1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,560 Anita: I’m currently speaking to you from a cab in a police car. 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:09,940 And the pigs are being herded off to the kill floor. 3 00:00:09,940 --> 00:00:12,090 They should be shown mercy, not herded to the gas chambers. 4 00:00:12,090 --> 00:00:13,450 Show some mercy. 5 00:00:13,450 --> 00:00:14,980 Save the pigs. 6 00:00:14,980 --> 00:00:16,000 Call Fearmans. 7 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Everybody, please call Fearmans. 8 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,900 Police Officer: I’m going to have to take it while we’re driving, though. 9 00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:21,480 You can’t have it while you’re driving. 10 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,480 You are currently in custody, which means you don’t get any possessions, okay? 11 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,360 Anita: Okay I understand, I understand. Sorry, Officer. Police Officer: Thank you. 12 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:49,019 Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. 13 00:00:49,019 --> 00:00:55,239 November 1, 2016 marked the 22nd year of celebrating World Vegan day and, appropriately enough, 14 00:00:55,239 --> 00:00:59,649 the resumption of the criminal trial in Canada that’s thrust animal rights and veganism 15 00:00:59,649 --> 00:01:01,789 onto the international stage. 16 00:01:01,789 --> 00:01:06,469 Animal activist and co-founder of Toronto Pig Save, Anita Krajnc, is facing 6 months 17 00:01:06,469 --> 00:01:12,020 in jail and a $5,000 fine for giving water to thirsty pigs on their way to slaughter. 18 00:01:12,020 --> 00:01:17,990 For more details on the incident itself, please see my interview with Anita from January 2016, 19 00:01:17,990 --> 00:01:20,360 linked in the side bar and below. 20 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,130 Just prior to the November 1 court date, I spoke with Anita and James, another key organizer 21 00:01:25,130 --> 00:01:29,970 for Toronto Pig Save—and the man behind Twitter’s Veganoso—about the trial’s 22 00:01:29,970 --> 00:01:32,249 proceedings and impact thus far. 23 00:01:32,249 --> 00:01:37,840 The defense in this case, led by vegan lawyers Gary Grill and James Silver, has taken a unique 24 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:38,840 approach: 25 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,249 Anita: The key defense we’re using is the idea that everyone has the duty to bear witness. 26 00:01:44,249 --> 00:01:45,740 That’s our defense. 27 00:01:45,740 --> 00:01:49,399 Right at the beginning when I testified I said our mission is to create a nonviolent 28 00:01:49,399 --> 00:01:54,289 vegan world, to promote the idea that everybody has a duty to bear witness and to promote 29 00:01:54,289 --> 00:01:58,830 a cultural shift so that people no longer think it’s ok to say, “I don’t want 30 00:01:58,830 --> 00:01:59,830 to see.” 31 00:01:59,830 --> 00:02:00,830 “It’s too hard.” 32 00:02:00,830 --> 00:02:04,979 “It might change how I eat.” and then people say that’s an acceptable answer. 33 00:02:04,979 --> 00:02:11,310 We want to actually promote a cultural shift where people say, that “I want to live up 34 00:02:11,310 --> 00:02:12,459 to my duty to bear witness. 35 00:02:12,459 --> 00:02:14,150 I want to bear witness.” 36 00:02:14,150 --> 00:02:18,310 And the way we’re sort of presenting it is that, as animal lovers, we’re willing 37 00:02:18,310 --> 00:02:23,560 to suffer and willing to sacrifice in order to promote social change. 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,590 So saying something like “Oh it’s too hard to look” or “I am going to have an 39 00:02:27,590 --> 00:02:28,590 emotional breakdown”—that’s ok. 40 00:02:28,590 --> 00:02:33,409 It’s actually ok to suffer in order to help animals, ‘cause the history of social change 41 00:02:33,409 --> 00:02:39,239 has occurred because of that, and people like Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi tried to redefine 42 00:02:39,239 --> 00:02:43,640 or reinterpret the notions of self-sacrifice and suffering. 43 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:45,810 Because that’s how social change happens. 44 00:02:45,810 --> 00:02:51,010 At our trial, when we talk about animals, we talk about animals as individuals and not 45 00:02:51,010 --> 00:02:52,010 as property. 46 00:02:52,010 --> 00:02:57,650 The classic, sort of, line from the driver in this incident was, “They’re not human.” 