An animal activist was caught on camera making an emotional plea to diners at a restaurant in California.

Kelly Atlas, from Oakland, who works with Direct Action Everywhere, was filmed as she tearfully asked people eating in a San Francisco eatery to think about where their food comes from.

Atlas can be seen walking into the restaurant, and addressing patrons, as the atmosphere falls quiet.

Support: Ms Atlas is surrounded by supporters as she speaks during the high-powered speech

Activist group Direct Action Everywhere said that the protests were taking place in locations such as high-end restaurants and fast-food outlets as part of its 'it's not food, it's violence' campaign.

Filmed while in the unnamed restaurant, an emotional Ms Atlas tells the story about her 'little girl' - a chicken called Snow - who she rescued from being killed.

She said: ‘Someone was going to murder her. I went in there with other humans and I took her out of there and if I hadn’t, she wouldn’t be with me right now.

'She would be gone, just like all of her sisters.

Upset: Ms Atlas is visibly upset as she addresses the diners in the restaurant

Emotional: Ms Atlas appears to be highly emotional as she speaks about her beliefs

'She was crying, she was scared every single moment and because her usefulness had run out she was going to be killed,' Ms Atlas says.

'Someone was going to murder her and I can see you smiling and I can see you laughing but to her this is not funny.'

The animal activist then cries loudly as she urges everyone in the restaurant not to engage in violence by eating the bodies of 'Snow's sisters'.

'I'm here to tell you today that all of these other girls and everyone who you left behind they just wanted to live too and they deserve their lives,' she says.

Message: Ms Atlas encourages the diners to remember the name Snow

Banners: The supporters behind Ms Atlas hold signs which state, 'It's not food it's violence

'And right now their eggs and their milk and their bodies are on plates inside this restaurant and that is so unfair to them.'

Ms Atlas encourages the diners to remember the name Snow every time they see 'somebody else's eggs or somebody else's body' on a plate.

She adds, 'Her name is Snow. She's a beautiful little girl and she just wants to live. This isn't food, it's violence.

On their website Direct Action Everywhere’s state that they use creative non-violent forms of protest to tell the animals' story.