WHAT'S NEXT

Tell Selena Gomez: Don’t Use Painted Animals in Your Videos
  1. Signatures
    453 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. Selena Gomez
  2. Created By
    Laura Goldman
    Los Angeles, CA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
How We Won

Jun 02, 2011

Disney star Selena Gomez was spotted shooting her latest music video on a Malibu beach with two horses spray-painted pink. At first, her representative defended the painted ponies, insisting that the paint was non-toxic and that the humane society was on set to make sure the horses weren't harmed.

But PETA and hundreds of Change.org members disagreed, arguing that there is no humane way to paint a live horse. The process is stressful, and even non-toxic dyes can cause allergic reactions. After a couple weeks of pressure from animal activists, including celebrities like Pink, E! Online reported that the pink horses would not appear in the final cut of the video.

"When Selena was presented the idea for the video, no one informed her the horses would be painted and she had assumed they would be colored in post-production [via special effects]," a production insider tells us. "When she showed up to the set she was very surprised to see them painted." PETA praised Gomez's decision not to use painted animals in her video and to be a trendsetter for kindness to animals.

While shooting the video for her new single "Love You Like a Love Song," Disney star Selena Gomez frolicked on a Malibu beach this week with two horses that had been spray-painted pink.

While her rep issued a statement saying the paint was non-toxic and a Humane Society official was on set to ensure the horses weren’t harmed, it is still inhumane to spray paint an animal.

"There are no safe ways to paint a live horse or any animal,” PETA spokesman Dan Mathews said. “They can have painful allergic reactions to chemicals and there's no way to know how an individual animal will react. Also, subjecting skittish animals like horses to extended periods of restraint and spraying is stressful and frightening.”

On her Twitter account, singer Pink, who witnessed the horses being spray painted, tweeted, "Artists should be more aware and responsible for their actions."

Earlier this month, when the Los Angeles restaurant Pink Taco spray-painted a donkey pink for Cinco de Mayo, thousands of animal lovers protested on Change.org and Facebook, threatening to boycott the restaurant. The owner spoke to PETA and agreed not to use the painted donkey again.

Gomez, star of The Wizards of Waverly Place on the Disney Channel and girlfriend of Justin Bieber, has in the past described herself as a “huge animal lover.” If she truly loves animals, she needs to stop allowing them to be painted for her music videos.

Please sign the petition telling Gomez to publicly apologize and pledge not to use painted horses or any other painted animals in her videos again.

Photo credit: Briddish

 

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Please Don’t Use Painted Animals in Your Videos

Hi Selena,

I’m writing to ask you not to use painted animals in your music videos again.

While the paint used on the horses in your "Love You Like a Love Song" video may have been non-toxic, the fact is that it is not safe to paint a horse or any other live animal. They can still suffer allergic reactions to the chemicals in the paint, which may cause them a lot of pain.

It is also very stressful and scary for a horse to have to be restrained and stand still for a long time while it is being spray painted.

Maybe you heard about the Pink Taco restaurant in L.A. using a donkey painted pink as a Cinco de Mayo publicity stunt earlier this month. After thousands of animal lovers complained about it on Change.org and Facebook, the restaurant owner agreed not to use the pink donkey again.

You’ve described yourself as a “huge animal lover.” I urge you to prove this by publicly apologizing for using the painted horses, and promising never to use painted animals in your videos again.

Thank you.

[Your name]

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