US concert venue bans meat for Morrissey

LOS ANGELES: British singer and ex-Smiths frontman Morrissey has persuaded the venue of an upcoming Los Angeles show to ban sales of meat by food vendors, the vegetarian activist said.

The sold-out March 1 concert will be the first time the LA concert venue has agreed to go 100 percent vegetarian, a request denied even to ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, Morrissey said.

"I don't look upon it as a victory for me, but a victory for the animals," he said in a statement cited by US and other media.

The venue and promoter Goldenvoice will donate a portion of ticket sales from the show to the British branch of animal rights charity Peta, the 53-year-old added.

Representatives for the Staples Center or Goldenvoice did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An agent for Morrissey could not immediately confirm the statement.

The Smiths' UK chart-topping second album in 1985 was entitled "Meat is Murder," providing Morrissey with a platform from which he has ever since espoused his advocacy of vegetarianism and animal rights.