She was harassed non-stop on social media, businesses got one-star reviews for employing her, then Instagram deleted her account — Dominique Rioux says that's what she got for showing people where their food comes from.

"I'm really passionate about food, I want to show people things and teach them," she said.

The 26-year-old, who works as a butcher and a chef at Le Gras Dur restaurant in Villeray, posts video and photos on her Facebook and Instagram accounts that put her work on display.

They show different pieces of meat, including pig heads and complete animals, her techniques, and her smiling with the finished products.

A year ago, she posted a picture of a pig cut open, with its parts displayed on a table. It appears to have fired up vegans and vegetarians — a photo of her face was posted in online vegan groups, and suddenly a network of pro-animal paladins took up the cause of running her out of business.

Her Facebook and Instagram pages became battle grounds and her inbox and comments sections filled up with personal attacks. At the peak, she said she was getting hundreds of negative messages per day.

Physical threats

Most of the messages attacked her as a person, saying she deserved to die or get cancer, that she was heartless and cruel. She wouldn't respond.

But then someone threatened to firebomb the butcher shop where she worked at the time, Salaison Saint-André in the Ahuntsic–Cartierville borough.

"It was so stressful, because I thought, maybe people who aren't me can die from this too," she said.

A police report was filed, said the owner, André Savoie.

"It's important that people can live from their art without receiving threats like she got," he said.

A spokesperson for the police would not confirm or deny that a report was made.

Rioux doesn't work there anymore but the one-star reviews that were posted online when she did still linger.

"They actually hired psychopath Dominique Rioux who publishes pictures of disfiguring pig carcasses on her Facebook," one reviewer posted on Google.

"A disgusting, evil place. Can't believe they employ someone as vile as Dominique Rioux," another wrote.

Deleted account

Instagram deleted her page about a month ago, informing her using a popup that her content violated the terms of service.

She said she tried every day to reach to Instagram, but never got through. She thinks so many people flagged her account that they decided to take it down.

According to Instagram's community guidelines, content must be "appropriate for everyone."

"Sharing graphic images for sadistic pleasure or to glorify violence is never allowed," it states.

Instagram did not reply to CBC's request for comment.

Rioux said she put a lot of work into her account because it helped her network and land contracts for side jobs.

She has since started a new account, but now has to rebuild her following.

Now, she's worried whenever she posts something and has opted to focus on photos that show the finished results, not the animal.

"I feel really stressed, I don't know what to post and I feel like I can't post what I'm good at because it will get deleted again," she said.