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Celebrities Helping Pets
- 1. "A ""Cause"" to Celebrate (Prince)"
- 2. "How ""Shweet"" It Is! (Cartoonist Patrick McDonnell)"
- 3. More than a Game (Bob Barker)
- 4. Den Mother (Tippi Hedren)
- 5. Something to Believe In (Rikki Rockett)
- 6. One Life to Give (Catherine Hickland)
- 7. Canine Crusader Burt Ward
- 8. Casting Out the Demons (Linda Blair)
- 9. Donna Salyers Makes a Difference
Something to Believe In (Rikki Rockett)
Rebecca L. Rhoades, ASPCA
Rikki Rockett is not your typical animal activist. A former hairdresser, dishwasher and emergency medical technician, he rose to fame 15 years ago as the rowdy, outspoken drummer for Poison, one of rock and roll’s wildest party bands. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Poison dominated the charts with good-time glam metal, and with their over-the-top backstage parties and reckless lifestyles, their reputation off-stage was as wild as their music.
Today, Poison is still making music and selling out stadiums across the country, but with the wild times behind him, Rockett has taken the opportunity to focus on one of his passions: animals. Whether it’s speaking at conferences, marching at rallies, investigating cruelty cases or designing websites, Rockett has shed his bad-boy image to become a tireless crusader in the battle for animal welfare.
Creating an Activist
Rockett grew up in rural Mechanicsburg, PA. It was here, as a
young teen, that the seeds of activism were planted.
Deer hunting was a popular pastime in Mechanicsburg, and young Rockett was excited about getting his first license to hunt. But his one-and-only hunting experience brought about unexpected feelings and gave him a new attitude toward animals. After a long day spent in the woods, with no deer in sight, Rockett did what any bored, young hunter might do: he turned his gun on another living creature who was in sight—a bird. He watched the bird fall to the ground and die in front of him. “I remember that day clearly,” he says. “When I shot that bird, when I took its life, it affected me profoundly.”
Rockett learned more about the suffering of animals at the hands of humans when he was in the eighth grade. An avid horror movie buff, he fell in love with rats after seeing the movie Willard—so much so that he wanted one as a pet. But pet rats weren’t very common at that time, and no local pet stores carried them. Rockett was referred to Hershey Medical Center (HMC), which kept rats for experiments, but when he tried to purchase one, he was refused because the rats were only available for experimentation.
“Three weeks later, I discovered what was going on at HMC, as well as at many other institutions,” he says. “So I decided to do a report on vivisection, and as I watched the reactions of my biology teacher and the other students, I realized that something was going on, that this is a major issue. It was at that point that I became an antivivisectionist.”
Then about nine years ago, Rockett came to a self-realization; if he was going to fight against animal injustices, he needed to stand up for those animals in the food production industry. But after growing up on a meat-and-potatoes diet, becoming a vegetarian was not the easiest thing to do. “I didn’t like a lot of vegetables, but I had made a conscious, ethical decision to become a vegetarian,” he recalls. So Rockett took a drastic route to change his eating habits—he fasted for 10 days. “When you come off a fast, everything tastes great. Stuff you hated tastes great.”
In 1996, Rockett decided to completely eliminate animal products from his lifestyle—he doesn’t wear or use any items that contain animal products or that were animal tested. “A lot of people say that veganism must be such an inconvenience, but it’s almost a kind of enlightenment. It’s so nice to go to bed at night with a clear conscience, knowing that nothing died for me,” Rockett says.
Rockett’s fellow band members, while not vegetarians, are supportive of his beliefs. On Poison’s recent Power to the People tour, bassist Bobby Dall showed his support by asking for Rockett’s advice in selecting cruelty-free personal care products for the band. “Even though he might not do that at home,” says Rockett, “he’s doing it out here on the road, and that’s important to me.”
Role Model
While Rockett has long been interested in animal
welfare—during Poison’s early years, he would invite
animal welfare organizations to set up information booths at the
concert venues—he will admit that for many years, his
passion was unfocused.
