When vegans ATTACK
French butchers say they’re experiencing a swell of smashed windows and fake blood-spattered facades. Graffiti-strewn storefronts bearing slogans such as “Meat is murder” and “Stop speciesism” have been witnessed across the country. The perpetrators: “militant vegans.”
According to NPR’s The Salt, a growing number of butchers, particularly in northern France, have reported vegan acts of vandalism. They reportedly feel so distressed by the damage that they’ve asked the government for protection.
Earlier this month, representatives of the French Confederation of Butchery, Butchers and Delicatessen – a group 18,000-members strong – “demanded better security” from interior minister Gérard Collomb.
Confederation president Jean-François Guihard told NPR that the threats are cause for real concern as they’re “becoming more aggressive.” And added that France’s artisan butchers “are the backbone of the French economy” and integral to everyday life.
“The heart of any French village or town is the baker, the butcher and the café,” said Guihard. “If we don’t have these small businesses, the social fabric will be gone. Amazon is nice, but it isn’t everything."
Brigitte Gothiere of L214 — a significant animal rights group in France — told NPR that her association “would never” encourage acts of violence.
“We don’t attack butchers, we carry out investigations by putting hidden cameras in slaughterhouses and documenting things like baby chicks being ground up and other cruelties,” said Gothiere. “We try to show the reality of how animals live and die while being raised, transported and slaughtered.”
In Canada, threats against butchers and other meatcentric establishments have occurred recently as well, although not with the same regularity as in France. Toronto’s Kukum Kitchen and Antler restaurants have been the subjects of anti-seal petitions and vegan protests respectively. And last summer, two bricks were launched through the window of Montreal’s Boucherie Grinder.
According to Eater Montreal, the accompanying note ordered the neighbourhood butcher to stop “the mutilation and sale of non-human animals,” and warned that, “Starting today, June 27th, 2017, more and more specialized institutions like yours will be vandalized in Montreal.”