Peta paid a visit to Jeremy Clarkson’s Farmer’s Dog this week to protest meat consumption, using a disturbingly realistic-looking dog.
The animal rights organisation set up a barbecue stand at the Clarkson’s Farm presenter’s Oxfordshire pub on Wednesday.
The graphic protest called on people to go vegan, with a stand that questioned: ‘Wouldn’t eat the farmer’s dog? Why eat a pig!’
A member of the organisation, dressed in a chef’s apron, stood in front of a mock BBQ and what Peta described as a lifelike dog prop.
The whole set-up was complete with bottles of ketchup and mustard, as well as tongs in the chef’s hand, as if she was about to flip the pup.
Explaining the deliberately provocative stunt on the Peta website, they said it was designed to ‘inspire thought for food’ and draw comparisons between eating pigs and pets.
‘Many of us are raised to mindlessly consider some animals ‘friends’ and some animals “food”, but when we really stop to think about it, a pig’s life is no less valuable than a puppy’s, and neither belong on our plates,’ said the article, written by PETA senior campaigns manager Kate Werner.
She continued: ‘Pigs are playful, intelligent individuals who feel pain and fear, love their families, and value their own lives, just like dogs do.
‘Clarkson says he’s “always been fond of pigs”, and he – and other patrons – ought to put that fondness into practice and leave pigs off their plates. Because there’s no more reason to eat a pig than a dog.’
Clarkson has yet to respond publicly to the protest. Metro contacted his representatives for comment.
This is by no means the first time Peta has sought to wind up Clarkson, who has typically taken a dim view of vegetarians, let alone vegans.
When a social media user said they were unsurprised he underwent heart surgery in 2024, after his Top Gear schtick of always hankering for a steak, Clarkson declared in response: ‘Better than dying of vegetable induced boredom.’
Just last Christmas, Peta sent the presenter what it dubbed a gruesome ‘Christmassacre’ jumper, featuring a festive tree of slaughtered pigs, splattered with fake blood.
They also gifted Clarkson a children’s book titled The Secret Lives of Animals, which comprised images of shorn rabbits, lab mice being blinded by product testing and a depressed dolphin trapped in a tank.
One rhyme in the book showed a cartoon bunny with the lyrics: ‘At around this time tomorrow/ You’ll be skinned, then killed/ By humans who’ll feel no sorrow/ For the blood you’ve spilled.’
Peta’s Vice President of Programmes, Elisa Allen, sarcastically said the book was ‘simple’ enough that ‘even someone who… mourns the death of their family dog but calls vegans “lunatics” for caring about the mass slaughter of billions of chickens, pigs, and cows can understand the message.’
