Nothing is sadder than the untimely loss of human life, especially when that loss is completely avoidable and due entirely to folly. This depicts the death of animal rights activist Regan Russell of Toronto Pig Save.
Please don’t for a minute think I believe Ms. Russell was anything but a lovely and compassionate person; but we all have to take a long and sober look at the fallout created from her fatal miscalculation.
Probably the most disturbing outcome of this tragic accident is the witch hunt for the living victim, her presumed MURDERER: the truck driver who was simply doing his job and trying to feed his family. On that terrible day, a woman who most likely deliberately disobeyed the recent passing of Bill 156–which strictly forbids the interference with live animal transport resulting in fines up to $25,000–altered his and his family’s life forever.
According to third-party eye-witness accounts, Ms. Russell was standing right in front of the truck just as many activists have done, right where the truck driver could not see her. This was while the truck was stopped for several minutes prior to making the turn to the slaughter plant. When the truck was given the go-ahead to move forward, it was with the truck driver fully unaware that Ms. Russell (or anybody else for that matter) was still standing in front of the grill. Sadly, Ms. Russell could not move away fast enough to save her own life. She died of her injuries soon after emergency personnel came on scene. The disturbing part of this incident is this: the animal activist groups have since determinedly marred such events to make it sound like the truck driver purposely mowed her down with no regard for her life, making it sound like Ms. Russell was the victim and the truck driver the perpetrator. Eye-witness accounts and video footage call into question these unfounded allegations and accusations and highlight the intent of these extremist groups to turn this poor woman into a martyr for animal rights extremism.
Animal rights extremist groups have gone so far as to offer rewards for information on this man, his life and his whereabouts. I have never seen more vile infringements on personal privacy and liberty in my life. We have international online social justice warriors and liberators of all animals acting as judge, jury, and executioner of an innocent man who is trying to do an honest day’s work for a legal company. Here are some examples.
Not only are these “compassionate” impassioned souls calling for the complete destruction of this truck driver’s life but they are also calling for the ruination of all meat-eaters’ lives and livelihoods through whatever means possible; be it slander, violence, theft, or property destruction. Usually some egregious combination of all of the aforementioned. The vandalism and theft started on cue with barely contained glee for this or any tragedy that fit the bill to launch their true criminal pursuits. “For the animals” of course.
At the top of my list of contemptible Villains in this unfortunate story has to be the Joker himself, Joaquin Phoenix, multi-millionaire celebrity, who swoops in to attend Canada’s Ms. Russell’s Los Angeles vigil without a word of caution to possible future victims of fatal folly via similar fats. Nor does he offer a single benevolent word to the truck driver and his family, whom you would have to be a literal court jester to not acknowledge the unimaginable confusion and pain they must be experiencing. But then again, money and celebrity-status aside, Phoenix is, after all, first and foremost and by his own admission, a lifelong animal RIGHTS activist. I’d also be remiss to mention that he is a proud supporter of the well-known infamous domestic terrorist group ALF (Animal Liberation Front) as recognized by his government’s own Federal Bureau of Investigation.
So what is my, Lana Joe Salant’s purpose for this message today? Am I in support of the factory farming of animals? Maybe I just hate people who love animals? Could it be I secretly hate all animals and my end game is to see to their confinement and torture at all costs especially for the sole benefits of my taste buds, as I have been told hundreds of times over the years by these same compassionate Earth Angels?
Here is what I am saying and have repeatedly said for the past 8 years; an Ethical Omnivore Movement message which I have been bringing to as many people that will hear it on Social Media as possible: I first honour my fellow man and I do that by bringing them the knowledge of optimal omnivore health that should include animal products. Secondly, I honour my food animals by supporting farms that raise their animals with care through pasture-based life and reverent death. Finally, I honour our planetary home, the Earth, by supporting Regenerative Agriculture, both crop and animal, and those amazing food system heroes who practice it.
The headlines, Regan Russel’s partner and her supporters scream “My life ended Friday, Overturn Bill 156, End Animal Ag” The sad irony of all of this is, had Bill 156 not only been implemented but enforced, Regan Russel would have her life and her partner, now seeking restitution would also have his partner, but also a stiff fine to contend with.
There has never been a more poignant example for the need, and the stringent execution of, Ag-Gag laws and consequential punishments for breaking them. Should industrial organizations be left to their own devices without the strictest of scrutiny? ABSOLUTELY NOT! These CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) need MORE stringent animal welfare guidelines and far more eyes upon them. What they don’t need is volatile, bias, hysterical, untrained, biohazard, animal rights activist (ARA) trespassers infiltrating their LEGAL business operations by nefarious means; such as posing as employees, or paying foreign workers to deliberately abuse animals for the purpose of creating [edited] video footage “proof”. These dishonest people are committing fraud and come with a vigilante mindset. Why do we oppose vigilante justice in all other areas of life, yet somehow pass off the theft of livestock and poultry as “okay” if we rebrand it as “rescue“? Now having said all this, it’s imperative that the governments who have approved these Ag-Gag laws should also implement third-party, unbiased trained professionals to make sure the letter of the [hopefully ever-expanding for the animals’ benefit] law is upheld and, if not, the heavy hand of said law is executed with the fullest force of punishment dealt to those proven guilty.
This is a sad and unfortunate tale indeed. No-one won here folks, except for the animal rights cult of vegan extremism which cares nothing for animal welfare, nothing for the life of this truck driver and, to my eternal disgust, used this poor woman’s death as a victory badge of honour and reason a to party on her grave. And as usual… no animals were saved… none ever are. Shame on them.
