Written by PETA
Natascha Kampusch made headlines around the world when she was finally able to escape her kidnapper after being held for eight years in a dungeon in Austria. "I suffered from claustrophobia and I thought I was going crazy in there," Kampusch told Austria's ORF television after her escape. "I was very distraught and very angry."
Recognizing that her ordeal was chillingly similar to that of tigers, elephants, and other animals who are snatched from their native homes and loving families only to be caged or chained by circus trainers for the rest of their lives, Natascha has joined PETA Germany in calling for freedom for animals in circuses. She looks forward to the day when circuses will stop depriving wild animals of everything that is natural and important to them. Here's what Natascha had to say:
It is now up to [German agriculture minister Ilse] Aigner to decide whether social, intelligent, and beautiful living beings should continue to be humiliated because ruthless or naïve people keep them chained in cages—depressed, broken and limited to an [extent] that prevents them from living a normal life according to their needs. Animals, too, would run away if they could, just like I took my chance to escape. Because a life in captivity is a life full of deprivation.
Thank you, Natascha, for speaking out in behalf of so many animals whose cries for help have yet to be heard by German lawmakers. Hopefully, Minister Aigner is listening.
Written by Karin Bennett
Last month, our scalded "chickens" appeared at a Chicago-area McDonald's to draw attention to the many chickens who are boiled to death in scalding-hot water by McDonald's suppliers. Since the company still refuses to implement controlled-atmosphere killing to ease some of the suffering of millions of chickens killed every year to become McNuggets, we've enlisted the help of hilariousman Andy Dick to try scaring McDonald's execs straight.
Tomorrow, Andy will swap the scissors he wielded in a peta2 anti-dissection poster for a bloody knife and appear as a terrifying "Ronald McDonald" at our McCruelty demo at 600 N. Clark St. in Chicago.
In anticipation of his performance, Andy said that "if kids knew how chickens were mutilated for McNuggets, they'd burst into tears every time Ronald McDonald showed his face—and that may well happen when they see what this clown has to say about it."
I confess that I've always considered clowns to be scary—certainly McDonald's execs will agree after Andy Dick's performance at Thursday's demonstration.
Photos to come!
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