47 00:02:57,650 --> 00:03:01,250 I said “If they’re thirsty, give them water” and he said “they’re not human.” 48 00:03:01,250 --> 00:03:06,790 James: And if there was a dog in a hot car it would be a duty to help that dog, to break 49 00:03:06,790 --> 00:03:08,470 the window to let the dog out. 50 00:03:08,470 --> 00:03:12,910 So there’s no fundamental difference between a dog and a pig so why would there be a different 51 00:03:12,910 --> 00:03:15,120 standard on how you treat pigs? 52 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,030 This is not just a convenient analogy. 53 00:03:17,030 --> 00:03:21,269 The same year Anita was charged for giving water to dehydrated pigs, a woman in British 54 00:03:21,269 --> 00:03:26,440 Columbia was sentenced to jail for the death of six dogs she left in her truck on a hot 55 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:27,440 day. 56 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,519 The truck driver who confronted Anita was hauling 190 pigs in severe heat without any 57 00:03:32,519 --> 00:03:35,730 access to water or adequate ventilation. 58 00:03:35,730 --> 00:03:41,730 That year, in Canada alone, 14,212 pigs died on their way to slaughter. 59 00:03:41,730 --> 00:03:46,190 And then we quoted Tolstoy, saying “when we wish to harm others we really do evil to 60 00:03:46,190 --> 00:03:47,670 ourselves.” 61 00:03:47,670 --> 00:03:53,090 That one line brings together all the arguments that we had. 62 00:03:53,090 --> 00:03:56,300 So there’s a unity of life— we’re all equal. 63 00:03:56,300 --> 00:04:00,519 Animals are individuals just like we are and deserve respect and love. 64 00:04:00,519 --> 00:04:03,629 And if we don’t treat them that way, we’re hurting animals, but we’re also going to 65 00:04:03,629 --> 00:04:04,910 destroy the planet. 66 00:04:04,910 --> 00:04:09,910 I asked Anita and James to share any memorable or powerful moments from the trial thus far: 67 00:04:09,910 --> 00:04:12,659 Anita: There were a number of memorable times in court. 68 00:04:12,659 --> 00:04:18,390 I think when my lawyer—vegan lawyer—James Silver cross-examined the truck driver, Jeff, 69 00:04:18,390 --> 00:04:23,580 he was able to establish the real motivation for charging me. 70 00:04:23,580 --> 00:04:27,540 And that was, that they wanted to shut us down. 71 00:04:27,540 --> 00:04:33,250 So he established how much money the industry makes, how much that factory farm makes, what 72 00:04:33,250 --> 00:04:37,100 were the discussions and why were they concerned about us. 73 00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:40,560 Yes, he wasn't concerned about what was in the water or that I gave water—because I 74 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:41,620 offered him a free sample. 75 00:04:41,620 --> 00:04:47,380 What was really behind this was the motivation that we were hurting the bottom line of the 76 00:04:47,380 --> 00:04:48,380 industry. 77 00:04:48,380 --> 00:04:50,640 It was such an incredible moment, you know, the truth was revealed. 78 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:56,650 And then another amazing moment was when he cross-examined the farmer, Mr. Van Boekel, 79 00:04:56,650 --> 00:05:02,580 about how the sows were treated, and I got some of the most heartbreaking moments because 80 00:05:02,580 --> 00:05:07,250 he talked about how he had hundreds of sows and they were in these crates where they can't 81 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:11,380 turn around, their babies were taken away, and then they were put back into a general 82 00:05:11,380 --> 00:05:15,220 pen and then within five or six days they were re-impregnated. 83 00:05:15,220 --> 00:05:16,730 And then again. 84 00:05:16,730 --> 00:05:20,040 So their life was a constant cycle, it was just heartbreaking. 85 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,610 There were so many moments that were very revealing. 86 00:05:23,610 --> 00:05:26,640 When I testified, there were a lot of moments that I found very memorable cause I was able 87 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,940 to say what I really thought and believed. 88 00:05:28,940 --> 00:05:32,370 What really got me was we were able to show the pig preserve video. 89 00:05:32,370 --> 00:05:34,810 It just shows who pigs are and it was like a 13-minute video. 