AFI’s Davey Havok Poses With Rat for PETA Advert

Davey Havok of AFI seems in a brand new Individuals for the Moral Therapy of Animals video with a rat on his shoulder.  Billboard reviews that it is a part of a marketing campaign “towards animal testing and speciesism, the human-supremacy world view.” The main focus is the observe of animal testing by pharmaceutical firms, particularly the “Compelled Swim Check.”

Within the video posted immediately (Apr. 4,) which additionally occurs to be World Rat Day, Havok is wanting somewhat dapper in a black go well with and polka-dotted bow tie. The rat, Wee Man, is perched on his shoulder as Havok explains the check. The “Compelled Swim Check,” which does sound weird, is meant to gauge a whether or not a rat is depressed. That is achieved by dropping a rat into a pot of water and letting them wrestle/swim round. This someway assessments effectiveness of antidepressant medication primarily based on how a lot swimming the rat does till it offers up.

Davey and Wee Man

Havok asks within the video, ““Is that melancholy that you just’re measuring? No. It’s worry. It’s trauma. It’s battle or flight…Nothing is gained from that besides their struggling. And no animals deserve that. No animals need to be handled like that.”

In one other video posted in February, Havok and Wee Man focus on speciesism, or “prejudice or discrimination primarily based on species.” In it, Havok says that most individuals consider rats as “pestilent” creatures however they are not. “(Rats) are very caring animals, they sleep in packs. They’re playful… It is unfair to discriminate towards animals and hurt them. They do not need to undergo… similar to your canine and cat (do not.)”

Wee Man, the Rat

Havok is a longtime supporter of animal rights. In 2017 he was voted PETA2’s Hottest Vegetarian Celeb. The yr prior Havok went au pure (nude dude) in a PETA anti-leather advert marketing campaign.