Animal rights activists have hit out at The Grand Tour for trivialising the “killing” of animals for entertainment.
Episode five of the Amazon Prime show, which started streaming on December 16, saw former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May head over to Morocco and use a huge set of scales to compare the weight of three convertible cars with animals including cows, goats and camels.
When Clarkson tries (and fails) to convince the animals to jump onto the scales as a counter balance, he says: “I think it’s better if I kill them. If they’re dead, they won’t complain.”
Posting on Twitter, one viewer said: “mmm, @thegrandtour … killing animals for a silly car weighing sketch … not funny, not acceptable.”
In a statement, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said: “This apparent senseless slaughter of animals on our TV screens is unacceptable. Animals are not television props and Clarkson and his team should apologise for this needless stunt.”
Animal Aid director Isobel Hutchinson added: “Whether or not the animals were actually killed, the sequence shows a total disregard for the value of animals’ lives, suggesting that they can be used and killed for whatever trivial purpose we choose.”
1 comment
Animal Aid director Isobel Hutchinson added: “Whether or not the animals were actually killed, the sequence shows a total disregard for the value of animals’ lives, suggesting that they can be used and killed for whatever trivial purpose we choose.”
This is all complete non-sense. If she was really serious, why not initiate something like ‘stop killing animals for human consumption’ in the first place instead of criticizing some one who just talks about killing them ?