Toronto woman faces 10 years in prison for trying to provide water to thirsty pigs on scorching hot summer day

Friday, December 04, 2015 by: Jennifer Lea Reynolds
Tags: Animal cruelty, Anita Krajnc, humane treatment

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(NaturalNews) While a truck filled with pigs was on its way to an Ontario, Canada, pork processing plant in June 2015, animal rights activist Anita Krajnc tried to give the animals water. In an effort to provide relief to the animals during the intense summer heat, she poured some water in the truck's openings while it was stopped at a traffic light.⁽¹⁾

No big deal, right? Just a thoughtful person demonstrating caring behavior towards animals as they lived their final moments, right?

Not so fast.

Because of her actions, the Toronto resident is facing up to 10 years in prison, with a pre-trial date (as of this writing) set for December 15, 2015. This ultimately came about because Eric Van Boekel, the owner of the pigs, filed a police complaint the day after the incident.⁽¹⁾

A video of Krajnc, presumably taken by another protestor, documented the exchange between truck driver Jeffery Veldjesgraaf and Krajnc. Veldjesgraaf exited his truck upon noticing that Krajnc, the founder of Toronto Pig Save, had approached the truck and started giving the pigs water.

Compassion turns into possible jail time

"Jesus said, 'If they are thirsty, give them water,'" Krajnc told the driver. To that he responded that "These are not humans, you dumb frickin' broad." He proceeded to ask her what she had in the water, inferring that she might be giving the pigs something that could jeopardize their health. When she responded that it was simply water, he expressed doubt by saying, "How do I know that?" He then proceeded to call the police. All the while Krajnc kept repeating, "Have some compassion. Have some compassion."⁽¹⁾

Van Boekel has said that his pigs are treated ethically and that he respects other people's opinions. He therefore feels that others should respect his views too. "We don't have a fight with the protesters per se," he said, as reported by TheGuardian. "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."⁽¹⁾

He went on to explain that he has often been concerned about the safety of the pigs as well as protesters who often crowd the vehicles in traffic.

Sign petition; turn to social media to have charges dropped against animal rights activist

Still, most of the public isn't feeling all warm and fuzzy over Van Boekel's words. They're standing strong with Krajnc, as evidenced by the numerous online petitions that have sided with her. We at Natural News encourage you to do the same and sign the petition here.

In fact, thousands of signatures have been gathered on the Change.org page. Still, many more are needed. There, it calls for the Ontario Court of Justice to drop all charges against Anita Krajnc, writing that "Being punished for helping another being in need is outrageous and wrong!" At the same time, the site details how animal activists have simply been trying to be kind to animals on their way to slaughter. The petition states the following:

"Anita Krajnc has been charged with criminal mischief for offering water to thirsty pigs on their way to slaughter ... Pigs are crammed by the hundreds into trucks, in extreme heat and extreme cold weather conditions, transported for up to 36 hours without food or water. They are often suffering from dehydration, among other things ... What is wrong with our legal system, when attempting to alleviate the suffering of another being is seen as criminal, and those who are inflicting the pain and cruelty are left unchallenged?"⁽²⁾

There is also a great deal of support for Krajnc on Twitter.

For example, #StandWithAnita is a popular hashtag whereby people are expressing their outrage over this situation. One such person is @samitasarkar who describes herself as a "Writer, editor, and outspoken vegetarian." She says, "I #standwithanita because we live in a world where people go to jail for cruelty to pets, but giving water to a pig is 'property damage.'"⁽³⁾

Toronto Sun columnist Farzana Hassan also sides with Krajnc, noting on Twitter that she too stands with Anita.⁽⁴⁾

Treatment of pigs terrible

Sadly, atrocities involving pigs are not uncommon.

Aside from the very crowded conditions and bad treatment they often endure, there are also biotech companies that are in the process of genetically modifying miniature pigs so that they stay tiny. Their growth hormone receptor genes are tampered with so that any growth they would usually experience is thwarted, all so they can be sold for thousands of dollars to people who want them as pets.⁽⁵⁾

Sources for this article include:

(1) TheGuardian.com

(2) Change.org

(3) Twitter.com/SamitaSarkar

(4) Twitter.com/FarzanaHassan

(5) NaturalNews.com