Caution: adult language ahead!  

“Animals don’t have a voice, but I do. A loud one. I’m a fucking big mouth. My voice is for them. And I’ll never shut up while they suffer.” ~ Ricky Gervais

I have previously written articles regarding my own rules for when I chose to give a fuck, and when I chose not to.

Too many fucks had been given out needlessly in the past, and so I rejigged, and now I only give them out when something is entirely deserving of it.

Ricky Gervais, comedian, actor, producer, film director, screenwriter, musician, radio presenter and animal activist seems to have perfected the art of fuck-giving to a tee!

What is most impressive about Gervais is that he chooses the platform of social media to voice his opinions as he knows that this is where his words will reverberate strongest.

Recently, he has fearlessly and relentlessly taken to Twitter and Facebook to stand up for the innocent and voiceless animals that are hunted down, and as they are often trapped in enclosures with no chance of defending themselves, they have no chance against humans with vehicles and powerful weapons.

Within the last few days, Gervais has caught the attention of hundreds of thousands of social media users with his stance on those that choose to hunt animals. He has received a huge backlash (mainly from the hunting community) due to some of his comments.

But he has also received a tremendous amount of support from animal lovers worldwide.

The comment made by Gervais that sparked the Internet frenzy surrounding the hunting of wild animals was directed at Rebecca Francis after she had posted a picture of herself smiling while lying next to a beautiful giraffe that she had just killed. Gervais’ response was, “What must’ve happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal and then lie next to it smiling?”

The post was retweeted over 38,000 times on Twitter and was shared thousands of times across various social media sites.

Fully aware of the powerful effect his voice has, within no time Gervais took toTwitter to declare, “My post about the giraffe hunter was seen by 27 million people on Twitter & Facebook in just one day. Keep up the good work. It all helps.”

Another tweet by Gervais on the 15th of April reads, “Don’t be surprised when people don’t care about a cause as much as you do. Don’t be deterred either.”

On April 16th Gervais posted a picture to his Twitter account of a rhino next to the corpse of it’s mother, with Gervais tweeting, “This beautiful little orphan rhino clings to his murdered mother. How the fuck is this defendable? Heartbreaking.” On the same day, he also Tweeted, “I know we are all different & I don’t expect Trophy Hunters to change their ways, but I will always speak up for animals because I can.”

Gervais was told by another Twitter user: “Maybe someone should just shoot you. You’re a disgrace to people,” so Gervais posted an image of himself dressed in a giraffe print suit, holding a leaf to his mouth saying “I’ll make it easier for you.”

It is not only animals that are hunted that Gervais speaks out for, he is also an advocate for shelter animals, for animals that are used for testing and he recently used his voice to support the Soi Dog campaign to shut down the illegal dog meat trade in Thailand.

Ricky Gervais has proved time and time again that he chooses to give no fucks for those that are offended by his often comedic, but always serious and meaningful thoughts and opinions when it comes to the mistreatment of animals.

And he gives every fuck going when it comes to defending those that are unable to defend themselves.

These are just a few of my favourite quotes from Gervais which sums up why I think he has the perfect balance between fuck yeah and fuck no!

“People have every right to tell you when they are offended. And you have every right to not give a fuck.”

“I’m offended. Please RT if you don’t give a flying fuck.”

“Dear China, powdered rhino horn cures fuck all! (Poachers’ teeth however cures everything and makes your dick bigger. Go get some!)”

“Dear intelligent people of the world. Don’t get shampoo in your eyes. It really stings. There. Done. Now fucking stop torturing animals.”

“I’ll pay for each pride of lions to have their own designated sniper on their side. Now it’s a sport. Where you brave hunters at now?”

“Just because you’re offended doesn’t mean you’re right.”

“We have to stop this recent culture of people telling us they’re offended and expecting us to give a fuck.”

“Being on the edge isn’t safe, but the view is better.”

“Elephants could be extinct by 2030 if the ivory trade remains the same, and for what? For trinkets for morons to own? That’s fucking mental!”

” ‘Do unto others…’ is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. But that’s exactly what it is—a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. ‘Do this or you’ll burn in hell.’ You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway.”

“You can kill any shark that gets out of the sea and starts killing us in our natural habitat of streets and pubs and Internet cafes. Deal?”

“Freedom of speech, rationality, truth and honesty. This is my religion. Oh, and cats. & dogs. All animals. Some people. Alcohol is good too.”

“If you don’t have empathy with animals, you don’t have empathy.”

“Yeah, it’s a tough one and of course, there’s a big difference between saving someone’s life and just getting the right marcara… it’s more fundamental than that. There’s still bloodsports in the world. Bullfighting. Really? Really? You want to see an animal stabbed to death for your pleasure? You really… you really? You really get off on that do you? I’d cheer when a toreador gets gored to death. I love it. He shouldn’t have got in there. It’s not a fair fight. There’s people shooting for pleasure, there’s people wearing fur of endangered species, I don’t know what to do with them. I don’t know what to fucking do with them. Just think. Why are you doing it? Why do you need that. It’s crazy. Just crazy. I wanna say.. uh, I want to crack a few heads.”

 

And in my opinion, his most powerful quote of all:

“Animals are not here to do as we please with. We are not their superiors, we are their equals. We are their family. Be kind to them.”

Gervais spoke of his reason for speaking out about this as, “Animals don’t have a voice but I do. A loud one. My voice is for them. And I’ll never shut up while they suffer.”

Ricky Gervais was awarded PETA Person Of The Year 2013.

 

Relephant: 

Don’t Be Chicken: Chinese Meat Import Now USDA Approved.

Breaking Free of Fences & Chains.

30 Cutest Photos ever. Warning: may cause you to Quit your Job & become a Vegan Animal Rights Activist.

 

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Author: Alex Sandra Myles 

Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: samuelrodgers752 at Flickr