A video has been flying around the Russian blogosphere of two people dumping about 20 dead and dying sheep onto the streets to oppose what the media have called an anti-government rally.

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The sheep were dressed in blue T-shirts and hats reading “Solidarity” and most had their legs broken. The sheep that were still alive were vomiting blood and had syringes sticking out of their necks, clearly from being drugged.

The rally was being held by a variety of political parties who were joining together in opposition of the current government. While over 100 protesters involved in the rally were arrested, police were late to arrive at the scene of the sheep dumping and no one was apprehended.

“There were two people in the bus who were throwing them out,” said Ella Polyakova, who witnessed the incident. “We started to yell at them, and they shouted back saying the same fate awaits us.”

Animal rights groups in Russia are furious that the perpetrators got away. Irina Novozhilova, leader of an organization called Vita, said many animal rights groups plan to ask the Prosecutor General’s Office to further investigate the case.

“This is shocking to torture animals to achieve political goals,” Novozhilova said. “Those who organized this disgusting act must be found and punished.”

Two tragedies happened in Russia this weekend: the stifling of free political speech and perhaps the most disgusting act of animal cruelty I’ve ever seen. The video is not terribly graphic, but watch with caution. For a translation of the text in the video, click here.

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[Via The Walter Duranty Report]

Photo Credit: Tambako on Flickr under Creative Commons license.