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Masked protesters held laptops playing animal slaughter footage on Cheltenham High Street today.

Animal rights campaigners Anonymous for the Voiceless took part in a ‘Cube of Truth’ vigil from 12pm until 4pm.

Wearing the Guy Fawkes masks made famous in the V for Vendetta film, they formed a silent square outside Marks & Spencer.

It was one of 29 similar demonstrations across the UK and 193 around the world for International Cube Day, the biggest global vegan outreach event according to the organiser of the Cheltenham vigil.

The movement, which originated in Australia last year, involves activists playing footage showing passers-by the living conditions and slaughter of UK animals used for dairy and meat.

Around 30 volunteers took part in the event today, which was the fourth one organised on the High Street.

A spokesman for the group, who asked not to be names, said: “They get put into a macerator. They get thrown in and it grinds them up.

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“As soon as I heard this it put me on the path of wanting to know what else was going on.”

Disturbed by his research into the treatment of other animals, he was inspired by a Youtube video of a Cube of Truth in Bristol to bring the campaign to Gloucestershire.

He and his fiancée held their first vigil on August 13.

She said: “We were a bit apprehensive and we weren’t sure about doing it, but it has been really positive. I have only seen two people be abusive.

“Generally people are quite surprised because they are not aware of the conditions.

“Some people have come up and said they worked in slaughterhouses and they still have nightmares.”

The videos show the practices of more than 100 farms and slaughterhouses across the UK, some of which are legal, but Mr Drew believes none of them are humane.

He says he saw one man be physically sick yesterday during a demonstration in Oxford, after seeing slaughter footage similar to that shown in Cheltenham today.

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At each of the previous events in Cheltenham, between 55 and 70 people have told the campaigners they would consider giving up meat because of what they had seen.

The organiser said: “We get the occasional comment from people who try to scare us and make a noise as they go past.

“Sometimes people say they don’t want to see it because it will upset them. That in itself is quite telling. It is hidden away.

“We have had people stand in front of us and eat a packet of ham, which is fair enough. We don’t want to be confrontational, we want to talk to people.

“We have a strict policy that if there is an unattended child who approaches, an outreach team goes up to them and shepherds them way from the footage.”

He explained that the thinking behind the masks is to make onlookers feel more at ease.

“The masks are there because it directs attention, but also because it makes people more comfortable about watching the footage,” he added.

“We don’t want people to feel like someone is staring back judging their reaction.”

Speaking about her hopes of inhumane farming coming to an end, the campaigner added: “We are very much focused on talking to the consumer. Legislation will follow.

“The more people who go vegan, the more the government will take notice.”

A playlist blared out from speakers next to the Cube today, including Fix You by Coldplay and Mad World by Gary Jules.

“We have tried to pick moving music,” the organiser said.

In attendance at the event was Clover, a dog rescued from a slaughterhouse in China last year before being taken to a shelter where he nearly died of malnutrition and pneumonia.

Rushton Dog Rescue brought Clover to Gloucestershire last December, and he now belongs to Julie Wardle, whose family have become vegan because of their connection with the dog.

Supporting the Cube today, Ms Wardle, 50, from Minsterworth, said: “We were about to tuck into some roast beef and thought, ‘Why is that acceptable?’

“How can we criticise the Chinese for eating dogs when what we are doing is exactly the same?”

The next Cube will be held at the same spot on December 10, and another will take place in Blackfriars, Gloucester, on December 2.

The organiser also hopes to stage an event in Stroud.

“We are trying to make it a regular thing to get people together,” he said.