Jump to content

Viva! (organisation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Viva!
Founded1994; 31 years ago (1994)
FounderJuliet Gellatley[1]
TypeAnimal rights
FocusAnimal rights, veganism
Location
Area served
 United Kingdom
MethodCampaigning, undercover investigations, monitoring research
Websiteviva.org.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Viva! is a British animal rights group, which focuses on promoting veganism.[2] It was founded by Juliet Gellatley in 1994. Viva! carries out undercover investigations to expose the abuse of factory farmed animals and produces information on how to go vegan, including recipes and shopping guides. It is a registered charity.[3]

Overview

[edit]

Viva! was founded as Vegetarians' International Voice for Animals, a charity, in 1994.[4]

Viva! is an animal rights' campaigning organisation, working on issues such as factory farming and slaughter and is based in Bristol, with a branch office in Poland. Campaigns have included End Factory Farming, Eat Green, Foie-Gras free Britain,[5] Exotic Meat,[6] Ban the Farrowing Crate,[7] and the Dark Side of Dairy.[8] Campaigns in 2018 included an investigation into Hogwood Pig Farm in Warwickshire, and Scary Dairy's "Trash" campaign, highlighting the dairy industry's forgotten victims: male calves. Viva! includes the organization Viva! Health (formerly The Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation), which is dedicated to nutrition and health.[9]

Activism

[edit]

In 2005, Viva! campaigned against human consumption of cow's milk with an advert featuring a businessman drinking milk straight from a cows udder.[10]

In 2009, Viva! criticised supermarket chain Tesco for turning 5,000 tonnes of meat that had passed its sell-by date into electricity by burning it to avoid wasting the meat. Viva! argued converting out-of-date meat into heat with CO2 as byproduct was not environmentally sustainable, but Tesco defended its decision.[11] In 2010, Viva! protested against a branch of Budgens for supporting a "needless cull" of grey squirrels by selling squirrel meat in one of their stores in North London.[12]

In 2012, Viva! stated that it favoured the development of cultured meat. "Certainly, with over 950 million land animals slaughtered in the UK each year, and the vast majority of them factory farmed in awful conditions, anything that saves animals from suffering is to be welcomed," former Viva! spokesman and campaign manager Justin Kerswell said, adding that individuals should make up their own mind on whether or not they would consume it themselves, because 'vegetarianism and veganism aren't religions'.[13]

In 2022, Viva! ran a TV advert which showed a couple ordering pulled pork takeaway from a company called "Just Meat." When the takeaway arrives, it is a live piglet delivered with a meat cleaver.[14]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Who we are". Viva! Website. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Opinion: Only by going vegan can we begin to call time on Britain's factory farm crisis". The Independent. 3 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Viva! at the Charity Commission".
  4. ^ "Governance". Charity Commission for England and Wales. 2025. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025.
  5. ^ Bryan, Hannah (21 March 2015). "Rockliffe Hall removes foie gras from menu following social media backlash". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  6. ^ Graham, Rachel (29 March 2018). "Exotic meats: on the brink of supermarket extinction?". The Grocer. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  7. ^ Sales, Dan (20 March 2007). "Farmer fury over Mills' undercover protest". Bridgwater Mercury. ISSN 0962-5046. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  8. ^ McArthur, Maxine (17 October 2018). "Vegan activists to march against 'dark side of dairy' in Glasgow city centre". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  9. ^ "About Viva!". Viva! Website. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Is Drinking Milk Unnatural?". BBC News. 2005. Archived from the original on 6 August 2024.
  11. ^ Murray Wardrop (6 August 2009). "Tesco criticised by vegetarians for using waste meat to generate electricity". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Anger over squirrel meat on sale in north London". BBC News. 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022.
  13. ^ Chi Chi Izundu (23 February 2012). "Could vegetarians eat a 'test tube' burger?". BBC News. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. ^ Duncan, Grace. "Viva launches 'controversial' TV ad calling on shoppers to ditch meat". The Grocer. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viva!_(organisation)&oldid=1292009591"