Piggery charges to trial

Two women accused of stealing stock

TWO women accused of entering farming land and stealing stock as part of an alleged vegan protest against animal cruelty will have their charges heard at a hearing in Toowoomba later this year.

Hayley Marie Adams and Leah Ava Whetton were not required to attend Toowoomba Magistrates Court yesterday for the brief mention of their matters but both were represented by solicitors.

Twenty-two year old Adams has been charged with entering a premises and committing an indictable offence by break, entering a premises with intent, and stealing an animal that is stock.

She has not as yet been called upon to enter any pleas to those charges.

Thirty-year-old Whetton has been charged with two counts of entering a premises with intent and one of stealing an animal that is stock.

Police said the pair was part of a group of activists who entered Darling Downs farms, including a piggery near

Pittsworth, and stealing piglets from one facility late last year.

Twenty-one year old Brisbane woman Brianna Lee Thauer pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court in January to entering the Cameron Pastoral Company’s Pittsworth piggery with intent and stealing six piglets as part of the November raid.

Police charged her after Thauer posted “pig rescue’’ images on her social media, site and police found photos and videos on hers mobile phone showing pigs from inside the piggery shed.

Magistrate Kay Ryan remanded Adams and Whetton on bail to appear in Toowoomba Magistrates Court for a summary hearing on their respective charges on Tuesday, September 1.