Animal rights group Peta staged a graphic protest outside Jeremy Clarkson's Farmer's Dog pub in Oxfordshire on Wednesday, using a disturbingly realistic-looking dog prop on a mock barbecue stand to call on people to go vegan.
The stand featured the question: 'Wouldn't eat the farmer's dog? Why eat a pig!' A Peta member, dressed in a chef's apron, stood in front of the set-up holding tongs as if about to flip the dog prop. The display was complete with bottles of ketchup and mustard.
Provocative stunt explained
Peta said the deliberately provocative stunt was designed to 'inspire thought for food' and draw comparisons between eating pigs and pets. In an article on its website, senior campaigns manager Kate Werner wrote: '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.'
Werner added: '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's silence and past clashes
Clarkson has not yet responded publicly to the protest. Metro contacted his representatives for comment.
This is not the first time Peta has targeted Clarkson, who has often been critical of vegetarians and vegans. In 2024, after a social media user said they were unsurprised he underwent heart surgery following his Top Gear steak-loving persona, Clarkson responded: 'Better than dying of vegetable induced boredom.'
Last Christmas, Peta sent Clarkson a 'Christmassacre' jumper featuring a festive tree of slaughtered pigs splattered with fake blood. The group also gifted him a children's book titled The Secret Lives of Animals, containing 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.'
