The video above shows some vegan activists in Israel branding themselves with the number 269 to draw attention to the plight of all the animals that get brutally chopped up in abattoirs so that you can enjoy gorging on their flesh, you heartless bastard. I guess it's pretty alienating—making vegans seem about as chill as an al Qaeda militant at a gay wedding—but it's certainly got enough shock factor to grab attention and make a point about the way we treat our stupider, tastier counterparts.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Nameless vegan activist: I think the fact it's extreme is a reaction to the fact that what goes on is so extreme, whether it be 100,000 dairy calves that are shot at birth because they're male, or the same number being sent on long journeys abroad for use in the veal industry. What goes on for animals is extreme, and the reaction has to be similarly extreme in order to get our point across.
Advertisement
The branding is designed to grab attention. The media are seeing it as quite an extreme act, but it doesn't compare in any way to the cruelty that goes on in these places to animals every day. The fact that we're willing to permanently mark our arms has got a lot of media attention for our cause.Well, I guess it's working. You mentioned earlier that one of your group was arrested?
Earlier someone had possession of the branding iron, allegedly. Apparently, that is classified as an offensive weapon. Because footage of the branding was put on the internet, the police have obviously gone looking for it and found it. Thus, they were arrested for possession of an offensive weapon. Prior to that, we've had police going around many activists' houses; I've had two visits myself. They delivered a letter saying that what we were doing was illegal and should not be allowed to go ahead. On the second occasion, they suggested that if someone died because of the branding it would be considered manslaughter, which I thought was hilarious! No one's going to die! They really didn't want this to go ahead.-Don't get me wrong, I'm totally down with animal rights, not to mention the right to free speech and protest, but unfortunately, this was something of a police-spoiled anticlimax. I guess I'll have to find out what burning humans smell like some other time.More animal rights on VICE:Beasts of BurdenMy Family's War with Animal ActivistsAn Ex-Bullfighter