On 17th March 2023, 15 protesters from the animal rights group Animal Rebellion peacefully occupied Scott’s seafood restaurant in Mayfair, London, UK, calling for an end to animal farming and fishing. The Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was dining at the restaurant at the time. On entering the premises, they sat down at tables reserved for diners just before 7 pm and paraded self-made menus titled “Plant-Based Future” explaining the benefits of a vegan diet. The police were called but the protestors were later removed by security.
Louisa Hillwood, one of the activists, said: “We’re peacefully occupying tables in Scott’s to make a definitive statement that no seafood is sustainable. Restaurants like this are symbols of horrific inequality, whether it’s the cost-of-living crisis, the climate emergency and the animal emergency. We know that transitioning to a plant-based food system would support fishing communities into sustainable jobs whilst providing abundant affordable and nutritious food, not to mention the benefits of marine rewilding.”
This animal rights group is quite active in the UK. On 14th February, St. Valentine’s Day, five Animal Rebellion protesters were arrested at Westminster Bridge in London after blocking the road with a candlelit Valentine’s Day dinner scene featuring one of the protestors dressed as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and another as a representative of animal farming and fishing, in front of a banner reading “Love To All.” In June 2022, activists of this group held a peaceful and quiet sit-in protest at a McDonald’s restaurant in Exeter demanding that the fast-food chain stop killing animals and destroying the environment, and instead switch to a fully plant-based menu. ‘McSit-ins’ is a type of protest in which activist take their own lunches (so they don’t contribute economically to animal killing) and occupy sitting areas of fast-food restaurants.
