Zack Polanski Supports Projection of Pig Slaughter onto London Landmarks
Project Slingshot projected footage of pigs screaming in gas chambers onto the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. This is what happened.
Most people don’t know that pigs are slaughtered inside gas chambers because neither the government nor the industry talks about it, preferring instead to hide behind the outright lies of “humane slaughter” and “best welfare standards in the world”.
And so, with our friends at Projections on Walls and joined by the Green Party’s leader Zack Polanski, we set out to take the truth to the people. And one of those people is long-time opponent of factory farming, King Charles.
Our first stop was Tower Bridge where our film showing pigs screaming as they fought for air was projected onto one of London’s most iconic structures. We told the world that 10 million pigs die this way every year, that the industry calls it “humane slaughter” and, of course, we ended with our call-to-action: don’t buy it.
If we say so ourselves, the projection looked absolutely AWESOME.
Taking the Message to Parliament
With Tower Bridge in the bag, we were off to the Houses of Parliament, the seat of power in England. In that building sit the people who could have stopped pigs being gassed to death 20 years ago when their own advisory committee told them of its cruelty and recommended a ban. The government ignored the issue then. And they would ignore it still if they were not being forced to confront it. So, thank you to everyone who has messaged their MP already. If you haven’t, the best time to do that is right now.
As the projection flickered into life and people on our side of the river looked on in astonishment, a police boat arrived to warn us off, inadvertently creating the perfect shot. Thanks guys!
While we watched, a group of young women near us also spotted it. “Oh, this is pig gassing,” said one. ‘I’ve seen these ads all over the underground.” Another replied, “I would have thought gassing was an OK way to die.” Project Slingshot’s CEO Naomi Hallum introduced herself and took the time to explain what really happens inside those gas chambers – screaming, panicking, thrashing, burning lungs, fear, distress, and severe pain.
Confronting Defra with Pig Gas Chambers
Midnight found us skulking around Westminster as we headed to Defra, the government department that could take action against gas chambers, farrowing crates, male chick culling, and all the other horrors that are part-and-parcel of industrial factory farming. If anyone needs to be reminded that, while they sit on their hands, pigs are screaming for help, it’s them. And so there we were. Telling them straight. Out came a weary security guard. “Two more minutes?” we asked. “No,” she said. They’ve had 23 years to ban CO2 slaughter for pigs. We got 90 seconds to make our point. We took it.
Art for Activism’s Sake
Because we will never rest until we bring down the factory farming complex, off we went to the Tate Modern which sits on the River Thames. It is iconic. It is big. It has a lovely tall chimney. And we were joined by Green Party leader Zack Polanski. Heck yes, we were excited. And just as we’d hoped, the projection against the summer night sky looked magnificent.
Does the King Know About This?
And then came the big finale, Buckingham Palace. This is when our film came into its own, because in it, national treasure and funniest woman on earth, Diane Morgan asked outright, does the king know about this? Well, there was only one thing we were ever going to do as a result of that question… so there we were – our crew, the projection crew, and Zack Polanski – all outside this most-famous of London’s landmarks in the early hours of the morning. Buckingham Palace is very well guarded because, you know, the king lives there, so we were in and out like ninjas but it definitely happened. And we can prove it.
If the king didn’t know about the horrors of gas chambers before, we imagine he does now.
The images projected onto some of London’s most iconic landmarks tell a story that the government has been trying to avoid. Ninety percent of pigs in the UK are killed in CO2 gas chambers – a method so cruel that the government’s own Animal Welfare Committee has recommended it be banned. The science is unambiguous, the public is waking up to this, and Ministers need to act now. I’m proud to stand with campaigners shining a light on this issue – literally – and I will continue to push for the urgent reform that millions of animals deserve.
Zack Polanski
Load Your Slingshot
We showed the world what the industry has done its best to hide. Now, we need your help to end this atrocity. First, send a few pre-written emails through the link below. And then hop over to our socials to share our film. It could not be easier. Let’s bring this industry down.
