Canada judge says Toronto activist Anita Krajnc did not interfere ‘with the lawful use’ of property in case that rallied animal rights activists 
 
 A judge in Canada has dismissed a case against a Toronto activist who gave water to pigs heading to the slaughter on a hot day, bringing an end to a two-year case that had become a rallying point for animal rights campaigners around the world. 
 
 Anita Krajnc, 49, initially faced up to 10 years in prison after she dribbled water through the metal slats of a tractor-trailer carrying the pigs in 2015. She continued to do so even after the driver ordered her to stop, leading the owner of the pigs to file police complaint. 
 
 I'm on trial for giving water to thirsty pigs. If they were dogs, I would be a hero | Anita Krajnc Read more 
 
 Krajnc – the founder of a group called Toronto Pig Save, whose mission is to “bear witness of suffering of animals in transport and at slaughterhouses” – pleaded not guilty to a charge of mischief, but asserted she had done nothing wrong in helping animals she believed were suffering. 
 
 The crown countered that the pigs were the private property of the farmer and raised the possibility that Krajnc could have given the pigs something other than water. 
 
 Months after the charge was laid, the crown said it would proceed by summary conviction, meaning Krajnc faced a maximum sentence of six months in jail or a C$5,000 fine (about US$3,600), or both. 
 
 On Thursday, Justice David Harris said his decision had been based on the idea of property. “By law in Canada, pigs are not persons. They are property,” he said. “Did Ms Krajnc obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of the property? My simple answer to this question is: no. She did not.” 
 
 The pigs, he noted, had managed to make it to their final destination, despite Krajnc’s actions. “Protesters had given water to pigs before. The driver was aware of this. The slaughterhouse was aware of this. Despite this, the slaughterhouse had never refused to accept a load of pigs for that reason,” he said. 
 
 As he dismissed the charge, a loud applause erupted among the many activists who had crowded into the Toronto-area courtroom to hear the verdict. 
 
 The case – described as a “landmark” by Peta – attracted media attention around the world as it pitted property rights against animal welfare. 
 
 During the six days of court testimony, Krajnc’s lawyers drew comparisons between her actions and those of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. They seized on the trial to offer a window into the meat industry, calling on witnesses who described its impact on environmental sustainability and animal welfare. 
 
 On Thursday, organisations representing farms in Ontario expressed their disappointment with the decision, highlighting concerns that it would embolden animal rights activists and spark further confrontations between the two groups. “Actions by Krajnc and activists like her should not be condoned by the courts as they threaten acceptable and legal farming practices and are a threat to food safety,” said Bruce Kelly of Farm and Food Care Ontario in a statement. 
 
 Krajnc said she and her supporters would mark the decision with a vegan lunch at the courthouse before heading to a nearby slaughterhouse to hold an afternoon vigil. 
 
 “I’m relieved that the judge recognises that compassion is not a crime, that compassion should never be illegal,” she told the Guardian. “But he did say that pigs under Canadian law are considered property, not persons. So I think we have a lot of work to do still.” ||||| But the judge rejected a defence argument that Krajnc should be cleared because she was acting in the greater good, and suggested she may have been motivated in part by the prospect of drawing attention to her cause. 
 
 Despite the Crown’s argument that Krajnc gave the pigs an “unknown substance,” potentially contaminating the food supply, there was no evidence she gave them anything but water or that the slaughterhouse was concerned about such a risk, Harris said. 
 
 Court heard that on June 22, 2015, Krajnc was dumping liquid from a water bottle into a truck carrying pigs in Burlington, Ont., as the vehicle approached a slaughterhouse. 
 
 Anita Krajnc also did not intend to hurt the pigs or mean to cause the slaughterhouse to reject them, Justice David Harris told a Milton, Ont., courtroom packed with animal activists. 
 
 MILTON, ONT.—A Toronto woman who gave water to pigs on a truck headed to an abattoir didn’t break the law since she didn’t harm the animals or prevent them from being slaughtered, an Ontario judge ruled Thursday as he found the activist not guilty of a mischief charge. 
 
 “This may be the most ironic aspect of this case,” Harris said. “The fact that Ms. Krajnc gave water to a pig received little attention initially.” 
 
 Pig owner testifies at trial of animal activist, says he was concerned about safety 
 
 Woman who gave water to pigs ‘just following the golden rule’ 
 
 “Conversely, the act of prosecuting Ms. Krajnc has probably led to enough bad publicity for the pork industry that it might be said that the prosecution actually accomplished what they accused Ms. Krajnc of trying to do.” 
 
 Cheers erupted in the courtroom as Krajnc, an activist with the group Toronto Pig Save, was acquitted on the charge of mischief laid in connection with the incident. She had pleaded not guilty, although she admitted to giving the pigs water. 
 
 Outside court, Krajnc acknowledged that the case has bolstered her cause and said she hoped it would encourage others to stand up for animal rights. 
 
 “This is how social movements get their word out, we go outside our comfort zone and we do what’s right,” she said. 
 
 James Silver, one of Krajnc’s lawyers, said the court ruling “acknowledges that compassion is not a crime,” which he deemed an important victory. 
 
 Her other lawyer, Gary Grill, nonetheless expressed some disappointment that the judge “missed the greater arguments . . . about Anita acting in the public good.” 
 
 “Should the matter arise again, we’ll be ready to make that argument all over,” he said. 
 
