A woman who gave water to pigs on their way to a slaughterhouse will have her day in court in August.

Anita Krajnc had a preliminary hearing on Monday. She is charged with mischief and faces a $5,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. The Crown will decide later this year whether they are proceeding by summary conviction or indictment.

Krajnc has been unapologetic about what she has called an act of compassion.

“Compassion is not a crime,” Krajnc, an organizer of the animal advocacy group Toronto Pig Save, said in a statement Monday.

“Leo Tolstoy, the author and ethical vegetarian who has inspired our group, defined bearing witness as not turning away from a creature who is suffering but ‘coming closer, as close as you can to him [or her] who suffers, and trying to help.’ Bearing witness means being present for the pigs. We are there to show them compassion, tell their stories and help the world feel pity for their plight.”

On June 22, Krajnc was on a roadway median giving water to pigs as trucks hauling the animals stopped at an intersection in Burlington. One of the trucks’ drivers took exception. An argument ensued, which was captured on video, that shows Krajnc feeding water to some of the pigs via a water bottle she pushed through the slats of the truck’s trailer as the driver demanded she stop.

The truck driver reported Krajnc to his boss. Farm owner Eric Van Boekel filed a complaint with police the next day and she was charged.

Van Boekel said he supports Krajnc’s right to protest, but not to interfere with his business.

“They can protest all they want — they have the right of freedom of speech that thousands of soldiers have died for,” Van Boekel told The Canadian Press earlier this month. “I have no problem with them protesting; just leave my stuff alone.”

The truck driver who initially confronted Krajnc said he had no way of knowing what was in the bottles, and what Krajnc was feeding livestock.