90 00:05:34,810 --> 00:05:37,110 Well, I've been listening to these guys for about 91 00:05:37,220 --> 00:05:41,160 26 years. I think they have about 40 different vocalizations 92 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,480 but they combine those with body language 93 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:46,780 and so a different vocalization with one body language 94 00:05:46,940 --> 00:05:50,000 is different from the same vocalization with a different body language. 95 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:54,200 And I think when you combine the two they probably got a vocabulary amongst themselves 96 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,480 of probably a 100, 120, 150 97 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,040 different communications. 98 00:05:59,420 --> 00:06:03,640 [Happy grunting.] Richard:Oh yeah....Yeah I know. [Laughter.] 99 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,640 Because I am happy pig. [grunting] 100 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,380 I am happy pig. [grunting] 101 00:06:08,380 --> 00:06:11,440 Lauren: So they do this. It seems that he is very happy. 102 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,600 Richard:Oh yeah! Lauren: So happy to have all this space. 103 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,820 So in regards to being like in a factory farm this space is, you know, 104 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:26,320 the type of space that pigs would in the wild be roaming in. Would you say? 105 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:33,360 Richard: Well yeah if you understand it in—truly in the wild, these are nomadic animals. 106 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:38,920 This is just a good lifestyle for a pig. This is the lifestyle they were meant to live. 107 00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:45,180 Yeah. Um, typically when I put a pig down, I give the group an hour or so 108 00:06:45,420 --> 00:06:49,620 and they'll come up usually one at a time and say their goodbyes. Right. 109 00:06:49,860 --> 00:06:52,400 But it varies from social group to social group. 110 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,200 But they all do mourn. 111 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,360 When... They come up to the pig that is?? 112 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,000 They nose them all around and they talk to em 113 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:02,980 and try to get em up 114 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,020 I was just so happy we got to show that, and 115 00:07:05,030 --> 00:07:07,150 then after that we showed footage of the gas chamber. 116 00:07:07,150 --> 00:07:11,100 To me, like the truth—we’re telling the truth, and so for me those were high points. 117 00:07:11,100 --> 00:07:15,680 James: I think for me, the whole case has been so captivating. 118 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,110 The level of interest—every day the courthouse has been packed, there’s been people waiting 119 00:07:20,110 --> 00:07:21,440 outside trying to get in. 120 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:27,160 In terms of content, just the lack of emotion and lack of empathy from their side has been 121 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:28,160 quite disturbing. 122 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,690 Because they’re watching the same images that we’re seeing on the screens and the 123 00:07:32,690 --> 00:07:34,380 disconnect I think is so strong of people that work in the industry. 124 00:07:34,380 --> 00:07:41,280 Anita: Mr. Van Boekel and maybe ten or so farmers came to my trial date when I testified. 125 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,590 It was a packed courtroom, people were sitting on the floor and people were watching the 126 00:07:45,590 --> 00:07:48,800 farmers and you know, sometimes they were sort of like joking about it, things like that. 127 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:49,860 [James: A lot of them were joking] 128 00:07:49,860 --> 00:07:55,440 But when the pig preserve video was shown: who pigs really are, they were paying attention. 129 00:07:55,450 --> 00:08:01,430 Richard Hoyle is an ex marine and pigs were shown in a different light of who they really are. 130 00:08:01,430 --> 00:08:02,430 And I think it touched some of them. 131 00:08:02,430 --> 00:08:05,080 I believe that this pig trial is touching some of them. 132 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:09,904 The pig trial was presenting the truth and at the end of the day, that’s what’s going 133 00:08:09,904 --> 00:08:10,904 to change the world. 