About a dozen animal rights activists gathered in Vancouver Monday morning in support of an Ontario woman who gave water to pigs headed for the slaughterhouse.
Anita Krajnc, an activist with the group Toronto Pig Save, has pleaded not guilty to a mischief charge in the June 2015 incident, when she poured water through the portholes of a truck carrying the pigs on a hot day.
Speaking in a Burlington, Ont. courtroom Monday, Krajnc said she felt she was treating the pigs as they would want to be treated. Krajnc said she “was just following the golden rule” and one of her defence lawyers claims his client was actually acting in the public good. However, the Crown maintains she was tampering with the farmer’s property.
READ MORE: Pigs still slaughtered after given water, mischief trial for Ontario woman hears
The animal rights activists who came out in Krajnc’s support in Vancouver Monday held posters saying, “Pigs are not property” and “I stand with Anita: Compassion is not a crime.”
“We are standing in solidarity with her,” activist Meghan Beattie told Global News. “It’s our duty to bear witness, see these animals and not think of them as property. They have personalities and they deserve to be safe, happy and free.”
Beattie says it does not apply just to pigs, but to all animals used in meat production.
“Their lives are horrifying and it’s not fair,” she said.
-With files from the Canadian Press
- Joffre Lakes to close for 3 periods this year under agreement with First Nations
- ‘Why aren’t we doing more?’ White Rock on edge with killer on the loose
- B.C. carjacking victim says she doesn’t trust the ‘catch-and-release’ system
- Inquest into fatal Surrey hostage-taking recommends cameras for ERT teams
Comments