Photo via Facebook/Toronto Pig Save
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An animal rights activist is set to make another appearance in court tomorrow after being charged with mischief for giving water to a pig in the back of a slaughterhouse truck on a hot summer day.
Videos by VICE
As seen in a Facebook video, Anita Kranj, co-founder of an animal rights group called Toronto Pig Save, was at a protest outside a Burlington, Ontario slaughterhouse in June when she and a group of protesters gathered around a transport truck that was bringing pigs to a processing plant.
When the truck slowed down, Kranj reached through the grates of the truck with a bottle of water and let a pig drink from it.
“Can you give this guy some water?” Kranj asks a person off-camera, after which the truck driver, Jeffrey Veldjesgraaf, stepped out of the truck and demanded that the activists not hydrate the pigs.
“Don’t give him anything,” Veldjesgraaf is heard saying. “Do not put water in there!”
Kranj then fired back at the truck driver, literally citing Jesus Christ as an example of somebody who would give pigs water.
The truck driver, clearly angry, fired back at Kranj.
“No, you know what, these are not humans, you dumb, frickin’ broad!”
When Veldjesgraaf told Kranj he was going to call the cops, Kranj can be heard telling him to “Call Jesus” instead.”
When asked by VICE about the incident, Kranj said that many pigs die in transit from dehydration and the transportation itself is inhumane. Of course, the pork industry might disagree with her claims.
“Countless pigs die while being transported to a place where they will be slaughtered brutally,” she said. “Pigs don’t have sweat glands like we do. They don’t have the ability to release heat. They need to roll around in the mud or drink water. I was trying to ease some his suffering.”
Kranj, who is charged with mischief and is facing a fine of $5,000 [€3,500], said that, despite the truck driver’s threats, the cops didn’t end up coming after her until September.
Kranj also told VICE that she will be challenging the matter in court, noting that she would rather go to jail than pay a fine she sees as unjust.
“I will not perpetuate the idea of animal cruelty by admitting guilt to this. If they ask me to pay a fine, I will not pay. I would rather go to jail.”
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