134 00:08:10,904 --> 00:08:13,280 And I believe we even touched the factory farm industry. 135 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:18,500 And there was one article in an animal ag. magazine that said ‘Mr. Van Boekel is fighting 136 00:08:18,500 --> 00:08:19,500 this alone. 137 00:08:19,500 --> 00:08:20,500 Where’s the pork council? 138 00:08:20,500 --> 00:08:21,740 Where are they?’ 139 00:08:21,740 --> 00:08:26,520 And I think this is such a strong case that they have a lot of trouble defending. 140 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,250 That’s the incredible thing about this trial. 141 00:08:29,250 --> 00:08:34,709 It has managed to place the prosecution on the defense, and the rights and individuality 142 00:08:34,709 --> 00:08:37,740 of non-human animals at the center of debate. 143 00:08:37,740 --> 00:08:42,009 Anita’s lawyers have called a handful of expert witnesses throughout the trial so far. 144 00:08:42,009 --> 00:08:43,009 As this interview was filmed prior to the November 1 session, I’ll include live tweets 145 00:08:43,009 --> 00:08:44,009 of the testimony onscreen for the witnesses that day. 146 00:08:44,009 --> 00:08:47,830 Anita: Dr. May is a veterinarian and she was the first expert witness to testify. 147 00:08:47,830 --> 00:08:53,790 And one of the most revealing parts of her testimony was, she looked at the video, where 148 00:08:53,790 --> 00:08:59,110 I gave water to the pigs, and then she counted the number of pants and she said some of the 149 00:08:59,110 --> 00:09:02,829 pigs were panting at 200 pants per minute. 150 00:09:02,829 --> 00:09:05,110 She said they were in severe distress. 151 00:09:05,110 --> 00:09:07,569 On November 1st we have two expert witnesses. 152 00:09:07,569 --> 00:09:13,750 Dr. Lori Marino, she’s going to talk about pig personality, intelligence, sentience. 153 00:09:13,750 --> 00:09:16,000 She’s a foremost cognitive behaviorist. 154 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:17,529 Then we have Dr. David Jenkins. 155 00:09:17,529 --> 00:09:20,600 He’s a professor at the university of Toronto. 156 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,180 He invented the glycemic index. 157 00:09:22,180 --> 00:09:24,019 And he’s an outspoken vegan. 158 00:09:24,019 --> 00:09:30,060 And he will be talking about the health benefits of a plant based diet and the incredible health 159 00:09:30,060 --> 00:09:32,430 impacts of eating meat, dairy and eggs. 160 00:09:32,430 --> 00:09:36,579 And then finally on November 10th we will have our expert witness on the environment 161 00:09:36,579 --> 00:09:40,690 Dr. Tony Weis who’s professor of geography at the University of Western Ontario. 162 00:09:40,690 --> 00:09:44,660 And he’s going to talk about the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, ocean 163 00:09:44,660 --> 00:09:49,390 dead zones, deforestation, species extinction, water use, water pollution and other issues. 164 00:09:49,390 --> 00:09:53,259 The Pig Trial has drawn the attention and support of celebrities like vegan musician, 165 00:09:53,259 --> 00:09:58,519 DJ, photographer and animal activist Moby, actress and model Maggie Q, who stood in solidarity 166 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,480 with Anita on November 1, 167 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:02,900 The most important thing that we're promoting today 168 00:10:02,900 --> 00:10:05,180 um, when it come to Anita's case 169 00:10:05,180 --> 00:10:08,400 is that compassion is not a crime. That's what it says on my shirt. 170 00:10:08,540 --> 00:10:14,300 and the founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, who has flown out to Toronto for the trial to show her support. 171 00:10:14,460 --> 00:10:17,880 5 million of our members and supporters are watching Burlington 172 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,340 and want to know what's happening. We think of kindness as a virtue 173 00:10:21,340 --> 00:10:23,340 and not as something to be punished. 174 00:10:23,899 --> 00:10:29,160 The broad exposure of the trial speaks to the two primary goals of The Save Movement: 175 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:33,519 to bear witness to the individuals suffering in the trucks and to document the experience 176 00:10:33,519 --> 00:10:35,170 to share with the world. 