Animal rights activists angered over lack of compassion shown to pigs injured in Wednesday’s rollover

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An overnight vigil was held at the intersection of Harvester Rd. and Appleby Line in Burlington, where a livestock truck rolled over yesterday morning killing more than 40 pigs and injuring dozens of others as the truck pulled onto the road leading into Fearman’s Pork Inc. slaughterhouse.

Animal rights activists held placards, laid flowers, and tied ribbons to the fence. Candles lined the sidewalk and road where yesterday’s rollover occurred. Activists say they are upset because of the lack of compassion shown to the animals by Fearman’s employees. Many pigs died in the truck after being trapped for hours, others died in the parking lot as they walked away from the crash. People that witnessed the crash on Wednesday morning say the sound of the injured pigs screaming, was deafening and disturbing.

Animal rights activist Anita Krajnc, currently on trial for giving water to pigs as they were being driven into the same slaughterhouse last summer, was arrested yesterday for obstructing a police officer. She spoke today at the vigil saying, “At Fearman’s they use carbon dioxide gas chambers and the pigs are prodded with 50 volt electric prods…the pigs are screaming at 90 decibels as they’re being prodded into the gas chamber.” Krajnc says it’s so loud, the workers have to wear earmuffs because they can become deaf at that level of screaming.

“When you go to a site where’s there’s been an accident, the overwhelming emotion is compassion and trying to help the victims and you take them to the hospital, and that’s what should of happened with the pigs; they should have been given care and then given to a sanctuary”. Krajnc pointed out that many local pig sanctuaries were willing to take the injured pigs that were no longer able to be used for meat production. Krajnc says instead, employees killed them with bolt guns in the parking lot.

CHCH News has tried numerous times to reach out to Fearman’s Pork Inc., as well as their parent company Sofina Foods for comment. Calls have not been answered or returned.