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TORONTO — On the eve of a court appearance, an Ontario woman is unapologetic about providing water to sweltering pigs in a truck on their way to the slaughterhouse on a hot day.

Animal rights activist Anita Krajnc is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to face a mischief charge following a protest in June with her group, Toronto Pig Save, in Burlington, Ont.

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As she and a friend waited on a roadway median for the pigs, the truck pulled up hauling the animals from Van Boekel Hog Farms to Fearman’s Pork slaughterhouse — a trip of about 100 kilometres. Krajnc gave water from a bottle to the animals through slats in the truck’s trailer.

The truck’s driver, identified as Jeffrey Veldjesgraaf in court documents, got out of the truck and argued with the women. The confrontation was captured on video.

“Have some compassion, have some compassion!” Krajnc yells in the video to the truck driver.

“Let’s call the cops,” the driver says, holding his phone.

“Call Jesus,” Krajnc says as she continues to allow the pigs to drink the water.

“Yeah, no. What do you got in that water?” he asks.

“Water,” Krajnc says.

“No, no, how do I know?” he says.

“Trust me,” she says.

“Don’t put it in there again,” he says.

“If this pig is thirsty, they’ll have water,” she says.

“You do it again and I’ll slap it out of your hands,” he says.

“Go ahead, if you want an assault charge, go ahead! Film this, film this, film this!” Krajnc yells.

The driver then gets back in the truck and drives away.

The farm’s owner, Eric Van Boekel, filed a complaint with police the next day.

“They can protest all they want — they have the right of freedom of speech that thousands of soldiers have died for,” Van Boekel said in an interview Tuesday. “I have no problem with them protesting; just leave my stuff alone.”

In mid-September, a Halton Regional police officer served Krajnc with a summons. She was formally charged in October with mischief under $5,000.