Vegan activists stage protest at Westmeath pig farm

A group of vegan animal rights activists staged a seven-hour occupation of a Westmeath pig farm on Saturday. 

The protest by the 'Meat The Victims Ireland' group at a farm in Raharney has been condemned by the president of the Irish Farmers' Association, who said the activists involved should be dealt with using "the full rigours of the law". 

The Meat The Victims Ireland group issued a statement and video of the event, which saw them arrive at the farm wearing t-shirts that read 'Meat The Victims' and 'One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws'. 

On their video, one protester is seen approaching a man on the farm and saying: "We're not here to cause you any harm. We're not going to touch you, we're a peaceful movement." 

The group said it arrived at the farm in Raharney at 11.30am, with the majority of the group going inside pig sheds while others held a demonstration outside the sheds.

The group said the Gardai arrived and informed those present of "the potential legal consequences of this action" but the activists involved "decided to continue the occupation."

A spokesperson for the group, Andy Anderson, said: "We believe that all animals, human and nonhuman, should be equally respected and therefore live free from oppression and exploitation. 

"Our aim at this action is to disrupt legalised violence against nonhuman animals," he added. 

Another activist, Samantha Anderson, said "disruptive actions" such as Saturday's protest "challenge the established social norm and force the conversation that wouldn’t take place otherwise."

However Joe Healy, the President of the Irish Farmers' Association, described the group's actions as contemptible and suggested that they should face criminal prosecution. 

News website thejournal.ie quoted Mr Healy as saying: "At a time when we have a heightened bio-security risk to the Irish pig sector with the global threat from African swine fever, it is reckless that people would enter a facility without observing proper bio-security procedures. 

"People are entitled to eat whatever they wish but this sort of intimidation of individual farmers is contemptible."