Het volgende artikel over dierenmishandeling komt van Care2, met stijgende verontwaardiging las ik dit artikel gisteren. Lees het a.u.b., teken de petitie, waarvan u de link bijna onderaan het volgende artikel vindt en geef het door!!
Activist Could Face 10 Years in Jail for Giving Water to Slaughterhouse-Bound Pigs
- By: Tex Dworkin
- December 5, 2015
Canadian
animal rights activist Anita
Krajnc could face up to 10 years in prison for
giving water to pigs who were heading to a slaughterhouse on a
scorching summer day.
10
years, because she had the audacity to give thirsty pigs water on a
hot day. Let that soak in for a minute.
Krajnc
is the co-founder of Toronto
Pig Save,
the organization that encourages people to “bear witness”
to the suffering of animals in transport and at slaughterhouses.
During all day vigils, volunteers do what they can to ease the
suffering of pigs—including giving them water on hot days. They
stand outside the slaughterhouse each week on a location that’s
come to be known as Pig
Island,
holding signs to raise awareness of the horrors passing through.
They also capture the terror in photos and videos for
the world to see.
On one
such day last summer when
a Van Boekel Hog Farms slaughterhouse transportation truck filled
with pigs headed to Fearman’s Pork was stopped, Krajnc and another
activist started giving water to the thirsty pigs, something they’d
been doing for over two years.
Care2’s
Jessica Ramos describes:
On
June 22, when a Van Boekel Hog Farms slaughterhouse transportation
truck headed to Fearman’s Pork was stationary, Krajnc and another
female activist took the opportunity to film and to give water to
thirsty pigs — or what the court disclosure describes as:
“spraying an unknown liquid into the trailer where the hogs were
situated.”
The
driver, later identified as Jeffrey Veldjesgraaf in the same court
disclosure, approached her and told her to stop.
He
also had some pretty un-gentlemanly things to say. Though there was
no physical altercation to speak of, as you can see in this video
of the incident,
things got ugly, and although the police didn’t intervene at the
scene, Krajnc was later served with a police summons and charged
with criminal mischief.
It
turns out the owner of the pigs, Ontario farmer Eric Van Boekel,
filed a police complaint the day after the incident, claiming that
his pigs were treated in accordance with all national standards and
regulations.
Therein
lies part of the problem; if the way his company treats animals is
legal, then national standards and regulations are wrong. It
shouldn’t be legal to keep and transport animals
that are smarter than 3-year old children in deplorable
conditions.
In
the heat of summer those metal trucks heat up like ovens, but
where’s the water for the jam-packed animals? In winter, pigs are
forced to endure freezing temperatures to the point where
their frostbitten
bodies sometimes stick to the truck walls.
Other times their legs
drag underneath the truck. And
after enduring the long hard trip without access to food, water or
warmth, their reward is slaughter. That is, if
they make the journey.
Earlier
this week Krajnc publicly spoke out about her June 22 actions and
the subsequent charges, making her case by answering the question,
“Should
I go to jail for giving a thirsty pig water?”
in an opinion piece published in the Toronto Star.
“Offering
water to a thirsty pig is an act of love and compassion,” she
writes. “It is not only a right, but a duty we all share. Causing
the pigs to suffer in the first place is what is wrong.”
In
her letter, Krajnc identifies another problem in all this: “It’s
wrong to see pigs as property, just as it was wrong hundreds of
years ago to see human slaves as property and women as chattel —
the property of men. The law needs changing.”
As
Thomas Jefferson once said, “If a law is unjust, a man is not only
right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.” So is a woman, I
would add.
I
asked Anita Krajnc what inspired her to write the Toronto Star
piece. Here’s what she told me:
I
wanted people to understand that the simple act of giving water to
thirsty pigs is the right thing to do and I wanted to share some
historical context on the origins of our group and the influence Leo
Tolstoy has had on our group’s main strategy of bearing witness. I
wanted tell the story of how a dog, Mr. Bean, helped create our
group, Toronto Pig Save, five years ago and encourage people to
realize that there is no meaningful difference between the dogs we
walk and the pigs trapped in slaughterhouse trucks yearning to play
in the fields.
She
quotes Tolstoy in her article, as he’s influenced their group’s
philosophy and approach to love, nonviolence and the duty to bear
witness. As for Mr. Bean, well, read her article to
see how he ties in.
Krajnc
also pointed out to me that what they are doing is only a partial
form of bearing witness. “We are not fully helping the animals
since they are going to slaughter, but only offering small acts of
compassion by giving them water before they enter the worst place
imaginable… a mass industrial killing facility.” Then she
referenced activists in China who “fully bear witness when they
stop transport trucks carrying dogs to slaughter and rescue all the
animals.” She says, “We admire Chinese animal advocates for
their brave activism.”
The
June incident has gained
worldwide attention.
For those who write it off as a mere publicity stunt, Krajnc
says,
“Giving water to pigs was not a stunt, as some media commentators
have suggested.” She contends, “As animal lovers, bearing
witness means being present for the pigs. We are there to show them
compassion, tell their stories, and help the world feel pity for
their plight.”
If
it was a publicity stunt, then I say more power to them. The poor
treatment of pigs in the pork industry deserves the world’s
attention.
In
October, Krajnc appeared in Milton court, after which she said she
would rather go to jail than pay a fine or make any concessions in
relation to the criminal charge she faces, according to the
Burlington Post.
Then after a pre-trial hearing last Monday, Krajnc told the
Guardian,
“It’s an outrage. It’s insane to charge somebody with criminal
mischief for doing that.”
Van
Boekel explained his side to the
Guardian:
“It’s a free country. Their views – we don’t agree – but
they have a right to their opinion as we do ours. If they’d like
to protest in a safe and reasonable manner, they’re afforded those
rights.”
How
he’s determined that giving water to trapped, thirsty pigs is
unsafe for activists is a head scratcher.
According
to the
Guardian,
Krajnc’s next pretrial date is December 15, and the earliest her
case is expected in court is next August.
Krajnc
sums up,
“On a sweltering June day, I offered water to hot and thirsty
pigs. Now I’m in court, facing a criminal mischief charge that
carries a $5,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.”
What
do you think? Should Krajnc go to jail for giving a thirsty pig
water?
If
you ask me, I’d say if anything, she deserves a medal, not a
criminal record. But you tell me. Share your thoughts in the
comments.
TAKE
ACTION!
Krajnc
told me that it’s everyone’s duty to not look away, but to
come as close as they can to suffering animals and play their part
in overcoming injustice and creating the world we want to see. She
hopes that with this case being a national media story and gaining
attention at the international level, that more people will get
involved in advocating for animals by joining vigils or starting
a Save
group of
their own.
- You can read Krajnc’s Toronto Star letter here.
- Expand the Pig Save Network: Toronto Pig Save can help you start your own pig save group. Or chicken, or cow.
- Consider signing this petition if you haven’t already done so: Compassion Isn’t a Crime: Giving Thirsty Pigs Water Isn’t a Crime
Photo
Credit: Facebook/Toronto
Pig Save
Klik voor meer berichten n.a.v. het voorgaande, op één van de volgende labels, die u onder dit bericht aantreft: veetransporten, intensieve martelveehouderij, varkensboeren, dierenmishandeling, onrecht, marteling, vleeseten en/of dierenactivisme (dat wordt tegenwoordig als terrorisme aangeduid, terwijl deze activisten juist extreme terreur tegen weerloze dieren bestrijden....).
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