News / Animal Rights
A day in the life of an animal rights activist
When Reuben Skeats wakes up in the morning even he is not sure where the day will take him.
It could be outside a local slaughterhouse or a university building. He could be in London or Addis Ababa.
Although he was born in Kent, Skeats recently adopted Bristol as his home when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) advertised a Bristol-based position to campaign against the forced swim testing of mice.
is needed now More than ever
Bristol24/7 spoke with him recently, soon after footage emerged on Tuesday 23 July of British Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin whipping a horse.
The footage provoked widespread condemnation and Dujardin subsequently withdrew from the Paris Olympics. Skeats said more needs to be done to combat animal abuse: “All animals are unique individuals with their own desires, and they experience pain, fear, stress, joy, and companionship, just like we do.
“They want to be free to make their own choices, express their natural behaviour, and follow their instincts.
“I know if I were trapped in any of the exploitative industries that use animals, I’d want those in a position to advocate for me to be doing everything they could.
“I want to live in a just and free society and that will only happen if we demand it. As the famous quote goes, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Skeats’ awakening came a few years ago, when he watched “a powerful documentary that takes an in-depth look at the way humans treat other animals and shows viewers why we must be more compassionate towards the other species we share the planet with.”
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Skeats continued, “I also read Animal Liberation by the philosopher Peter Singer, which awakened me to the existence of ‘speciesism’, our society’s systematic disregard of nonhuman animals.
“The understanding that animals deserve the right, just as humans do, to be free from exploitation for experimentation, food, clothing, or entertainment fundamentally changed how I saw the world.
“After this epiphany, I thought that if those around me were equipped with the same information they would feel the same way but I found that people often need to be shaken from the status quo.
“So, I decided to become an activist. PETA entities around the world champion animal rights through undercover investigations, animal rescues, attention-grabbing protests, media campaigns, and groundbreaking legal work, and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”
Reuben and his colleagues disrupted the State of the City Address at the Wills Memorial Building of the University of Bristol – photo credit: Milan Perera
Skeats also believes that government and policy makers have an important part to play in the struggle for animal rights. He said, “if the UK wants to position itself at the forefront of global science and innovation, it needs a government-led strategy to end archaic experiments on animals and prioritise cutting-edge human-relevant, non-animal methods.”
Two weeks ago, Skeats was arrested in East Africa and held in prison overnight.
Skeats recounted: “I was scouting out a demo location in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where PETA was planning a protest to call on Ethiopian Airlines to stop shipping endangered monkeys to laboratories to be abused and killed in crude and painful experiments.
“Monkeys in these shipments are torn from their families in nature, confined to small wooden crates, and crammed into dark cargo holds for as long as 30 hours as they’re flown around the world.
“Ethiopian Airlines is one of the only airlines left that continues to facilitate this monkey abuse.
“While I was there, my colleague, his 11-year-old son, and I were arrested and detained in an Ethiopian police station for 30 hours before being deported.
“The Ethiopian authorities’ extreme reaction and attempt to silence us shows how worried the government and airline are about the public finding out about their mistreatment of endangered monkeys.
“Unfortunately, you don’t have to travel far to find sentient individuals being tortured in laboratories.”
Two weeks ago, Reuben Skeats and a colleague were arrested in Addis Ababa when they campaigned against Ethiopian Airlines – photo credit: PETA
In recent years, Skeats has been campaigning against the University of Bristol for forced swim testing mice.
The University of Bristol describes forced swim tests as “experimental procedures in which rats or mice are placed into a container of water with no means of escape. The rodents will first try to escape before settling down, and floating or swimming steadily.” At the end of the study, the mice are killed.
Skeats and his fellow PETA activists have disrupted several University of Bristol events to protest this practice, including the University’s State of the City Address held in October 2023.
When asked about this, Skeats said: “For several years, I’ve been leading a campaign calling on the University of Bristol to drop a cruel and widely discredited experiment called the forced swim test.
“Those who use this test erroneously claim that it can reveal something about human mental health conditions. It’s high time the University of Bristol joined other leading institutions in dropping the forced swim test and embraced animal-free, human-relevant methods. PETA will continue to campaign on this issue until the University does the right thing.”
Reuben Skeats asked the people of Cardiff whether they would eat a cat during an anti-meat campaign in the Welsh capital – photo credit: PETA
Some say Skeats and his fellow activists use scare tactics to drive their narrative. To this Skeats said: “All we do is tell the truth – if it’s scary to hear it, imagine what it’s like to live it. Our purpose is to protect animals from suffering, and we take advantage of every opportunity to reach people with powerful messages.
“This can require tactics like naked marches, undercover investigations, and colourful ad campaigns that some people find shocking, but we can’t make the changes that are desperately needed if we go unheard.”
He added: “Right now, animals are being mutilated in experiments, slaughtered for food, skinned for fashion, and confined for entertainment, and they can’t wait decades or centuries – they need our help right now. While we wait for the law to catch up, we can make powerful choices about how we live, from what we eat and wear to how we educate and entertain ourselves. These are things we can do today to protect animals.”
Regarding forced swim testing, a University of Bristol spokesperson said: “We recognise there are differing views about the use of animals in research, including some concerns around whether it is ethical.
“The University of Bristol has a successful track record of translating scientific discoveries into real-world advances. Wherever possible we rely on non-animal methods for example computer models, cells grown in the laboratory or human volunteers.
“When these methods are not suitable to address the scientific gaps, and therefore only when absolutely necessary, we use animals in research to improve our understanding of health and disease in both humans and animals. This includes cardiovascular and cancer research, diseases associated with infection and immunity and, in the case of forced swimming, significant advances in the understanding of stress-related disorders.
“We are committed to a culture of openness and transparency regarding the research carried out here at Bristol, ensuring the animals are treated with compassion and respect. We keep up to date with the latest thinking on all aspects of research using animals (including advances in welfare) and have robust and thorough ethical review processes in place for every project.”
Main photo: PETA
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