The suffragettes were once branded criminals
THANK you for your excellent coverage of the court case of Wesley Omar, whose crime was to rescue a three-month-old piglet from Belmont Farm near Melton (Leicester Mercury, July 17). Legally, this was theft – but in reality it was an act of compassion towards a suffering animal.
The pig which now has a name, Wilbur, is now safely enjoying a natural life of freedom at an animal sanctuary. The other pigs had to be left to endure the cruelty of intensive farming and a brutal death in a slaughterhouse.
Intensive farms are now having to invest in fences and tighter security to hide the truth of factory farming from the general public. However, one has only to look at the websites and undercover footage of Compassion in World Farming, Viva! and other organisations to learn the horrors of the way most pigs are reared and slaughtered in this country.
The judge stated that “to act unlawfully for a cause is a criminal offence”. However, the suffragettes did just that – they were on the right side of history and we now see their activism for their cause in a different light.
Wesley did not resort to violence. Nobody was hurt, nor any buildings damaged. Indeed, vegans aspire to live a compassionate, peaceful, non-violent lifestyle. They reject the cruelty inflicted on sentient beings in the meat and dairy industries. They are on the right side of history.
We wish Wesley well in his future studies and his ongoing commitment to the welfare of animals and the vegan cause.
Patricia and John Lessells, Oadby