Peta's use of nude models in animal campaigns fuels row with UK film-maker | World news | The Guardian

Peta's use of nude models in animal campaigns fuels row with UK film-maker | World news | The Guardian

The use of naked models and actresses to highlight animal cruelty is at the heart of a dispute between high-profile activists that could end in court.

American group Peta – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – has locked horns with British film-maker Victor Schonfeld over the former's alleged use of some of the latter's footage.

Peta and Schonfeld appear to have a lot in common. Both abhor animal cruelty and both have used "video nasties" to shock an often apathetic public into confronting difficult truths about fur, factory farming and scientific research over the last three decades.

But despite their shared goal, they are at odds over undercover footage highlighting some of the most unpalatable examples of animal cruelty. Peta has been threatened with a lawsuit in the UK by Schonfeld, a film-maker credited with raising public awareness of animal exploitation with the critically acclaimed The Animals Film, first released in 1982 and shown on Channel 4 in its launch week.

The issue at the nub of the case, it would appear, is less animal exploitation and more the alleged exploitation of the human female form. Schonfeld has been a big critic of Peta's "sexualised" campaigns to promote animal awareness – including a current poster featuring one-time Baywatch star Pamela Anderson.

The director claims secretly shot footage used in his film, co-directed by Myriam Alaux, has been exploited by Peta.