Pet Shop Boys turn down animal rights request

PET SHOP BOYS have refused to change their name to the Rescue Shelter Boys for a animal rights group campaign.

PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - wrote to the duo asking them to join their campaign which aims to discourage people buying cats and dogs from pet stores.

The letter said: "We have a request that may at first seem bizarre, but we hope that after considering the following facts, you will understand why we are asking this of you: will you please consider changing your name from the Pet Shop Boys to the Rescue Shelter Boys?

"Most dogs and cats sold in pet shops are sourced from profit-hungry breeders who may have bred them in cramped, filthy conditions. With an emphasis on quantity rather than quality, unmonitored genetic defects and personality disorders pass from one generation of puppies and kittens to the next.

"Many animals end up with abnormalities that result in both heartbreak and high veterinary bills for the unsuspecting people who buy them."

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe said they were so taken with the idea, they posted the letter on their official website.

But they said that a name change is out of the question.

On petshopboys.co.uk, a statement read: "(PETA) has written to Pet Shop Boys with a request they are unable to agree to but nonetheless think raises an issue worth thinking about."

PETA Special Projects Manager, Yvonne Taylor, said she was just thrilled to hear they had taken her letter seriously.

She said: "Neil Tennant, who posted this, showed that the Pet Shop Boys are just as smart as their lyrics and appreciate PETA's creative ways of bringing issues to the public."