From People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protests to numerous demonstrations by other animal-rights activists around the world, the objection to slaughtering of animals and the urge to go vegetarian was showed in various creative ways during the past year.
Browse through the photo gallery to view the top ten animal rights protests of 2011.
British performance artist Alice Newstead suspends from shark hooks pierced through her back at a cosmetic shop in San Francisco, California Aug. 24, 2011. The act was performed to bring attention to the declining global population of sharks due to demand for shark fin soup and other shark products.
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
Animal rights protesters lie covered in fake blood and black paint as they form the shape of a bull during a demonstration calling for the abolition of bull runs and bullfights, three days before the start of the famous running of the bulls San Fermin festival in Pamplona July 3, 2011.
REUTERS/Susana Vera
Two members of "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" (PETA), painted in blue and green, hold a banner that reads "Save the Planet, Go Vegan", during a march along a pedestrian area of Nanjing Road in downtown Shanghai Nov. 9, 2011.
REUTERS/Aly Song
Members of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) demonstrate outside Rockefeller Center in New York Jan. 5, 2011.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Animal rights activists, painted with tiger stripes, protest against circuses with animals in a mall in Barcelona, May 26, 2011.
REUTERS/Albert Gea