Back in 2016, Lewis Hamilton explored a different side of his daredevil personality. The Mercedes driver had a play date with the big cats in a zoo. The videos uploaded on his Snapchat invited a sharp retort from the then-PETA Director who went as far as jinxing that the Briton will not win his third consecutive title with Mercedes.
Elisa Allen issued a statement that read, “Seeing big cats used for photo ops promotes the idea that wild animals are here for human amusement. And to do with as humans please, rather than to be left in peace in their own habitat.”
She added, “Accidents happen, as everyone in racing knows, and Lewis won’t win the championship this year or any other if he loses the hands he needs to turn the wheel, the fingers he needs to shift gears or a foot that he needs to work the pedals.”
Lewis Hamilton scares tigerpic.twitter.com/CHE0GXcL9P
— videos that make your day better (@cheerfulclips) December 23, 2023
In one video, Hamilton crept in from behind to spook a tiger. Meanwhile, in another one, he put a hand in a jaguar’s mouth while playing with it.
Reacting to the videos, Allen suggested Hamilton should contact a victim or a relative of a dead victim of a tiger attack. She added that the then three-time champion would find that these cats are much more dangerous than engaging in the on-track battles with Nico Rosberg.
The statement was a dig at the brewing tensions between Hamilton and his then-Mercedes teammate. The duo fought fiercely on the track in 2016 for the championship. While Hamilton was fighting for a third consecutive title, Rosberg was scrapping for his first.
The battle often spilled over to the press conferences where they often attacked each other openly. As the season came to a close, the German triumphed over the Briton by just five points. After bagging his only world championship, Rosberg bid goodbye to F1 for good.
Lewis Hamilton’s love-hate relationship with PETA
The tiger-jaguar incident may have landed Lewis Hamilton on PETA’s bad boy radar, but he soon made it on their good boy list. In 2018, the animal rights organization recognized the F1 sensation’s good work to award him with the PETA U.K.’s Person of the Year.
They felicitated him for switching to a vegan diet and also for his efforts in making it popular among his followers. Back then, his Instagram bio read, “[Plant] Based Diet. Love Animals.”
Hamilton also successfully switched his bulldog Roscoe’s diet to vegan. He later praised the diet for helping Roscoe with arthritis pain.
Some people should stop worrying about Sir Lewis Hamilton’s Dog Roscoe because it’s Vegan and focus on themselves
Sir Lewis Hamilton has said many times that he wanted to improve his dog’s health and he is feeling better now
He said this back in October last year on IG pic.twitter.com/bziPW7f3zV
— James Kurt #LH103#44 #BlackLivesMatter (@JamesKurt_44) June 21, 2021
His commitment to veganism did not stop there. Hamilton went a step further and invested in a vegan burger chain- Neat Burger. Other investors in the chain include Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, and model Sara Sampaio.
However, not too long ago, Hamilton once again found himself on the wrong side of PETA. Last year, they issued a statement urging him to raise his voice against the Iditarod dog race.
They highlighted how the race held in Alaska is cruel and has caused a number of deaths. As the seven-time champion chose not to issue any statement, PETA activists crashed the Forbes Iconoclast summit to show Hamilton placards, urging him to raise his voice against the race.
