A Kelowna-based animal rights activist who was charged and found guilty of breaking and entering after being placed under arrested at a hog farm protest in Abbotsford was granted permission to fly to Israel, where she participated in another animal rights protest.
During her stay in Israel, Soranno partook of a protest at a chicken hatchery that practices a cruel, but widely used (and legal) technique to eliminate unfit chicks.
On Christmas Day, approximately 100 activists with Meat the Victims Israel broke into and occupied a hatchery in Gan HaShomron at approximately 6 a.m. Soranno did not personally enter the hatchery.
Soranno said that some members of the group quickly grabbed approximately 20 chicks and passed them over the fence where they were “rushed to safety.” She said that another group of protesters entered the building and staged a sit-in, some gluing themselves to the machine used to kill unfit chicks, called the macerator. The remaining activists stood outside the hatchery to protest and draw attention.
Their protest did manage to temporarily halt the scheduled killing of day-old baby chicks, who are too small or weak to be grown for meat.
Soranno has a criminal record for breaking into a hog farm for a protest, but she said that she feels a deep sense of responsibility to keep fighting for the rights and well-being of animals.
She also said that she has begun exploring options for non-violent activism internationally because of the “aggressive nature of Canada’s legal and political reaction to animal activists.”
Yet in Israel, Soranno said only two police officers responded to the hatchery protest and worked hard to facilitate productive negotiations between Meat the Victims and the hatchery employees. This discussion resulted in the hatchery releasing 35 chicks that had been scheduled to be killed, and no arrests were made.
She went on to say that Israeli law enforcement’s ability to keep a non-violent protest from escalating is a very stark contrast to the Abbotsford police’s response to similar protests in Canada, where all available officers were called to the Abbotsford farm and Soranno, together with other activists, were arrested. She said that in Canada, she has also been placed under arrest for planning a protest before it even began.
Meat the Victims left the facility with 55 chicks that were scheduled to be macerated. These chicks will be raised at a sanctuary for the remainder of their natural lives.
Protest to protect the lives of animals is permitted and respected in Israel in a way that it really is not in Canada, according to Soranno.
Read all about it here.
Off to gather some whole grain bread and treats to feed the seagulls and pigeons at the beach, till next time!
J
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