Activists protest against the slaughter of animals
“Mass murder”: Activists raise awareness about animal slaughter at Easter in Strasbourg.
Activists from 269 Life France staged a striking protest in Strasbourg, simulating a macabre Easter meal.
They denounce the mass slaughter of lambs for this religious holiday.
“No to the bloody meal in the name of religions.” Around 20 activists from the organisation 269 Life France staged a “French Easter meal” on Saturday in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) to denounce the “mass killing” of lambs for this holiday.
One must be aware that the number of lambs slaughtered in France for this archaic festival alone will double. Our message is clear and simple. No religion, no tradition can serve to justify the mass murder of beings who want to live, said Jesper Ek, local representative of the organisation 269 Life France, which is dedicated to ‘respecting the fundamental interests of all animals’.
The staging is intended to shock: in the middle of the Place Kléber in Strasbourg, two people can be seen eating at a table stained with fake blood, with the same fake blood splattering onto the guests. A fake pig’s head lay on a platter. A sign reads: “Slit open while conscious, skinned alive, suffocated, harpooned — some screams are silent.” In the background, sounds resembling the cries of animals in a slaughterhouse emanate from a loudspeaker.
“No, thou shalt not kill, no to the bloody meal in the name of religions, no to speciesism,” a voice shouts into the microphone. The idea behind the action on the Easter weekend was to use this particular context — “this majority religion in France — to also speak about other religions and the subsidies in the context of livestock farming,” said Jesper Ek.
“Everything that happens in slaughterhouses will always shock me, and it makes me want to share this action,” responded 37-year-old Pauline Ferreri, who has not eaten meat since 2016. “Seeing the images” of what happens in slaughterhouses made it clear to her that “it’s not worth it for me. You can eat differently and still be healthy.”
A observation shared by her sister Julia Ferreri. She too stopped eating meat after realizing she was “caught up in speciesism.” She also said that she cannot bear the sounds she hears on the Place Kléber, which mimic the screaming of animals in the slaughterhouse.