 A spokesman for a group representing farmers said he recognized Krajnc was trying to do the right thing but said the ruling was a letdown. 
 
 Pat Jilesen, director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said that for farmers, it was a matter of protecting food safety. 
 
 Krajnc’s behaviour, no matter how well-intentioned, “puts not only the animals at risk, it puts people at risk,” he said. 
 
 The Crown had argued that the pigs were the property of a farmer, and Krajnc was interfering with his property. 
 
 In his decision, Harris said the activist had not interfered with anyone’s property. 
 
 But he took issue with the defence equating Krajnc giving water to pigs with people giving water to Jews transported on cattle trains during the Holocaust, calling the comparison “offensive.” 
 
 He also rejected comparisons to historic rights activists such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Susan B. Anthony. 
 
 Harris said that while it is legal for activists such as Krajnc to tout a meat-free lifestyle and put pressure on governments to change the law, “they must however do this within the confines of the law that currently exists.” 
 
 Krajnc had testified that she was treating the pigs as she would want to be treated. 
 
 The pigs’ owner, farmer Eric Van Boekel, testified that he complained to police because he was worried there were contaminants in the water, and that could lead the slaughterhouse to turn his hogs away. ||||| An Ontario Court judge has found animal activist Anita Krajnc not guilty of mischief for giving water to pigs outside a slaughterhouse. 
 
 A lot of taxpayer money was wasted on this case. - Gary Grill, Anita Krajnc's lawyer 
 
 Judge David Harris dismissed a charge Thursday against Krajnc, the 49-year-old founder of Toronto Pig Save. Krajnc was charged after she poured water into the openings of a metal trailer outside Fearman's Pork Inc. in Burlington, Ont., in June 2015. 
 
 The trial began last year and included five days of testimony. If convicted, Krajnc could have been fined and sent to jail for six months. 
 
 It was clear Krajnc was giving the pigs water, Harris said, and not an "unknown liquid" as police initially alleged. And the pigs were slaughtered anyway, which means she didn't obstruct their "lawful use." 
 
 Harris rejected the assertion by Krajnc's vegan lawyers, James Silver and Gary Grill, that pigs are persons and not property. He also had stern words for the lawyers comparing Krajnc to Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Susan B. Anthony, a comparison that seemed designed to generate headlines for her cause and "look good in the social media posts." 
 
 Compassion is not a crime. - James Silver, defence lawyer 
 
 He was also annoyed that Krajnc's lawyers compared her giving water to pigs to Hungarians giving water to Jews headed to concentration camps. 
 
 "I found the comparison to be offensive," Harris said, "and I will be attaching no weight to it in my decision." 
 
 Krajnc didn't ask to be charged, Silver said outside the Milton, Ont., courthouse afterward. But since she was, she had the right to present her argument. 
 
 "The Crown decided that this was a case that they wished to pursue," he said. "At the very outset, the Crown always had the opportunity to stop the process. In fact, it took weeks before Anita was charged in the very first place. They never had to start the process." 
 
 "A lot of taxpayer money was wasted on this case," Grill said. 
 
 Overall, Silver called the dismissal a victory. Harris's decision shows "compassion is not a crime," he said. 
 
 Farm groups, meanwhile, called it a "disappointing day." They maintain that Krajnc was messing with the food supply. 
 
 Anita Krajnc, centre, with lawyers James Silver and Gary Grill are flanked by media and animal activists in March. (Samantha Craggs/CBC) 
 
 "What was at stake was our family farms and producing safe quality food," said Clarence Nywening, president of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. "This puts a big jeopardy on our livelihood now." 
 
 This puts a big jeopardy on our livelihood now. - Clarence Nywening, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario 
 
 Bruce Kelly, program manager with Farm and Food Care Ontario, didn't see it as a precedent. "This was one day and one court and one incident on one sidewalk in Burlington." 
 
 ​Krajnc's case has attracted intense international interest. It has inspired 150 other Pig Save groups, and celebrities such as Maggie Q and Moby have lent support. Mckenna Grace, the 10-year-old star of the movie Gifted, attended Thursday. 
 
 This isn't the end of Krajnc's legal woes. She's charged with obstructing police after a truck rollover near Fearman's in October. 
 
 Her next appearance on that charge is May 17 in Milton court. 
 
 samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC
– Originally facing 10 years in prison for giving water to pigs on their way to a slaughterhouse, a Canadian animal rights activist is a free woman after a judge dismissed the mischief charge against her Thursday, the Guardian reports. According to CBC, the pigs were in a truck headed for an Ontario slaughterhouse in 2015 when 49-year-old Anita Krajnc gave them water, ignoring the truck driver's orders to stop. She was accused of tampering with private property and giving the pigs an "unknown substance," the Canadian Press reports. The farmer who owned the pigs says he was worried Krajnc had contaminated them in some way. Judge David Harris ruled Krajnc only gave the pigs water, and since the pigs were still accepted by the slaughterhouse, Krajnc didn't "obstruct, interrupt, or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment, or operation of the property." By the time the charge was dismissed, Krajnc was only facing a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $3,600 fine. Krajnc's lawyers say she was acting in the public good and compared her actions to those of Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. Following her victory in court, Krajnc said she and her fellow activists still have "a lot of work to do" because while the judge ruled in her favor, he also ruled that pigs were property and not persons.