Pets To PETA: No Shelter

The organization PETA Europe, dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of animals, has written to Pet Shop Boys with a request they are unable to agree to but nonetheless think raises an issue worth thinking about. Their special projects manager Yvonne Taylor, wrote the following letter:

“Dear Neil and Chris,
You have many loyal fans of the Pet Shop Boys here at PETA. We have a request that may at first seem bizarre, but we hope that after considering the following facts, you will understand why we are asking this of you: will you please consider changing your name from the Pet Shop Boys to the Rescue Shelter Boys?”

Do what? This is right up there with PETA’s oddball campaign to re-christen fish as “sea kittens.”

And this might have been a good idea a couple of decades ago, when Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe changed the name of the band from West End after being inspired by friends working in a pet shop. But after 56 singles, 10 studio albums and 22 compilations, remix albums, EPs, soundtracks, film scores and a live album, it’s safe to say the horse is out of the barn. (Please PETA, no letters urging me to abandon animal-based metaphors.)

Taylor’s letter, which PSB posted in its entirety on their Web site, goes on to point out – correctly, I might add – that many animals sold in pet shops are obtained “from profit-hungry breeders who may have bred them in cramped, filthy conditions.”

“With an emphasis on quantity rather than quality, unmonitored genetic defects and personality disorders pass from one generation of puppies and kittens to the next. Many animals end up with abnormalities that result in both heartbreak and high veterinary bills for the unsuspecting people who buy them. For every bird who reaches a pet shop, three others have died during capture, confinement and transportation.”

While Taylor’s request is indeed “bizarre,” you have to admit it was a pretty clever way to raise awareness of the issue.

And kudos to Tennant and Lowe, who release their 10th studio album Yes on April 21 in the U.S., for being such good sports about the whole thing and using their celebrity to get people’s attention.

Read Taylor’s entire letter to the Pet Shop Boys here and PETA’s reaction to their response here.