above: James Gunn, Director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, photo by Rich Polk / Stringer via Getty Images

SPOILER WARNING! Contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The acclaimed sci-fi heavily follows a raccoon called Rocket who ends up with impressive fighting skills after being tortured in a lab.

Voiced by Bradley Cooper, Rocket tries to avenge his fellow animals that were killed, and attempts to free the rest.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Award

Vegan charity PETA has praised the film for ‘spotlighting’ the cruelty of animal testing, and awarded director James Gunn with a major accolade.

“Through Rocket, James Gunn has put a face, a name, and a personality on the millions of vulnerable animals being cycled through laboratories as we speak,” said PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange.

“PETA is celebrating this as the best animal rights film of the year for helping audiences see animals as individuals and suggesting that just because we can experiment on them doesn’t mean that we should.”

‘Cold-blooded experiments’

The organisation has given Gunn the ‘Not a Number Award’ for ‘showing audiences that Rocket Raccoon’s origin story isn’t out of Knowhere’. 

“Cruel, callous, and cold-blooded experiments on animals are real, and they’re happening right now,” PETA added.

Original Article > by Liam Gilliver, Vegan Food & Living