Farmers have criticised alleged “threatening” behaviour from mask-clad animal rights activists who scaled the roof of a national beef expo in protest against the meat industry.
The stunt, which began in the early hours of Saturday, is said to have seen one demonstrator taken to hospital after chaos unfolded outside the event at Darlington Farmers Auction Mart (DFAM) in County Durham.
Photos showed activists from the Animal Justice Project (AJP) wearing masks as they stood on the roof of the building holding banners and spraying coloured smoke flares.
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The National Beef Association (NBA), which is organising the event, describes it as a celebration of the best of British beef, drawing in about 5,000 farmers annually. Animal justice activists have said their protest aims to highlight “farmed animal suffering and environmental safety concerns”, and that police are on the scene.
They claimed farmers had “assaulted” protesters with a JCB digger and that one activist had sustained a possible broken finger after being attacked on the roof.
Mark Dent, chair of DFAM, said the allegations were untrue and the protesters were the sources of “intimidation”. He told the PA news agency: “We respect people’s right to protest, but the way they go about it doesn’t help their cause.
“There is no respect for people’s property or livelihood. I’m afraid then you lose your moral high ground … It’s a tin roof and they’re jumping up and down on it, and it’s bending.
“They’ve got their faces covered. It’s intimidation (and) threatening behaviour. I’m all for people protesting what they believe in, but it’s the way they go about it – the face coverings, the intimidation.”
He added: “If you have a pair of eyes you will see how important agriculture is around the world at the moment. Food is top of the agenda.”
A spokesperson for the Animal Justice Project said: “Today we send a clear message to the agriculture industry, at a poignant site where hundreds of thousands of animals are bought and sold each year like commodities, that animals have rights and current farming practices infringe on these day in, day out within the dairy, meat and egg industries.
"A staggering 1.2 billion animals are killed in this country each year [8] and our investigations, along with many others, highlight the gross pain and suffering that these animals go through. Today is not a celebration of the 'Best of British', but a farming event that glorifies the exploitation and killing of animals - an industry that has yet to be held accountable. This is fundamentally wrong and unjust.”
“The urgency of this situation for animals is made even more grave bearing in mind that animal agriculture is the primary driver of climate change. Animal agriculture has no future and we are here to show that events such as today must not continue without being challenged. There is no future in animal agriculture. The future is vegan.”
They added that the protest had been “peaceful” and “silent” on the part of the activists and not all demonstrators were wearing masks.
Neil Shand, chief executive of the NBA, said: “Nobody has been hit by a tractor.” A spokesperson for the NBA claimed there was a “wonderful atmosphere” at the event and did not comment further on the protest.
Durham Police have been contacted for comment.
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