A veteran of Tasmania's animal welfare sector says she was "stunned" to hear about yesterday's activist protest on the Tasman Bridge, and fears it could lead to an unheralded surge of similar stunts.

"There's a more polite, intelligent way to get the message out there," Emma Haswell says. ( ABC News )

Emma Haswell, who runs the Brightside Farm Sanctuary in the state's south, said she had worked hard over 14 years to encourage people to relate to her animal welfare message.

She said she was shocked to find out about the protest, in which Hobart's morning peak hour was heavily disrupted and two activists from Animal Liberation Tasmania (ALT) were arrested.

The group of about 30 activists gathered on the bridge to protest the alleged animal cruelty at Gretna Quality Meats, as reported by the ABC.

"We've never had that kind of thing in Tasmania before," she said.

"People have really got on board when we've done things in the past and I'm just worried this will alienate people.

"This sort of thing alienates the very people that we're hoping to appeal to.

"It's the exact opposite to the sort of action I would do. I'm stunned."

On Wednesday afternoon, ALT released a statement in which it said it wanted to "issue a formal apology to the public, and clarify a few points", denying it was responsible for lanes on the bridge being closed.

"At no point did ALT ever intend to block or disrupt traffic ... ALT is very sorry for the inconvenience caused to people today, as blocking lanes of traffic was never our intention and we did not believe it would be necessary if we complied with the police. We hope people can see past this, and understand the gravity of the issue we are trying to raise awareness for and why this called for what people may consider drastic action."

ALT urged people to view the abattoir footage and "see why we are angered everyday by the unnecessary suffering of millions of animals because people are not aware it is occurring, and that they are contributing to it".

Sorry, this video has expired Animal rights protest on Tasman Bridge ( Harriet Aird )

Animal Liberation's apology questioned

Ms Haswell said the group's apology for the inconvenience of the protest, issued last night, was not a real apology.

"You don't hang yourself up above one of the busiest peak hour roads in Hobart and hold up the traffic," she said.

"Then you go onto social media and see how angry people are — I'm really disappointed at that sort of thing."

Ms Haswell said she feared the actions of the newly-formed Animal Liberation group could compromise the reputation of others in the sector.

"You see these terrible things and you take people on a journey and you show them and you explain to them what's happening and they're very receptive," she said.

"I think people generally like animals and they don't want to see animals suffer.

"I think there's a much more polite and intelligent way to get the message out there."

Minister for Primary Industries Jeremy Rockliff yesterday insisted the state's animal regulations were strong enough.

"We have very strong regulatory arrangements when it comes to meat processing, animal welfare provisions in Tasmania, which as a government we've actually strengthened," he said.

"There are regular inspections. That is the process. It's robust."

Mr Rockliff said the Government had agreed to introduce further animal welfare legislation in the current term.

Gretna Quality Meats is under investigation by DPIPWE, which supervised slaughtering at the site yesterday.

It has denied all claims of mistreatment.