{"id":771476,"date":"2023-02-02T08:13:21","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T13:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=771476"},"modified":"2023-02-02T08:36:47","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T13:36:47","slug":"until-the-last-pig-arrives-infamous-farmer-john-slaughterhouse-closing-in-february-amid-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=771476","title":{"rendered":"‘Save the Last Pig’: Smithfield’s Farmer John slaughterhouse set to close in February amid animal rights protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Dozens of animal rights activists were arrested in 2020 for entering the plant and attempting to shut down its operations by chaining themselves to slaughter machinery.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

CITY NEWS SERVICE:<\/strong> The Farmer John slaughterhouse in Vernon is slated to close for good in a matter of days, leaving about 2,000 workers with uncertain futures \u2014 but animal rights activists on Wednesday, Feb. 1, are saying good riddance to a facility they say tortures and kills thousands of animals every day. Smithfield, in June 2022, announced plans to close its slaughterhouse, citing the rising costs of doing business in California…<\/em><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, animal rights activists are holding the last in a series of regular vigils outside the plant to call attention to the plight of the thousands of pigs trucked there every day. Vigils have been held each day this week at 3049 E. Vernon Ave., with the final one planned as an all-night event from 7 p.m. Thursday until 7 a.m. Friday, \u201cor until the last pig arrives,\u201d according to organizers.<\/em><\/p>\n

The vigils have taken place for years, organized by L.A. Animal Save and the Animal Alliance Network, with a small number of activists holding candles and providing water to animals crammed tightly into the back of trucks on their way into the plant.<\/em><\/p>\n

Actor Greg Cipes, who voices the character Beast Boy in the TV series \u201cTeen Titans,\u201d and \u201cTeen Titans Go!\u201d, was expected to attend Wednesday night\u2019s vigil, according to Ellen Dent of the Animal Alliance Network. Actress Kate Mara and musician Moby attended Tuesday night\u2019s vigil.<\/em><\/p>\n

Actor Joaquin Phoenix, a vegan and animal rights activist, has also been a frequent participant, and even attended a vigil the night he won a Screen Actors Guild award for best actor in 2020 for 2019\u2019s \u201cJoker.\u201d \u201cThe closure of the Farmer John slaughterhouse is only the end of a chapter in a book that is still being written, a book in which we continue to advocate for the liberation of all animals who suffer in these oppressive systems,\u201d Phoenix said in a statement this week…<\/em><\/p>\n

Animal rights groups say baby pigs are raised in cramped conditions until they are loaded onto trucks bound for the slaughterhouse. \u201cThey are packed into trucks with over a hundred of them piled together, often without room to move freely,\u201d according to the Animal Alliance Network\u2019s website. \u201cThese pigs are usually raised in warehouses without windows and the first time they see the light is when they are loaded onto these trucks.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

More extreme activists with the group Direct Action Everywhere have occasionally entered the plant or attempted to shut down its operations in recent years. Dozens of DXE activists were arrested in 2020, with some chaining themselves to slaughter machinery.<\/em><\/p>\n

More recently, DXE posted video last month shot by activist Raven Deerbrook, who claims she sneaked into the slaughterhouse with a fake uniform and badge to capture the plant\u2019s \u201cstunning\u201d procedures, in which pigs are lowered into a chamber filled with carbon dioxide before they\u2019re placed onto a conveyor belt to be hung up and butchered. Deerbrook says she witnessed pigs suffering extreme pain and terror and screaming in anguish for nearly a minute before appearing to lose consciousness…<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI am thankful to L.A. Animal Save and everyone in this community who has shown these animals the only kindness and respect they have ever known,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou have taken the pain of bearing witness, and turned it into effective, peaceful, diplomatic advocacy for animals. Although it saddens me that I can\u2019t be there at this time, it\u2019s been my privilege to stand alongside these activists, and it\u2019s our duty to continue this fight”…<\/em><\/p>\n

The activists behind this week\u2019s vigils were hoping to rescue at least one pig from the plant, and started a \u201cSave The Last Pig\u201d campaign on social media. \u201cWe have made arrangements for a local sanctuary that is happy and able to provide a forever home to a pig (or two!). Immediate transportation from the Farmer John slaughterhouse to the sanctuary is also in place,\u201d they wrote. \u201cAll we need is for Smithfield to say YES!\u201d However, company officials told CNS on Wednesday that they would not be accommodating that request. <\/em>SOURCE…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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