While walking her dog, animal activist Anita Krajnc stumbled upon her greatest cause. Parked in front of her was a truck packed with dehydrated and distressed pigs heading to a slaughterhouse. “In life, you always have a choice,” Krajnc says. “Either to look away when there’s something terrible, or to come close and try to help.” For Krajnc, the decision was obvious.
Krajnc’s journey to activism began as a student at the University of Toronto. She became the president of the Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where she spearheaded multiple campaigns to highlight immoral acts towards other species. “Becoming desensitised to animal cruelty is dangerous because it leads to exploitation,” Krajnc says. After acquiring her PhD in politics, she became an assistant professor at Queen’s University where she integrated animal rights into her courses.
But it was after encountering that truck of pigs in her neighbourhood that Krajnc's activism gained momentum. To bring their plight to the public eye, Krajnc founded Toronto Pig Save. Along with other like-minded activists, she began organising vigils for the creatures while also providing them with water and emotional support. “Our idea was that everyone has a duty to bear witness and to do so regularly until the injustice is stopped,” she says.
In 2015, Krajnc’s efforts made headlines when she was arrested for halting a truck and giving water to the pigs on board. While the charges were later dismissed, her case gained global support. As a result, Toronto Pig Save evolved into the worldwide Animal Save Movement, with more than 900 animal groups in six different continents working to create awareness around animal cruelty.
Today, the organisation hosts vigils outside slaughterhouses three times a week, some 24 hours long, to show their commitment to these creatures and their quality of life. Drawing attention to the unethical practices of the meat industry, Krajnc aims to stop the mass production of animals. “The right thing to do whenever there is an injustice in your community is to try to help,” she says. “We need to feel that pain in order to change the world.” Spurring people to acknowledge the struggles that often go unseen, Krajnc is building a society that respects and cares for animals as much as they do each other.
Footage by Toronto Pig Save and We Animals Media was used in the creation of this film.
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