UNBEARABLE TRUTHS: Mom unhappy with vegan activists after son confronted by images of slaughtered animals
The bit that distressed me the most was that my three-year-old boy saw it first. He pointed it out saying 'Mummy, why is that cow upside down - and why is its head coming off?'
DAVE OWEN: A young mother has rounded on vegan activists who she says exposed her three-year-old son to gruesome graffiti depicting butchered animals in Loughborough. The pair had been out on a walk when they came across images showing a blood-soaked cow and pig moments after their slaughter. The woman, who is in her early 20s but didn’t want to be named, said the incident happened yesterday morning, Tuesday June 29, as they approached the Belton Road canal bridge, north of the town centre.
The sight greeting the little boy and his mum included “life-size posters” depicting the maimed livestock, accompanied by the slogan – written in large capital letters – “It’s not food, it’s violence”. Red paint representing blood dripping from the creatures’ wounds was also daubed over the bridge wall. The mother turned to social media to express her outrage and posted a message, including a photograph taken at the scene, on the Spotted Loughborough Facebook group page.
“Can I ask how this is appropriate advertising?” she said. “My three-year-old spotted this before me and asked me why the cow was upside down, and why his head was falling off!” “I don’t mind bringing awareness to things like animal cruelty or promoting veganism, but there’s surely better ways of doing it than sticking images like this to a wall with fake blood dripping down”…
Speaking to LeicestershireLive, the woman said she thought the activists had gone “way too far”… “The bit that distressed me the most was that my three-year-old boy saw it first,” she added. “He pointed it out saying ‘Mummy, why is that cow upside down – and why is its head coming off? [Editor: Good Question]. “I was horrified and took a photograph of it which I later shared on the Spotted Loughborough Facebook page…
The Facebook post, which has since been taken down, sparked a fierce online debate over the ethics of the activists, veganism, food production and animal cruelty. “I simply don’t think it’s right for a three-year-old child to be confronted by something like this – or a child of any age in fact,” she said…
“Many people were messaging me with support, to say that they agreed that the images were absolutely disgusting. “But some comments from other people, presumably vegan activists, told me that the protest was needed and that even children need to be shocked into realising what goes on in the food industry. “They were actually quite aggressive in telling me what they believe and why I should do too”…
“It’s simply not acceptable and it’s offensive. There is a way of doing it, of discussing issues like veganism and animal cruelty”. “And it’s not by scaring a little boy and giving him nightmares”… “My little boy was very confused last night – when I was trying to put him to bed he kept saying ‘I don’t want to see the cow by the water’.”
“It’s really upset him”… The woman said she contacted Charnwood Borough Council to report the graffiti, and decided to report one particular comment on her post to Leicestershire Police… Charnwood Borough Council said that its officers had reported the incident to the Canal & River Trust, whose responsibility they said it was to remove canalside graffiti. SOURCE…
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