Bondage Film Maker Forced Into Hiding by PETA After Using Cat in Film

A German S&M film maker has been forced to go into hiding, thanks to the animal welfare organisation PETA who is prosecuting her for animal cruelty after she used her pet cat in a scene in one of her films. If found guilty she could face up to three years in jail, the Sun has reported.

Hera Delgado, 34, is a bondage film maker based in Berlin who has made dozens of films during her career. During a recent shoot she playfully trussed up her pet cat Zorro and hoisted him off his paws as she whispered “Good boy, good boy, you’re enjoying this aren’t you”.

Her decision to include Zorro in the shoot was “spontaneous”, she said, adding “The clip had no sexual component, it was not a perverse thing. It was not animal cruelty. He purred the whole time.”

But animal rights activists have taken an altogether more puritanical approach. “This is a clear and terrible breach of this country’s animal welfare laws. In S&M films actors and directors give their consent. An animal cannot do this,” said Dr Edmund Haferbeck, vice chairman of PETA in Germany.

Evamarie Koenig from the Animal Protection Association conveyed heartfelt sympathy for Zorro, saying “This is unbearable. Cats are freedom-loving and sensitive. For them to undergo a tortuous ordeal like this means physical suffering and stress.”

PETA is itself no stranger to controversy: the organisation’s co-founder Ingrid Newkirk has described PETA’s goal as “total animal liberation”, meaning that they wish to see the end of all trades and activities that involve animals, including the abolition of the wool trade, of zoos, and of pet ownership.

Yet it’s “humane” solution to pet ownership is simply to euthanize all pets. Evidence from the American state of Virginia, which requires animal shelters to keep detailed records on all the animals that come into their care, shows that PETA euthanized 87 percent of the cats and dogs in its shelters between 1998 and 2013, peaking at 97.4 percent in 2006. In 2007, it gave just seven animals up to new owners for adoption.

Meanwhile, Delgado has had to go into hiding, fearful of repercussions from cat-loving animal rights activists. If found guilty of the charges that PETA is bringing against her, she could be faced with up to three years in prison or a hefty fine.