[Notes for Editors: Images of kangaroos and kangaroo shooting are available from Viva!.]
Contact: Justin Kerswell on 0117 944 1000
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