Local young artist wins award in national competition


Talented local young artist, Emma Rankin from George Watson’s College in Edinburgh has been commended for her entry in a national art competition.

Emma entered the art and poetry competition, which was launched by Animal Aid during its annual Veggie Month initiative in March. The competition – open to young people right across the UK - was on the theme of factory farming, following recent high profile consumer campaigns by celebrity chefs, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver.

Animal Aid received more than 1,500 entries from individuals and schools and was delighted by the extraordinarily high standard. Emma’s piece – which directly compared the life of a pig in a factory farm to a life of freedom - was shortlisted in its age category (11-13) for its imagination, technique and understanding of the issue.

Says Animal Aid’s Competition Organiser, Kelly Slade:
‘Young people feel passionately about the fair treatment of animals and clearly recognise the inhumanity of factory farming. The artwork and poetry we received was exciting, imaginative and bold, and revealed a thoughtful and compassionate younger generation. I feel sure that such talent and commitment will continue to be used to benefit animals, people and the planet in the future.’


•    For more information contact: Kelly Slade, 01732 364546 ext 227 (after hours, Kate Fowler-Reeves 07751 990082)
•    In the UK alone, approximately 1,000 million animals are slaughtered for food each year. This figure doesn’t include fish, who are killed in such huge numbers that they are counted in tonnes. The vast majority of farmed animals – and especially pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats and fish - are fattened in factory farms. Increasingly, dairy cows are also kept in intensive ‘zero grazing’ units.