Woman Who Faces Jail for Giving Pigs Water Speaks Out

Anita Krajnc says it's time for a nonviolent plant-based economy
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 27, 2016 1:59 PM CDT
Woman Who Faces Jail for Giving Pigs Water Speaks Out
Pigs look into the camera in a stall of a pig farmer in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016.   (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

The activist who faces up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine for giving water to thirsty pigs en route to a slaughterhouse is speaking out. "There’s little doubt in my mind that if those were dogs in distress in that truck instead of pigs, my actions would be applauded and it would be the driver facing charges instead," Anita Krajnc writes in the Guardian, describing pigs that were crowded in a transport truck in extreme heat, covered in their own feces, some of them foaming at the mouth or breathing as quickly as 180 breaths a minute. Pigs are actually a lot like dogs, with "a strong sense of self and intelligence," and "this double standard should have everyone questioning the ethics of the meat, dairy, and egg industry; our legal system; and our food choice."

Indeed, humans themselves are animals as well, she points out, and we're like animals in many ways: We all suffer and feel fear and pain, and we all feel thirsty when we're hot. It's time our laws were shifted, she writes: "All animals should be treated as thinking, feeling individuals under the law, because that is what they are. They are not property, nor cogs in the machine, with numbered tags slapped on their ears." Looking beyond animal cruelty, slaughterhouses are detrimental to the environment as well, she writes. It's time to move toward "a nonviolent plant-based economy." Click for her full piece. (More animal rights stories.)

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