177 00:10:35,170 --> 00:10:39,100 Having myself attended a number of vigils with Toronto Pig Save, and Manchester and 178 00:10:39,100 --> 00:10:44,220 Essex Pig Saves in the UK, I can personally attest to the incredible impact of bearing 179 00:10:44,220 --> 00:10:47,260 witness and publishing the images for the world to see. 180 00:10:47,260 --> 00:10:49,780 [Pigs screaming in fear, pain and terror, gas chamber machinery churning.] 181 00:10:49,780 --> 00:10:51,780 They're being slapped right now! 182 00:10:51,780 --> 00:10:56,500 [Pigs screaming continually.] 183 00:10:57,020 --> 00:11:01,600 Anita: We want people to see what we see and when we look inside a truck we see individuals, 184 00:11:01,610 --> 00:11:03,410 pigs, cows and chickens who want to live. 185 00:11:03,410 --> 00:11:07,769 James: When you show the victims, when you see their faces, when you look in their eyes 186 00:11:07,769 --> 00:11:12,870 and you see them as individuals it really helps people connect and have empathy. 187 00:11:12,870 --> 00:11:17,430 Anita: When any of us are at vigils, and we go up to the pigs or the cows or the chickens 188 00:11:17,430 --> 00:11:20,300 and bear witness we have a camera in hand. 189 00:11:20,300 --> 00:11:24,509 So we’re there for the individual, we’re present, we say “we love you we’re sorry.” 190 00:11:24,509 --> 00:11:27,649 We see the individual before us but we also have a camera in hand because we’re trying 191 00:11:27,649 --> 00:11:31,320 to change the world thinking and we’re thinking about broader issues as well. 192 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,782 Because of the pig trial we’re getting these images in the mainstream media—they even 193 00:11:34,782 --> 00:11:41,579 looped the video of the incident when I was charged from June 2015 on mainstream television. 194 00:11:41,579 --> 00:11:45,939 Two days day after Anita’s testimony at trial, a truck overturned outside of Fearmans 195 00:11:45,939 --> 00:11:48,660 pork, the slaughterhouse at which Anita was charged. 196 00:11:48,660 --> 00:11:51,720 We’ll hear more about the actual event later in this video. 197 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,350 Anita spoke to the effect of the crash on the media. 198 00:11:54,350 --> 00:11:55,819 Anita: There’s been learning in the media. 199 00:11:55,819 --> 00:12:02,160 I think the media has got more and more sympathetic as the pig trial has gone on and when we had 200 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:07,589 that horrible crash a few days after I testified at the pig trial it just had unprecedented 201 00:12:07,589 --> 00:12:12,240 coverage because usually the coverage is either to ignore it or to say no one was hurt, the 202 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:16,370 driver wasn’t hurt and this time the media was there and I think there was incredible 203 00:12:16,370 --> 00:12:17,930 learning. 204 00:12:17,930 --> 00:12:20,889 We told all our activists “Go to the site and document.” 205 00:12:20,889 --> 00:12:26,160 See if that pig crash happened and there were no activists that went on site it would not 206 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,660 have been as big a story and it wouldn’t have been reported as sympathetically. 207 00:12:30,660 --> 00:12:36,189 One news reporter said that this incident had changed her life and that she wants to 208 00:12:36,189 --> 00:12:37,189 go vegan. 209 00:12:37,189 --> 00:12:41,920 There was another cameraperson from a huge television station that said he was vegan 210 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:43,629 and his whole family was vegan. 211 00:12:43,629 --> 00:12:48,990 So I think we’re definitely—the vegan movement is spreading in the mass media and 212 00:12:48,990 --> 00:12:52,459 it’s just an indication that it’s spreading across all sectors of society. 213 00:12:52,459 --> 00:12:56,069 The Pig Trial has managed to elicit support and empathy even from meat-eaters. 214 00:12:56,069 --> 00:13:01,000 I asked Anita and James why this case is reaching people when nothing else has: 215 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:02,980 By and large the public is sympathetic. 216 00:13:02,980 --> 00:13:05,319 It’s the idea of defending the Golden Rule. 217 00:13:05,319 --> 00:13:08,170 So: “treat others as you’d like to be treated.” 218 00:13:08,170 --> 00:13:14,220 Leo Tolstoy said we should take pity on animals the same way we take pity on each other if 219 00:13:14,220 --> 00:13:16,820 we are not to deaden the voice of conscience. 