You were told this morning about the vow made by Melissa Sehgal, who also goes by Vegan Mel, to sit in a cage in Anaheim while her nude body was painted like a tiger. If you point your eyes in that direction, you can still make out the smoke trail produced when photographer Keith May high-tailed it over there for the voluntary assignment. The fruits of his hard labor are revealed in this quite-possibly-not-totally-safe-for-work slideshow.
Sehgal is a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), for whom she has pulled similar stunts, including one as recently as Tuesday in Fresno. The current target of PETA's ire is a familiar one to animal-rights advocates: Ringling Bros.
and Barnum N Bailey Circus, whose treatment of performing animals has been blasted over the years. Circus officials have just as vigorously deflected the criticism.
Hoping to spread the word–and generate the headlines (you're welcome!)–before the circus comes to Honda Center July 15, Vegan Mel plopped her cage at South Lemon Street and West Center Street Promenade, where she held a sign stating, “Tigers in Circuses: Beaten, Battered, and Broken.” Wonder if anyone even noticed the sign?
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.