Vegan demand threatens farms

Unrepentant animal rights activists have warned they will keep trespassing to take animals from farms “until everyone is vegan”, with secretive online networks spurring on the activists.

Unrepentant animal activists have warned they will keep trespassing to take animals from farms “until everyone is vegan”.

A rambling collective of activists who meet up through secretive Facebook groups has been targeting Victorian farmers.

One website has uploaded the personal details of thousands of farmers, with vigilantes encouraged to visit their properties and film alleged animal cruelty.

ANIMALS TAKEN FROM CALDERMEADE FARM AND CAFE

ACTIVISTS ALLEGEDLY TRESPASSING FIRE PROPERTIES

MORE MELBOURNE CAFES TURNING VEGAN

But an outraged Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said the activists had gone too far and it was time for the courts and politicians to stop them.

“Why should farmers have to put up with this? The police need to be directed that this is a serious matter,” he said.

“The reality is that people should be allowed to eat whatever they choose.”

A string of activist groups including Direct Action Everywhere and Melbourne Cow Save has stepped up its protests in recent months.

Cara Garrett, 24, a vegan involved in an underground “leaderless” group that targets Victorian farms, was fined $1 in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court this month for removing an identification tag from a goat stolen from a Gippsland farm.

Cara Garrett, with her pet goat Jo, was fined $1 for taking an identity tag from a stolen goat. Picture: Nicole Cleary

Ms Garrett, who avoided conviction, told the Sunday Herald Sun she would do it again.

“I will definitely continue raising awareness of animal exploitation,” she said. “I’m not going to stop until everyone is vegan.

“It’s a human rights issue as well because humans are being exploited by the agricultural industry. The system is always going to make them suffer because its designed to profit from them.

“Farmers are always suffering from drought and floods and fire. We’re also speaking for them, even if they don’t see it that way.”

The part-time worker, who changed her life when she became vegan four years ago, added: “I’ve always respected animals and that they are sentient beings with emotions like we have.”

Animal activist groups appear to have increased their protest activities since the launch in January of a directory website that claims to have been eight years in development.

The site claims to be part of a movement to protect animals.

Direct Action Everywhere and Melbourne Cow Save targeted diners at the Rare Steakhouse in Melbourne last year, shouting at them over their meals using a megaphone.

[e-mail]