BURLINGTON, Ont. — The trial for an Ontario animal rights activist begins Wednesday as she fights a mischief charge after giving water to pigs on their way to a slaughterhouse last summer.
Anita Krajnc was charged after the pigs' owner filed a complaint with police shortly after the incident that occurred in June 2015 in Burlington, Ont.
Krajnc, who has since given more water to pigs, says she didn't do anything wrong when she poured water in a pig's mouth through open slats in the truck.
The pigs were from Van Boekel Hog Farms and were being transported to Fearman's Pork slaughterhouse.
In an interview with The Canadian Press last year, the farm's owner, Eric Van Boekel, said he didn't have a problem with Krajnc protesting, he just didn't want her to touch his "stuff."
As Krajnc and a friend waited for the pigs on a roadway median, the truck pulled up hauling the animals from Van Boekel Hog Farms to Fearman's Pork slaughterhouse.
Part of the confrontation was captured on video.
The truck's driver, identified as Jeffrey Veldjesgraaf in court documents, got out of the truck and began arguing with the two women.
"Have some compassion, have some compassion!" Krajnc yells in the video to the truck driver.
"Let's call the cops," the driver says, holding his phone.
"Call Jesus," Krajnc says as she continues to allow the pigs to drink the water.
"Yeah, no. What do you got in that water?" he asks.
"Water," Krajnc says.
"No, no, how do I know?" he says.
"Trust me," she says.
"Don't put it in there again," he says.
"If this pig is thirsty, they'll have water," she says.
"You do it again and I'll slap it out of your hands," he says.
"Go ahead, if you want an assault charge, go ahead! Film this, film this, film this!" Krajnc yells.
The driver then gets back in the truck and drives away.
Van Boekel vowed he "will go to the full extent of the law to stop them" and said his animals are well cared for.
