Letter from PETA, Straits Times Forum 20 Jun 08;
I REFER to the letter, 'Animal rights: Lead the pack in voicing concerns' (June 10).
Thank you for focusing attention on the controversy over the use of animals in advertisements and commercial productions. Animals used in performance situations are often kept in bleak conditions. Whether bred in captivity or taken from their homes in the wild, animals are kept in extreme confinement and deprived of all that is natural and important to them.
Time is money in the film, television and advertising industries, so there is a great deal of pressure for trainers to ensure that animals perform correctly in the fewest takes possible. These financial constraints can and do lead trainers to apply severe discipline and excessive force during training sessions to ensure that animals are on cue when they are on the set.
It simply isn't necessary to subject animals to the rigors and unnatural environment of a film studio. There are many creative and realistic ways to portray animals in the entertainment industry, including animation, blue screen, computer-generated images and other highly advanced technologies.
Jason Baker
Director
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Asia-Pacific
