Remember this image circulating the internet not too long ago?
This image, if you haven’t seen it, went viral and caused an international stir among the public and animal welfare activists alike.
The Baltimore, MD Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake launched a campaign, “real men don’t torture pets” which featured multiple men in the media showing off their soft side for their pets: 
Unfortunately, the first picture does depict a typically
punk” looking dude. We would hate him no matter what he looked like, however the tagline “only a punk would hurt a cat or dog” has inspired us to communicate via the interwebs that we disagree. And we know a lot of you who ascribe to the punk and/or alternative sub culture realm also strongly disagree.
In our experience, most of our friends listen to some forms of punk. They generally have piercings and tattoos and a lot of the time have pretty weird hair. These are all pretty big indicators to mainstream society what is considered punk, so we are going to share with you some of our favourite animal welfare and rights activists – and they all happen to be punk.
John Feldmann.
John is the lead singer and lead guitarist of ska-punk band Goldfinger. He is vegan and regularly educates fans on animal issues at Goldfinger gigs through information, discussions and books. The band also donated the song “What Gives You The Right” to the Southern Animal Rights Coalition benefit CD, “Until Every Cage Is Empty”
Apart from his animal rights activism through his own shows, PETA and various documentaries he has appeared in – he is one of the most recognisable names and faces in the international punk scene. He has produced numerous albums for a variety of bands that showcase a multitude of punk styles – including but not exclusive to ska punk, pop punk, emo punk and hardcore punk.
Tim McIlrath
Tim is lead singer of punk band Rise Against. RA perform songs regarding politics, environmentalism, equality, animal welfare and sexuality. They present strong messages in interviews, concerts and through their music and videos.
Tim is vegan and the rest of the band are vegetarian. Tim and other members of RA have appeared in multiple short films and documentaries regarding animal equality. He takes part in protests and, like Feldmann, educated fans through information available at shows.
Davey Havok
Davey is the lead singer of goth punk/ melodic hardcore band AFI (A Fire Inside). He is vegan and owns vegan clothing line Zu Boutique which “pays homage to pop culture, forward thinking, and hedonism”.
All members of AFI – Adam Carson, Hunter Burgan and Jade Puget are also vegan or vegetarian.
Justin Sane.
Justin is lead singer of punk rock band Anti-Flag, who perform songs about environmentalism, politics, equality and animal rights. The band have collectively started activism groups such as The Underground Action Alliance and Military Free Zone.
The band, including Justin are all vegan or vegetarian and regularly speak candidly about their views while performing and in interviews.
I think we have made our point. If punks like this are setting examples and spreading messages like this – of course it’s going to be communicated to their audiences – and that means mass followings.
Information is intellect, and when you are given information like this from people you look up to, you generally take it into account.
Now, here are some photos of celebrities who either have the typical punk look and/or ethos… and they all happen to be vegan and animal welfare activists!
A really great article we came across on punks and animal rights can be read HERE.
All of these people and images are merely skimming the surface of the veganism and animal rights and welfare activism that is prominent within todays punk society.
Punks don’t hurt animals. Psychos do.
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