Caring for animals is something that should be a knee-jerk reaction, especially if you see an animal in distress, but sometimes society makes it difficult for people to do this. A Canadian woman called Anita Krajnc has got herself into trouble by trying to help pigs that were on their way to slaughter.

• Helping Animals Who Suffer 

What happened was that she saw pigs that were being transported on a hot day and gave them water to drink because they looked thirsty. Since the incident, she is facing up to 10 years in prison with a charge of criminal mischief laid against her by the pigs’ owner who called police to report what happened. Perhaps what instigated the charge is that there’s video evidence of what happened, with the woman getting into an argument with the driver. After she told him that the pigs should be given water, he swore at her and said the pigs are not humans. In fact, he threatened her with violence.

• Saving the Pigs 

There’s a twist to the story: Anita is co-founder of an organization called Toronto Pig Save that tries to show respect for animals on their way to slaughterhouses. As stated on their website, their mission is to encourage people to bear witness to the suffering of animals on their way to slaughterhouses and to go vegan. Activists from the organization regularly try to give pigs on their way to slaughterhouses water and sometimes police are present during these situations where there is no violence or chaos - just compassion. What’s really interesting about this story is that all Anita did was try to ease the pigs’ thirst. She didn’t try to free them or save them. Do we live in such a society that even mere kindness to animals is rejected? Since the incident, people have been signing online petitions to defend Anita and have her charges dropped. One of these is Compassion Isn’t a Crime that has already gained thousands of signatures.

*Image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons