Activism

Latvian Animal Rights Activists Launch First Slaughterhouse Campaign

Credit: Riga Animal Save

In the first campaign of its kind in Latvia, 30 animal rights activists gathered peacefully in front of the gates of a slaughterhouse in Vidzeme to witness the cows, sheep and other animals brought by truckloads.

The bear witness campaign of animal rights activists at the slaughterhouse was peaceful and benevolent today Sandris Ä€dminis, organizer of "Riga Animal Save" told LETA.

He stressed that the aim of the campaign was to pay respectful attention to animals and to encourage the public to think about the connection between animals and meat.



"We will conduct peaceful vigils (from the Latin vigilia - awake) or sympathy actions at slaughterhouses to witness creatures whose lives are taken away to be turned into sausages," said Adminis.

He emphasized that cattle, sheep, pigs and other animals brought up for slaughter from a biological and capacity point of view are not significantly different from the dogs and cats that people want to protect because they understand that their desire to live and not suffer should be respected. But cows, pigs, sheep and other animals are treated as commodities.

Every year in Latvia about 100,000 cows and calves, 450,000 pigs, 22,000 sheep and 17 million poultry are slaughtered. That's a huge amount, but because they are hidden from the public eye, people therefore they do not think about them. Animal rights activists plan to organize such campaigns at Latvian slaughterhouses on a regular basis and invite everyone to join to look at the animals in the slaughterhouse.

Riga Animal Save is a branch of the international Animal Save Movement in Latvia. The movement started, with the inception of Toronto Pig Save in Canada in 2010 and currently operates more than 600 groups worldwide.