PREEMPTIVE STRIKE: Six animal rights activists were arrested AHEAD of turkey farm protest in Ontario. What happened?
Amy Soranno recalls her 15-hour experience in police custody: In jail, it was cold and miserable. I kept thinking about the mother pigs kept in gestation crates and the egg-laying hens in battery cages. The small space I was confined to was a mansion in comparison. I could move and stretch if I wanted to. And eventually, I was set free. Most farmed animals don’t share the same fate.
SORAV MALHOTRA: In the early morning hours of October 3rd, 2021, six animal rights activists were arrested after leaving their houses. The arrests came just hours before a planned demonstration, organized by global animal rights group Meat The Victims (MTV), was supposed to take place at Hybrid Turkeys breeding farm in southern Ontario… Hybrid Turkeys is one of the largest turkey breeding facilities in the world. It supplies 60 percent of the turkeys sold at Canadian grocery stores. In 2014, an undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals exposed the disturbing treatment of birds at the Hybrid Turkeys facility. Workers were seen kicking and throwing turkeys and crushing their spines with bolt cutters. The footage also showed turkeys with gaping, puss-filled wounds left to suffer and slowly die…
The activists—Amy Soranno, Nick Schafer, Jen Deighan-Schenk, David Magina, Bridget Armastus, and Kirsten Little—were apprehended by Waterloo Regional Police at 3 a.m. before they left for the facility. All six activists were arrested for “attempted break and enter” and “attempted mischief.” All of them have since been released on bail with “no contact” orders, meaning they are not allowed to speak with each other, and a separate condition prevents them from contacting the farm. Their first court date is set for November 17 in the Ontario Court of Justice.
Amy Soranno recalls her 15-hour experience in police custody. “In jail, it was cold and miserable, as it’s intended to be.” Every hour or so, she said they would whisper to each other, “Are you OK?” “I kept thinking about the mother pigs kept in gestation crates and the egg-laying hens in battery cages, the small space I was confined to was a mansion in comparison,” said Soranno. “I could move and stretch if I wanted to. And eventually, I was set free.” Most farmed animals don’t share the same fate. Meanwhile, close to 200 activists from across Canada and the United States staged a mass protest outside of Hybrid Turkeys.
This took place one week before the Thanksgiving holiday in Canada, bringing much-needed attention to the abuse of turkeys that regularly occurs at this facility and at other factory farms in the province. During this protest, activists also demanded the repeal of Ontario’s new ag-gag law, Bill 156, by which whistleblowers and activists are subject to arrest, prosecution, fines, and/or imprisonment for exposing any sort of animal abuse taking place at any farm in Ontario. The law also authorizes farm owners and states that employees can make citizen arrests if they find someone in violation of Bill 156. Several other provinces are following suit to pass and implement similar laws in the country…
Earlier this year, Canada’s only national animal law advocacy organization, Animal Justice, filed suit against the Ontario government challenging Bill 156 on the basis that it conceals animal suffering and violates people’s Charter-protected rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly…Sentient Media’s Sorav Malhotra spoke to Jen Deighan-Schenk and Amy Soranno, two of the activists arrested on Sunday morning about the importance of animal rights campaigns like MTV and civil disobedience. SOURCE…
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