RICKY GERVAIS’
Comedian and animal-rights activist Ricky Gervais has praised the Daily Mirror’s tireless campaigning to combat the mistreatment of animals, saying, “the Mirror are the best at tackling animal cruelty”.
This week, a South Korean meat market was closed after we exposed the cruelty behind the trade, and we have relentlessly exposed savage trophy hunters who kill endangered species for fun.
Earlier this year, MPs called for an overhaul on UK laws to stamp out puppy farming, after we revealed gangs were raking in £35,000 a week smuggling pets into Britain.
Outspoken Ricky, 55, is never afraid to take people inflicting suffering on animals to task and frequently supports Mirror campaigns to put an end to a stream of shockingly brutal treatments.
Of big-game hunters who post pictures of themselves with their “trophies” on social media, he says: “Imagine if a vet said, ‘I’m going to put down your cat now. Can I do it with a bow and arrow, and then have a selfie for Facebook?’ You’d go, ‘No, you’re a f***ing psychopath’.” He adds: “It’s too much. There’s something new every day. Now, the Mirror are the best at tackling animal cruelty.”
Thanks to the success of comedy series such as The Office and its spinoff film Life On The Road, a string of Hollywood films, and three presenting stints on the Golden Globes, Ricky’s voice has an extensive reach around the world. It has earned him more than 11.7 million followers on Twitter, where he regularly helps us get our message to as many people as possible.
Last year, he wept as he collected his Outstanding Contribution honour at the Daily Mirror’s Animal Hero Awards, saying the sickening videos of dolphin cruelty and bullfighting shown at the ceremony made him so angry it reduced him to tears.
“The best thing about social media is it can mobilise a petition,” he says. But he warns that a mass audience need to be made gradually aware of the cruellest