220 00:13:16,820 --> 00:13:21,720 So people understand across cultures and you know the Golden Rule is thousands of years old. 221 00:13:21,730 --> 00:13:25,250 So the animal agricultural industry cannot fight the Golden Rule. 222 00:13:25,250 --> 00:13:29,019 And that’s what they tried to do and it’s backfiring. 223 00:13:29,019 --> 00:13:32,889 While Toronto Pig Save has been holding vigils and posting images of animals on their way 224 00:13:32,889 --> 00:13:37,270 to slaughter for five years now, this is the first time they’ve gained international 225 00:13:37,270 --> 00:13:40,779 coverage, and with an impressive reach and momentum at that. 226 00:13:40,779 --> 00:13:44,930 Anita and James spoke to what they saw as the driving force behind this growth: 227 00:13:44,930 --> 00:13:50,579 First of all the incident in and of itself, it’s the best possible incident you can 228 00:13:50,579 --> 00:13:53,050 charge someone on, like, giving water to a thirsty animal. 229 00:13:53,050 --> 00:13:59,550 So yes [that’s] an incredible incident, but the other factor is the fact that we are 230 00:13:59,550 --> 00:14:00,550 organized. 231 00:14:00,550 --> 00:14:05,139 You know the reason this is so big is because there’s a social movement here, it’s not 232 00:14:05,139 --> 00:14:08,410 just some random woman who gave water to thirsty pigs and was charged. 233 00:14:08,410 --> 00:14:09,410 No. 234 00:14:09,410 --> 00:14:10,740 They charged an organizer. 235 00:14:10,740 --> 00:14:15,059 They charged an organizer who’s part of an organizing team that’s across Toronto. 236 00:14:15,059 --> 00:14:19,829 And now there’s a global movement—there’s like almost 90 save groups around the world, 237 00:14:19,829 --> 00:14:22,040 21 new save groups started in the United Kingdom. 238 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:27,580 We have people like grandmothers, babies—we have hundreds of people that come to our vigils. 239 00:14:27,580 --> 00:14:31,430 Like our biggest vigil was when you, Bite Size Vegan first came to one of our vigils. 240 00:14:31,430 --> 00:14:34,249 That was our biggest vigil back in September 24, 2015. 241 00:14:34,249 --> 00:14:37,100 [On] that day we had almost 300 people. 242 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:39,350 So that was our biggest vigil to date. 243 00:14:39,350 --> 00:14:42,129 Since then we’ve grown and grown and grown. 244 00:14:42,129 --> 00:14:44,079 That's the reason we’re getting great coverage. 245 00:14:44,079 --> 00:14:46,140 And I think it has to do with also with the trial. 246 00:14:46,140 --> 00:14:48,619 A trial is something I think that the media can report on. 247 00:14:48,619 --> 00:14:52,600 It’s hard for them to just cover our vigils, we’ve been doing this for more that 5 years. 248 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,509 Why are we getting mainstream media coverage now? 249 00:14:54,509 --> 00:14:55,980 Why are we getting international coverage? 250 00:14:55,980 --> 00:14:57,949 It had to do with the trial. 251 00:14:57,949 --> 00:15:01,779 So now our images are getting out there, the ones that we’ve had all this time. 252 00:15:01,779 --> 00:15:08,019 At the end of the day the news coverage was that this pig trial put animal agriculture 253 00:15:08,019 --> 00:15:09,019 on trial. 254 00:15:09,019 --> 00:15:11,860 James: Sometimes it’s almost like you forget that it’s Anita on trial because of the 255 00:15:11,860 --> 00:15:17,350 whole sense of someone there having to defend the truth of what they do because it’s just 256 00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:18,350 so abhorrent. 257 00:15:18,350 --> 00:15:22,999 In our global society, there is a profound reversal of right and wrong surrounding our 258 00:15:22,999 --> 00:15:24,140 food system. 259 00:15:24,140 --> 00:15:27,029 Eating a vegan diet is viewed as extreme. 260 00:15:27,029 --> 00:15:31,639 Animal lovers readily consume the bodies of sentient beings whom they would not be able 261 00:15:31,639 --> 00:15:33,569 to bring themselves to harm. 262 00:15:33,569 --> 00:15:39,910 A horrifically clear example of the laws protecting the criminal whilst criminalizing those fighting 263 00:15:39,910 --> 00:15:44,329 to save the victims, came on October 5, 2016. 264 00:15:44,329 --> 00:15:46,589 The day the truck crashed at Fearmans. 265 00:15:46,589 --> 00:15:51,749 Anita, fresh from her testimony in court two days before, was promptly arrested again not 266 00:15:51,749 --> 00:15:53,420 long after her arrival at the scene. 267 00:15:53,420 --> 00:15:56,499 She had refused to step back from documenting the incident. 268 00:15:56,499 --> 00:15:59,480 I asked James to share some of his experience. 