PETA Steps In To Help British Nude Held Prisoner and Stop 10 Innocent Buffalo from Grisly Decapitation

Following reports that British student Eleanor Hawkins, who was arrested in Malaysia after stripping at the peak of Mount Kinabalu, faces an ultimatum (give locals 10 buffalo heads or spend three months in prison), PETA has fired off a letter offering assistance. In the letter, PETA founder Ingrid E Newkirk urges the British student to resist and not to sentence 10 vulnerable animals to pay with their lives for something that had nothing to do with them.

"I grew up in India and have personally rescued buffalo from slaughter and know them to be truly wonderful individuals with a hard life," writes Newkirk. "I have also been to prison for animal protection, for instance, for interrupting a bird shoot, and have been jailed in Asia for protesting the slaughter of bulls and festival bullfights. In fact, spending time in jail might give you the experience and insight you need to write an article or book. In addition, I don't think anything awful will happen to you there, and you may even make new lifelong friends and learn much that you'll value when you rejoin society."

PETA goes on to propose that Hawkins make a peace offering to appease the guardian of the mountain in the form of a donation to a bona fide orang-utan sanctuary in Borneo – and promises to provide her with the funds to do so.

PETA's letter to Hawkins is available in full below.