Many cases of animal abuse are reported in the news, in documentaries, on the internet, and even in schools. The cruel treatment of animals to satisfy our ‘needs’ and material desires still continues to this day. I want to share two videos in this article that capture animal exploitation, which, hopefully, will remain in our minds. The animal cruelty in the video stems from two (among many) forms of animal abuse; through our foods and commerce.
Perhaps some of you are familiar with the content, but if not and you are easily frightened, I do not recommend viewing the videos. However, we need to know that Banksy and LUSH’s depiction is only a portion of the cruelty we inflict on animals, and it is important to remember that animal cruelty continues to still be a reality. I hope this article serves as a reminder of this issue and prompts all of us to reconsider our purchasing of foods, material preferences, and entertainment choices.
In New York City in 2013, the renowned street artist Banksy assembled a moving butcher truck, “FARM FRESH MEATS INCー180065642716”. This truck is filled with stuffed animals peering from the sides as they let out their high-pitched squeaks. The weathered green walls of the truck bear the fading letters of the company name and serial code. The aging truck signifies the large number of animals being slaughtered over an extended period of time. In the truck, there are animals ranging from dogs and farm animals to bears, but they are indiscriminately grouped together and only identified by a number. According to Brian Dooling’s article for One Green Planet, the truck’s first stop was in a “meatpacking district,” which illustrates “our meat consumption that has resulted in factory farming.” Banksy’s Sirens of the Lambs artwork has many interpretations. Still, they all comment on the artwork conveying the animal abuse resulting from overproduction and overconsumption.
The Performance on Animal Testing (LUSH)
LUSH Cosmetics has a Fighting Animal Testing campaign in which they do not test on animals and also protest against further animal testing. As a means of raising awareness and protesting against animal experimentation, LUSH and Jacqueline Traide, a performance artist who portrayed a tortured animal, produced a 10-hour ‘endurance performance’ in the Regent Street store window display in 2012. Oliver Cronk, taking the role of the cosmetic chemist, performed on Traide “a series of animal tests including forced-feeding, eye-irritancy tests and two (saline) injections but [the actress] suffered no ‘actual’ pain.”
Watching the video uploaded by LUSH to YouTube through the laptop screen, I was terrified, immensely sad, and felt helpless as the performance conveyed the horrific and torturous experiences of the tested animal. The video shows segments of the animal being aggressively controlled by the expressionless cosmetic chemist. The video also features Tamsin Omond (Lush Campaigns), Hilary Jones (Lush Ethics Director), Chloé Burns (Lush Regent St Manager) explaining LUSH’s Fighting Animal Testing campaign and the purpose of the performance for gathering petition signatures for “Cruelty-Free 2013. Ban animal tested cosmetics”.
I discovered the Banksy video on Instagram and the LUSH performance while looking through Youtube videos. Many people around me, including myself, were unaware that these videos existed, so I decided to write an article on them. In this writing, I want to emphasize that both linked videos (in this article) were filmed around ten years ago and that it’s a horrifying reality that the context is still relevant today. The cries of the stuffed animals and the image of the actress as the suffering animal continue to resurface in my mind. I hope reading this article and watching these videos will remind all of us of the terrifying acts of animal cruelty.
A comment on the mindset we can have (opinion-from a rising undergraduate sophomore):
We can be a part of preventing animal cruelty by keeping in mind the following three Cs.
1. Consider the products we purchase in stores.
2. Counter animal cruelty by supporting trustworthy groups/organizations fighting against animal exploitation.
3. Be Conscious of the foods on our plates, tools, and products we use.
All animals needs our respect and appreciation!!