Carrie Symonds named by Peta as ‘person of the year’ for animal rights work

Boris Johnson’s fiancee was praised for making the world ‘a kinder place for animals’
Carrie Symonds with dog Dilyn who she and the Prime Minister adopted last year
AFP via Getty Images

Carrie Symonds has been named “person of the year” by a leading animal rights group.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) described Boris Johnson’s fiancee as “a fearless force for good” as they recognised her work to promote animal welfare.

Ms Symonds has long been a committed campaigner for animal rights and the fight against plastic pollution.

This year, she successfully pushed for supermarkets to stop selling Thai coconut products procured with monkey “slave labour”.

She also put her name to a petition calling for a worldwide ban on “wet markets” where wildlife is sold for consumption.

The Covid-19 outbreak is widely thought to have originated in a “wet market” in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where it is believed to have made the jump from animals – possibly bats – to humans.

Calling for an end to the global wildlife trade “once and for all”, Ms Symonds urged others to do the same.

Carrie Symonds speaks at Birdfair - In pictures

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She wrote of the coronavirus pandemic in April: “This crisis gives us the chance to start doing things better. Let this be one of those things.”

Over the course of 2020, Ms Symonds has spread awareness over the dog and cat meat trade “horrors” in China, encouraged the public to pressure Amazon into offering plastic-free packaging options, and called for urgent action to protect the environment.

In 2019, she and the Prime Minister adopted a dog who they named Dilyn. He was rescued as a puppy from a breeder by Welsh charity Friends of Animals Wales because he had a misaligned jaw and was going to be put down.

“Carrie Symonds is a fearless force for good when it comes to making the world a kinder place for animals,” Peta’s managing director Ingrid Newkirk was quoted as saying in The Daily Telegraph.

“Peta is delighted to honour her for using her platform to encourage people to spare a thought for our fellow animals whom we share this planet with.”

Ms Symonds has also campaigned against trophy hunting, the killing of puffins in Iceland, and is a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Association.

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