A group of vegan protesters who describe themselves as ‘animal liberationists’ have invaded a cattle farm.
Approximately 100 protesters entered the farm in Queensland over the weekend (March 24) to ‘fight for animal liberation’, filming themselves and posting the footage on social media afterwards.
The protesters wore white overalls covered in black shirts that read, ‘Meat the Victims’, and cut across Queensland Feedlot and Dairy as a farmer chased after them.
Shocking footage of the day’s events were posted online by vegan animal activist, Leah Doellinger, who created the Meat the Victims movement.
In the video, the farmer can be heard shouting at the protesters to ‘get off my fucking country’, before screaming, ‘don’t go fucking through’.
Leah then replies, saying:
You’re hurting animals here, we’re here to show the truth of what you’re hiding. The only reason you’re upset is because you’ve got something to hide.
The protesters then walk across the farm before they find three dead cows who have been shot; the camera pans to the animals before the farmer says they were shot ‘humanely’.
Leah described on her Instagram page how initially, the group were blocked by three farmers who threatened and followed them. After climbing through barb wire fencing, the protesters found the three dead cows.
Lot feeder David McNamee told Daily Mail Australia the protesters’ actions were distressing for his family and had put his livestock at risk.
The footage was also shared by the Animal Activist Collective on Instagram, who included a comment from Leah which said the group took a ‘strong moral stand’ to show people how animals are equal.
Leah explained:
In today’s society, there are animals who are not afforded the same respect and dignity that we give to others, and that we demand for ourselves as humans. This is a form of discrimination, called ‘speciesism’ and we are here today to challenge the current speciesist mindset within society.
This kind of resistance aims to oppose oppressive systems that have seen other animals reduced to ‘things’; products, food, items to be bought and sold.
By taking a strong moral stand, we hope to bring attention to this issue, in turn allowing people to ‘meat the victims’ of their choice, and see that while different to us, other animals are equal in their ability to feel like us.
The animals do not need better welfare standards or conditions, they need to be liberated, they need people to live vegan.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).
