Sign up for our Exeter newsletter and you'll never miss a big story again Keep me updated Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A farmer who has had death threats over a 'pick your own Christmas turkey' offer says the farm shop is having its busiest day ever thanks to the inadvertent publicity.

The Greendale farm owner, Mat Carter, arrived at the shop near Exeter this morning to find blue paint with the words 'Murder!' and 'Go vegan' sprayed across the door by enraged animal activists.

Pheasants hung outside the shop were also sprayed with blue paint in response to the offer for the public to choose, name, feed and look after their Christmas turkey for two months before it is slaughtered.

Ever since the offer was posted on Facebook it has been shared and commented on thousands of times.

Mat, 35, said he had been despondent and was considering taking the post down after his staff began being inundated with angry phone calls.

But today, after clearing off the blue paint with petrol, he said he has been overwhelmed by the positive response from the public, with dozens of turkey orders and the busiest day ever in the farm shop.

"To be honest the original offer was a bit tongue-in-cheek," he said. "I didn't really expect people to bring their kids in after school every day and look after their own turkey.

"When I walked in this morning and we had the graffiti on the door I thought 'this is a disaster'.

"But ever since then the amount of support we have had has been incredible - today will be a record-breaking day in the shop. Business is absolutely booming."

Mat said he does not blame all vegans: "There are two camps," he said. "There are the people who are militantly approaching anybody who touches meat and who has no understanding for others' points of view.

"And then there are the vegans I welcome with open arms who come into our shop and buy vegetables and are happy to let everybody live and let live.

"I strongly stand by our whole position on this - fundamentally we are fishermen and farmers and I think anybody who eats meat should know where it comes from.

As a relatively new father myself, I want my son to know that his sausages come from pigs.

Vegan vandals broke into the farm overnight to protest over the unique offer and sprayed huge graffiti on the glass entrance.

Staff discovered the graffiti as they headed to work on Tuesday morning.

Much to his surprise the post went viral attracting more than 4,000 comments, shares and reactions - after it was picked up and shared by 'crazy' vegans.

Ever since he has received 'death threats' and the shop on Sidmouth Road, Farringdon has been bombarded with phone calls to threaten staff.

Many people jumped to Mat's defence online and thanked him for educating kids and branded haters hypocritical and ignorant.

Mat said that farm shop staff have been properly trained and can ensure the animals are killed in a 'humane way'.

He said: "I think the one thing I want to get across is that I don't think there is anything wrong with our proposition.

"I'm not going to remove the post or stop being a farmer because we've had a bit of opposition from vegan groups.

"Our proposition is we farm, we get the meat, we grow it, and then we sell it in our shop.

"The butcher got a phone call from someone who said 'how would you like it if I cut you up and put you on the counter'.

"That's verging on a death threat.

"The calls to the staff and the butcher are where I draw the line."

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

He said he put up his post on Saturday, and said while he meant what he wrote he said it was "tongue in cheek" and thought it would be liked by a few customers.

But most of the comments were from animal rights activists who felt it was a 'betrayal' to get to know an animal before eating it for Christmas dinner.

The post also attracted long discussions about the effects of the meat and dairy industries on the environment.

Marjory Ellen O'Brien "Name him like your puppy, or cat... or your kid.. and then chop his head off and eat him.

"Sounds just like psychopathic behaviour to me.

"They are sentient beings that feel love and have friends and family.

"They enjoy life just like we do. They are not a meal."

Mat added: "If you are going to eat meat, I think our way is the best way of doing it - where you can see the animals and then go to the butchers and buy the meat.

"If you are totally anti-meat, then go and start with the huge big factory farms, not the small businesses who do it like we do it.

poll loading Is the 'pick your own turkey' idea a good one? 500+ VOTES SO FAR Yes, people should connect with the food they eat No, people should not eat turkey for Christmas

"It was the bit about naming it was the bit they really didn't like. I guess that's because it brings it home to them that it's a real animal - but that's the whole point.

"That's why we treat them with respect and look after them."

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

He said people who had left messages of support had been targeted by critics - including a mother who said her autistic son loved the farm, and their sausages.

"They said she was a bad mother - that's the lowest form of criticism and totally unjustified," he said.

"The post has gone really far and now we have their crazy people that have started bombarding the shop and threatening the staff and phoning the shop.

"Actually, what they perhaps don't realise is that they have done us a massive favour.

"The post has gone so far and wide sales have gone through the roof.

"In some regard they have made a rod for their own back.

"Usually we have a real flurry of order the week we launch our Christmas goods.

"That was last week and the week before.

"Then we usually have one or two a day until the next busy season. But we've had at least a dozen today (Mon), so the comments are doing the trick."