Strictly Come Dancing SLAMMED by animal charity over ‘violently obtained’ and ‘cruel’ part of show
STRICTLY Come Dancing has been slammed by an animal rights charity over a ‘violently obtained’ part of the show.
Every week, millions of viewers tune into the BBC One show to watch some of their favourite stars compete for the glitterball trophy.
This year, the likes of actress Sarah Hadland, EastEnders personality Jamie Borthwick and Love Island's Tasha Ghouri have all received high scores from the judges.
However, the bosses have not received such praise from animal charity PETA, who have slammed Strictly Come Dancing.
The organisation's Vice President of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor has personally written to bosses, as she highlighted the continued use of feathers in the costumes of the show.
In her document that was seen by The Sun, she wrote: "Like many Brits, we love the dazzling dances Strictly Come Dancing brings to our screens, but we must spotlight one major concern: the series’ use of feathers.
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"Real birds’ feathers are a product of extreme cruelty to animals and have no place on your dance floor. They are gory, not glamourous."
In her letter, Mrs Taylor then went into more detail of the harmful effects of obtaining feathers for clothing materials.
"Industry use of other birds – like pheasants, parrots, and peacocks – is shrouded in secrecy, breeding black market activity.
"Live plucking, which is common, causes birds immense pain and sometimes fatal injuries.
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"When you consider that factory farming birds to rob them of their plumes also increases the very real risk of a deadly bird flu pandemic, feathers are definitely something you don’t want to touch with a limbo stick!"
The charity noted that huge fashion designers like Stella McCartney are moving away from 'cruelly obtained feathers'.
It also pointed out that the recent Victoria's Secret show featured designs that were made exclusively from handcrafted faux feathers.
The Sun has contacted the BBC for comment.
Strictly 2024 pairings
Here's who is matched with who this series...
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk
Paul Merson and Karen Hauer
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec
Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova
Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones
Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones
Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.