No further action over scuffle at pig abattoir
POLICE are taking no further action against a man caught appearing to drag a vegan by his dreadlocks on camera outside a Widnes abbatoir.
Last year dramatic footage surfaced showed a scuffle breaking out during a vegan protest at a pig slaughterhouse, where activists attempted to stop a truck full of pigs destined for the chopping block.
The clip, which was posted by animal rights group Liverpool Pig Save shows Jake Jordan – who believes ‘pigs are victims’ – allegedly being dragged by his dreadlocks by slaughterhouse staff.
Jake, 21, says the protest was part of an agreement with the slaughterhouse that Liverpool Pig Save could stop trucks on their way in to give them ‘three minutes of compassion’.
In the footage, he can be seen standing between a locked gate and a wagon delivering pigs to the CS Morphet And Sons abattoir in Widnes, before being moved out of the way by a man in a blue boiler suit.
Merseyside police has confirmed that they were not taking any further action against the man accused of assault during the incident, which took place on Monday, August 7, 2017.
A letter from the force confirms the man in the video – who denies committing an offence – had been questioned by police, and that an independent investigation manager for the force decided there was ‘insufficient evidence to secure a conviction’.
The group claim they regularly visit slaughterhouses across the North West, where they are given permission to ‘ show the animals the first and last compassion they’ll receive in their lives’ – by stroking them and giving them water – but that on this occasion they were not allowed the allotted time.
Speaking shortly after the incident, Jake said: “Save have an agreement to show the pigs their first and last compassion by comforting them and giving them water while they’re in the trucks.
“We weren’t given it, all we wanted was the chance to stroke the pigs and show them some love and compassion. You can tell when an animal is smiling and they’re happy inside and when we comfort them you can see that.
“We give them the first and last compassion they ever see in their lives and that’s all we wanted to do.”
A spokesperson for the slaughterhouse said their workers acted with Jake’s safety in mind, and claimed the group were in fact given enough time with the pigs.
They said: “The protestors had already been given a few minutes with the wagon as it came to the locked gate and it took a few minutes for the workers to get to the gate and unlock it.
“They had plenty of ● time to stroke the pigs.
“He stood in the way of the wagon, where the driver could not see him, and so we had to drag him out of the way for his own safety.
“He could have been seriously hurt.
“Protestors are more than welcome, provided they protest peacefully, but when they stop the driver from doing his job they jeopardise our business and their own safety.
“We did it for the protestor’s own safety, the driver could not see him. He could have driven off while he was still holding onto the wagon.
“It wasn’t fair on the other protestors as it was only one person who spoiled it for those who were protesting peace- fully.”
Liverpool Pig Save is a regional branch of the international Save Movement.
A spokesperson for the group, Andrew Garner, who filmed the footage, said they ‘wanted to make the whole world vegan’.
He said: “Everyone who volunteers with Save is a vegan. We hope that in our generation everyone will be vegan.
“I honestly think that as the message spreads, in 40 or 50 years’ time nearly everyone worldwide will become vegan.
“(It is) for animal welfare reasons and environmental reasons, but once somebody sees what goes on in slaughterhouses they often convert to be vegan.”