By Belinda Morris
An animal rights activist and Hamilton resident was killed outside Fearman’s Pork slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario on June 19/20. Regan Russell, 65, was participating in a peaceful vigil with other activists who were there on behalf of the Animal Save Movement. The activists were “bearing witness” to pigs packed tightly into transport trucks, as they arrived at the facility during sweltering 30C degree heat.
According to several eyewitnesses, Russell, a regular protester at Fearman’s, was standing ahead of the stopped transport truck, as is the customary practice, for two minutes. She was among other activists there who had just finished giving the pigs water to relieve their thirst and comfort them, when the transport truck suddenly accelerated and struck her. The truck was operated by Brussels Transport Ltd.
Read a statement from Animal Save Movement on Regan’s death.
Witnesses at the scene said that some of the truck drivers have been “hostile” in the past, purposely driving at the activists. One woman commented online that the drivers would “speed up and drive at me” at other such Animal Save events. The speed limit in the area where Russell was fatally hit is 15km/hour.
There were no police present at the scene at the time of the incident. Police are investigating and to date charges have not been laid against the driver.
The tragedy comes in the wake of the Ontario government’s passing of the controversial Bill 156, which was enacted into law, although not yet proclaimed, on June 18/20. Bill 156 was the provincial government and animal agriculture industry’s direct response to both the Animal Save Movement’s vigils and animal rescues by other activists, according to MPPs who drafted and debated the bill, actually referring to some of the activists by name.
Animal activists, advocates of free speech, and journalists assert that the bill, so-called ‘ag gag’ legislation, was drafted to silence whistle-blowers and prevent exposure of animal abuse, suffering, and cruelty regularly occurring on Ontario farms and during transport. Videos depicting dead and dying farm animals have been widely circulated on social media, while CBC’s Marketplace and other media outlets have similarly broadcast undercover videos depicting animal abuses.
Lawyer Camille Labchuk of Animal Justice, said in a statement that the new legislation has been widely denounced by constitutional experts as “an unconstitutional restriction” of Canadians’ “rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
Read Animal Justice’s statement.
Given the provisions in Bill 156 that allowed for “force” against animal activists, many are now saying that the new legislation has emboldened those who oppose rights activists and the cause of animal welfare. An activist website on Bill 156 forewarned of the potential for violence and tragic outcomes, should the bill become law. Just 48 hours after Bill 156 was passed, it appears that those fears have been borne out. Russell’s last facebook post declared that decision, and animal ag, as “evil”.
In memory of Regan Russell, The Animal Save Movement founder, Anita Kranjc, announced that the org will be holding vigils to honour her life, vowing “We will not let the candles go out.”
A vigil is planned at Fearman’s on June 28 at 10 am.
