[from Blabbermouth.net]

Animal Rights Sweden, the country's largest animal-rights organization with 36,000 members, has launched an attack against the organizers of the Gates of Metal festival over Norwegian black metal band MAYHEM's use of animal parts during their performance at the event (Photo#1, Photo#2), which took place this past weekend (see previous BLABBERMOUTH.NET report).

"I think it's very sad that animal parts were used on one of the stages," Animal Rights Sweden chairman Per-Anders Svärd (photo) told the Swedish newspaper Östran/Nyheterna. "The festival organizer should have put a stop to it. You diminish the value of animal life by doing this. You sacrifice animals and you use them as props in a show for entertainment shock-value purposes. That's the worst part, I think.
...
"Dogs and cats get the respect they deserve. What if MAYHEM had brought with them mutilated dog and cat carcasses to Hultsfred [where Gates of Metal was held]? Then every journalist in Sweden would be calling me right now. But now we're talking about pigs and sheep and then it's apparently not as interesting."

Per-Anders Svärd believes that pigs, sheep, cows and other mammals should be treated the same way as dogs and cats.

"In principle, there is no difference between these animals. Life is probably the same for most mammals."

--
full story:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=56228