This is a video of a protest group called Animal Rebellion disrupting a military procession of bearskin-wearing ceremonial troops in the UK marching down The Mall which runs from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square. It is where all the big processions occur in London and it was used extensively during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The video shows an interesting clash between modern and old Britain. There is quite a strong movement nowadays in Britain towards tackling climate change and part of that challenge is reducing a dependency upon meat because – as you no doubt are aware – cows produce a lot of methane which damages the atmosphere. Methane is far more potent as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide which is produced from burning fossil fuels.
And of course, there is an animal welfare dimension to these protests. You can fix two problems at the same time by improving animal welfare and helping to stop global warming which in turn is having a hugely negative impact on wildlife conservation as highlighted by the massive wildfires in Australia last year which is believed killed 2 billion wild animals at a stroke.
RELATED: “I can walk past a field of animals with a clear conscience” – Paul McCartney
Animal Rebellion uses nonviolent civil disobedience to bring about a transition “to a just and sustainable plant-based food system, to halt mass extinction, alleviate the worst effects of climate breakdown and ensure justice for animals.”
Personally, I am totally with them. I wish I had the commitment to do what they do. I always admire people who are prepared to take risks in protests in order to try and achieve a change to society for the betterment of all including the planet itself. And by “all” I’m referring to the animals with whom we share the planet.
A lot of people hate these sorts of protests. They are firmly entrenched in the establishment. They are blind to the problems. Humankind generally is blind to problems unless they are presented right in front of their faces. This is partly why global warming is a problem which is so hard to deal with because people don’t see the effect of it on them sufficiently to be willing to make changes and sacrifices.
There is one last issue concerning this video. The soldiers are wearing bearskins. Historically these are made from the skins of American black bears taken annually during the black bear cull in Canada. The British Army takes 100 skins for itself which is a fraction of the thousands of bears that are killed to keep numbers in check, it is said.
There is a very big issue of animal welfare here. I don’t know anything about the black bear cull in Canada and whether it is justified or not. My gut feeling is that it is unjustified because the Canadians are a shooting, hunting and fishing nation. They quite like to shoot animals for pleasure. And they find a reason to justify it such as “keeping numbers in check”. The British Army should not wear the skins of bears on their heads! It is out of place in a modern world and a modern UK. And of course, there are perfectly good substitutes which don’t require killing animals.
Below are some more pages on bears.