269 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:04,129 He alludes to a pig named Bonnie, whose story you can hear more in depth in the video dedicated 270 00:16:04,129 --> 00:16:06,730 to the crash linked in the sidebar and below: 271 00:16:06,730 --> 00:16:10,949 James: As soon as I parked my car and got out, you could hear the pigs screaming. 272 00:16:10,949 --> 00:16:13,730 There was blood on the sidewalk. 273 00:16:13,730 --> 00:16:14,889 Some pigs had escaped. 274 00:16:14,889 --> 00:16:19,540 In my naïveté, I expect to find people that are helping the pigs and that 275 00:16:19,540 --> 00:16:20,610 wasn’t happening. 276 00:16:20,610 --> 00:16:25,740 There were people; office workers, that were holding cardboard to shield the truth from 277 00:16:25,740 --> 00:16:26,740 us. 278 00:16:26,740 --> 00:16:28,339 The cops were complicit in that. 279 00:16:28,339 --> 00:16:30,180 It got worse after Anita left. 280 00:16:30,180 --> 00:16:35,319 I don’t know what they’re called, but special unit cops arrived with tasers and 281 00:16:35,319 --> 00:16:38,740 it was all around hiding the truth. 282 00:16:38,740 --> 00:16:44,480 We didn’t see this, so we don’t know, but no injured pigs came off the truck so 283 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,179 they must have killed a lot of pigs because when I got there the screaming was the worst 284 00:16:48,179 --> 00:16:51,069 screaming and we had heard them screaming every single week. 285 00:16:51,069 --> 00:16:53,769 It was the worst screaming I had ever heard. 286 00:16:53,769 --> 00:16:58,829 And they walked was it forty or fifty pigs off the truck. 287 00:16:58,829 --> 00:17:04,720 They shot Bonnie in front of us but there were no other injured pigs so I strongly suspect 288 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:09,390 they killed a lot of the pigs on the truck because all that screaming suddenly stopped. 289 00:17:09,390 --> 00:17:13,890 I mean people are compassionate and people have empathy. 290 00:17:13,890 --> 00:17:18,220 This is why animal agriculture has spent so much time and money and effort into shielding 291 00:17:18,220 --> 00:17:22,340 the truth because if people knew what’s happening they would make the change they 292 00:17:22,340 --> 00:17:23,340 would go vegan. 293 00:17:23,340 --> 00:17:27,839 They would not support and pay for this to happen 294 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:30,330 And that’s precisely what the Pig Trial is accomplishing. 295 00:17:30,330 --> 00:17:36,440 In reality, it’s not so much that Anita or her lawyers or Toronto Pig Save came up 296 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,440 with some revolutionary argument never before voiced by animal activists. 297 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:46,070 When it comes to veganism and the rights, emotions, individuality, and capacity to suffer 298 00:17:46,070 --> 00:17:51,160 of non-human animals, it’s not a lack of compelling evidence but rather a lack of a 299 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,830 large enough platform that hinders the reach of the message. 300 00:17:54,830 --> 00:17:58,330 And unbeknownst to the truck driver and farmer on that oppressively hot day 301 00:17:58,330 --> 00:18:04,450 in June 2015, by confronting and having Anita charged they supplied that platform. 302 00:18:04,450 --> 00:18:10,830 For the animal products industry, so desperately reliant on deception and untruths, there’s 303 00:18:10,830 --> 00:18:16,060 nothing more dangerous than giving the voice of the animals they systematically abuse and 304 00:18:16,060 --> 00:18:21,100 kill, an international stage for their truth to be heard. 305 00:18:21,100 --> 00:18:27,240 It’s time to expose the real crimes and the real criminals. 306 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:31,580 Please share this video far and wide to raise awareness and give it a thumbs-up if you are 307 00:18:31,580 --> 00:18:32,590 moved by these events. 308 00:18:32,590 --> 00:18:36,300 And subscribe to the channel for more vegan content every week. 309 00:18:36,300 --> 00:18:40,770 To help support Bite Size Vegan’s educational efforts, please see the support links below 310 00:18:40,770 --> 00:18:42,160 or in the sidebar. 311 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,910 Find more information about the trial, the crash, and more on the blog post for this 312 00:18:46,910 --> 00:18:48,400 video linked below. 313 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,460 Now go live vegan, speak the truth, and I’ll see you soon.