Elisa Allen (vegan) – PETA UK’s Advocate for a Compassionate World, Part 2 of 2

Elisa Allen (vegan), the vice president of PETA UK, plays a key role in turning these innovations into reality by lobbying for changes to regulations in order to protect innocent lives. “There’s been huge progress on cosmetic testing on animals, but vivisection remains a big issue. In the UK alone, more than three million animals are experimented on each year. And now, finally, the UK government says that it is positioned to deliver a roadmap on how it plans on phasing out animal tests in the UK.”

PETA UK also supports international initiatives. “PETA Asia runs a relief clinic in Taal. And until PETA arrived on that island, the horses had never, ever received any veterinary care or farrier care. We run spay/neuter clinics for animals in Mexico, in India, in Romania, and elsewhere. We also have partner groups in Ukraine.” “We are here to challenge the status quo. We challenge people to examine the things that they have been doing their whole lives. We force people to examine their own behavior, and that can sometimes make people defensive, but that’s okay. It means that they’re engaging with us. It means that we’ve managed to spark a dialogue, and that’s exactly what we’re after.”

In the UK, PETA puts this idea into practice by collaborating with restaurants, airlines, and stadiums to expand their vegan menu options. “For example, in the UK, we worked with the bakery chain, Greggs, to launch the now iconic vegan sausage roll. That was a real game changer because it introduced this whole section of the British population to vegan foods.” “So, people are starting to realize that there’s no reason for them to eat animal flesh, especially when we have these amazing vegan options that are now so, so readily available.”