Media in Ontario are reporting that an animal activist, Anita Krajnc, is willing to go to jail rather that face fines or a conditional sentence for giving water to pigs being transported to slaughter.
Krajnc is a co-founder of Toronto Pig Save, which holds vigils outside slaughterhouses to draw attention to the plight of pigs and other animals who endure cruel transport and slaughter. She was charged under the Criminal Code with mischief under $5,000 for trying to give water to pigs in a transport truck. The incident was described by the Burlington Post:
“Krajnc squirted water from a bottle into a transport truck that was stopped at a traffic light at Appleby Line and Harvester Road, just outside the Fearman’s pork plant. A load of hogs inside the truck was being taken to the plant for slaughter.
“Krajnc, the co-founder of Toronto Pig Save, had a member of the organization videotape the incident, which escalated when the truck driver got out of the rig and confronted Krajnc.
“On the video, posted to Facebook, the driver tells Krajnc to stop squirting the liquid inside the truck. She tells him it is water and to be compassionate, that the pigs are hot and thirsty. She continued to give water to the animals. The driver said he was calling the police and got back in his rig. There was no physical confrontation.”
It is a sad day for justice in Canada when a harmless act of compassion can land someone in court, and possibly in jail. It is no secret that farmed animals in Canada endure horrific conditions when being transported to slaughter. Trying to bring a small measure of relief to suffering animals is something that should be rewarded, not punished.
Toronto Pig Save is to be commended for its efforts to bring attention to this issue and we hope Anita Krajnc receives public support for her courageous and compassionate dedication to helping animals.
I spent last summer biking 2000 km to this area, Tl’abane, more commonly referred to now as the Sacred Headwaters – the birthplace of the Skeena, Stikine and Nass rivers, some of the most vital salmon bearing rivers in all of so-called North America. It is home to the unceded, unsurrendered Tahltan First Nation who have lived in harmony with the land and water for thousands of years.