Then about six years ago, a chance encounter at a dinner for the United Pegasus Foundation provided him with a mission. While relaxing outside, he struck up a conversation with Chris DeRose, founder and president of Los Angeles-based Last Chance for Animals (LCA), an organization dedicated to eradicating vivisection, pet theft, the fur industry and the use of animals in circuses.
“Rikki had been involved [in the animal protection movement],” says DeRose, “but he had no direction. Once we hooked up, we became a really good team.”
He adds, “Rikki’s very smart, bright and creative, and he’s definitely loyal and dedicated to what he believes in.”
Since then, Rockett has worked tirelessly on behalf of LCA; he’s assisted DeRose on cruelty investigations, represented LCA at conferences and rallies and even filmed an episode of Hollywood Animal Crusaders, with one of his own dogs, Ruthy, on the horrors of pet theft. He also serves as one of LCA’s celebrity spokespersons.
“Rikki often visits schools with me, because the kids can really relate to him,” says DeRose. “As a rock and roll star, he sets a very good example for young people. He reaches an audience that we probably would never be able to touch.”
Webmaster
When not making music, Rockett indulges his latest passion, web
design. He’s started his own design company, Web Division,
through which he has created a site for LCA called Rikki
Rockett’s Animal Cruelty (www.animalcruelty.com).
Animal Cruelty introduces viewers to a variety of animal welfare issues, including experimentation, factory farming, the fur trade, hunting and animals in entertainment. While fact filled, the site often features graphic photos. Rockett wanted the website to serve two purposes: first to shock, then educate. “As a rock and roll guy, I know who my target audience is, and I understand how they think,” he says. “I can’t go out on a stage, grab a microphone and say ‘make compassion the fashion.’ The audience is going to kick me off the stage. But I can catch their attention with images, and I don’t care who you are, it’s going to affect you.”
He adds, “But you can’t just shock someone and not say anything more. That’s where the education factor comes in.”
“The website was Rikki’s idea,” says DeRose. “He’s always trying to find a new and creative way to reach people, and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback about [the website]. Rikki has a real knack for explaining things so that you can understand what he’s saying, and maybe think about it. And that’s all you can expect anyone to do, to think about something.”
Rockett has also used his personal fan site, www.rikkirockett.com, to introduce neophyte animal activists to some of the issues surrounding animal welfare. On it, he refers to himself as the “glitterpunkdrumminvegan,” and a page entitled “Jake Justice” tells the story of the June 1999 beating death of a dog by a Los Angeles animal control officer—not the usual rock and roll fan fare.
Rock On
Today, Rockett and his girlfriend, Malina, share a five-acre
spread north of Los Angeles with five dogs, six cats, two horses,
a burro and one rat—he’s owned eight rats in the past
five years. All but one of his animals—Brando, a purebred
German shepherd who has worked with Rockett on class B dealer and
pet theft PSAs—were rescued from shelters or abusive
situations.
Over the years, Rockett has been an outspoken proponent of spay/neuter. He’s also a strong opponent of wolf hybrid breeding, for reasons of a more personal nature—he rescued a hybrid from an abusive breeding facility in Alaska. “I love Laska to death, but she’s a mess. I’ve invested more time in her than I have in any of my other animals, but she’s never going to be petlike. Hybrid breeding always creates a bad situation, and the animal is the one who suffers in the end.”
“Rikki loves animals very much and has a grave concern for them,” says Rockett’s friend and neighbor, actress Tippi Hedren, founder and director of Shambala Preserve, a sanctuary for exotic cats. “He genuinely cares about the animals, and he’s been very supportive of our work at Shambala.”
Rockett is also realistic about his beliefs—he knows that animal welfare isn’t everyone’s passion. But he hopes that through his work, he can inspire people to get involved in issues they find important. “You have to look into your heart and find out what moves you,” he concludes. “My choice is animals because I happen to have an affection for them. We’re all put here for one reason or another, and I think that all of us can get involved and do something.”
© 2000
ASPCA Animal Watch - Winter 2000
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How You Can Help Pets: Celebrities Helping Pets:
One Life to Give (Catherine Hickland)
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