Vegans storm store over ‘cruel tradition’

VEGAN protesters stormed into a branch of Waitrose full of Christmas shoppers – and told customers getting turkeys they were ‘buying death for a cruel tradition’.

The demonstrators, carrying placards, flowers and plates covered in mock blood, occupied the meat aisle and chanted, ‘It’s not food, it’s violence’.

The animal rights demo was held by the same group which disrupted a steakhouse and played recordings of the screams of cows being slaughtered to shocked diners last month.

The Brighton branch of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) used a megaphone in a Waitrose store in the city on Sunday as they chanted at customers: ‘You can’t shop in peace when you are buying death.’

The group held pictures of turkeys, which have a natural life span of a decade, with a sign saying: ‘Turkeys are killed between nine and 21 weeks old. They are just babies.’

Other campaigners held plates covered in blood and placards saying ‘Humane murder is a lie’.

Most shoppers ignored the protest but one customer tried to take the group on, calling their vegan arguments ‘intellectually barren’. After 20 minutes police turned up and the group continued to demonstrate outside the shop.

A spokesman for Waitrose last night said: ‘We pride ourselves on exceptional animal welfare, with our turkeys farmed to high standards at farms we know and trust.’

The group clashed with steak eaters in the Touro restaurant last month when diners launched a counter-protest, with some chanting: ‘Stand up if you love meat.’

The worldwide Direct Action Everywhere group aims to achieve ‘total animal liberation’ and end ‘species inequality’.

Founded in the US in 2013, it now has branches in 43 countries.