10 Comments
It is the meat dairy and egg industries that have no respect for worker’s safety. Slaughterhouses are among the most dangerous places to work in the the US and Canada. I do not agree with animal rights campaigners advertising all over the internet that Regan Russell was murdered, without any proof. But I am with her and the animals.
If you had your facts straight and actually look at the pictures of her right before she was struck she WAS NOT in front of the grill as the trucker wants you to believe. She was 100 feet away in clear view over by the gates of the slaughter house..in clear view for the 5 minutes he sat in the left turning lane (for an illegal right hand turn into the slaughterhouse) 3 lanes over…in an attempt to make the other activists possibly get hit in traffic to come over to the truck. Regan was no where near the truck…you should include that photo in your article..she was the timer, holding her hand up for the 2 minutes and witnesses that were right there saw him go from a complete stop at red light to that wide turn, right as high speeds…100 feet has been measured and she was dragged for over 20 feet only to be stopped by security guards. His day in court is coming as this is not the first time the police have witnessed the aggressiveness of the drivers…just google Fearmans on Youtube and you will see police going right up into the truckers windows saying What the hell are you doing, are you trying to kill them? Please stop spreading lies…none of what is being said in this article is facts! Damn shame! This woman was holding up peace fingers before he gunned it straight at her….disgusting…he’s driving precious lives to Co2 chambers to have their throats slit, you think he cares about any life?! We all know by now that we don’t NEED to kill to thrive…every vegan including myself of 27 years on plants and in perfect health so if you still support murder, that is totally on you and not necessary at all.
Hello Stacey,
Thank you for your comment. The EOM-founder and author of this article would be very interested in getting in contact with you directly and interview you so that you can talk further about and view the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)- or the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police)-overlooked evidence of this incident. Since EOM is Canadian-based, and this tragedy happened on Canadian soil, it would be great to have some more insight on this beyond what was written here. She will contact you directly; what is the best way to contact you?
Murder is a very serious crime, and no one wants to overlook vital evidence and important first-hand accounts such as that which you have obviously been a party to. She would be very much looking forward to this discussion.
Thank you.
-Karin
I agree that the factory farming of livestock is horrid, but I don’t think that the local farming of livestock, or even hunting and fishing in moderation is. In fact, hunting and fishing in moderation have been known to prevent wildlife overpopulation, contribute to carbon sequestration, etc. Industrial veganic farming does more harm to animals and the environment than local livestock farming, or hunting and fishing in moderation does.
In fact, if we completely stopped slaughtering or using livestock animals for human food/clothing/accessories/cosmetics/etc. even in the most ethical way possible, then all of those animals will eventually go extinct. Look, I know there are a lot of vegans who say: “Hey, it’s better to let one entire generation of farmed animals go extinct, instead of continuing to raise them and treat them cruelly and inhumanely”, but the fact is, not all livestock animals are treated that way. In fact, locally farmed livestock in particular, have better lives – on average – than many wild prey animals (particularly those who have a lot of other natural predators besides humans) do. I also remember hearing somewhere that these days, it’s usually NOT the farmer himself/herself who slaughters or uses livestock animals for human purposes; that’s typically someone else’s job (which makes sense). Plus, a world without livestock also means a world without manure and pollination from those animals to be used as soil fertilizers too.
Also, in my opinion, it’s a bit ironic for someone to be an “extreme vegan protester” if he/she owns cats as pets. Cats are obligatory carnivores, hence they HAVE to eat meat to survive. Another fact: Even if someone WERE to live on an organic, local, vegan diet (which cannot feasibly feed anywhere near eight billion people in the world today), it is still not possible for any human being to survive without causing at least some direct and indirect harm to animals, one way or another.
On the other hand, just because you’re surviving healthily on a vegan diet, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re living the healthiest life PERIOD. With all other factors being held constant, it is healthier to be a very conscientious omnivore than it is to be a vegan. Even so, there are still quite a few people who cannot even SURVIVE on a vegan diet, no matter what – either because they a) suffer from a natural bodily deficiency of nutrients that appear much more frequently in animal products, b) suffer from severe allergies to certain plant products, or c) live in geographical regions with a lot more available fauna than flora. (Obviously, I’m referring to tribes like the Inuits for example, who often feed on wild grass-eating fauna in particular.)
Former EOM author Ben Hunt even documented these anecdotes of ex-vegans as well:
http://benhunt.com/stories-from-people-given-up-veganism/
^^^ The “84% of Vegetarians and Vegans Go Back to Eating Meat” article from that Psychology Today website, is pretty famous too. Also, I personally agree with Hal Herzog’s conclusion at the end, which is that animal rights activists should be more focused on convincing us as a society to REDUCE our current consumption of animal products, instead of saying that we should all permanently stop eating them all together. And I’m a vegetarian myself.
The Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition and other related health organizations may claim that a vegan diet is optimal for everybody, but these are the very same health organizations that endorse processed foods being fed to children. Plus, doesn’t the A.N.D. receive funding from restaurants like McDonald’s and The Cheesecake Factory? For that reason, they’re hardly a reliable source of information, in my opinion. In fact, pretty much any health organization with the word “dietetics” in it, is known for being notoriously bogus and subjective, and responsible for causing many of their patients to get sick. Not to mention that the documentaries “What the Health” (which I’ve personally seen like three years ago) and “The Game Changers” were widely slammed for being full of scientific inaccuracies and misinformation too. (Ditto with “Cowspiracy”, which was made by the same people who filmed “What the Health”.)
Heme-iron is exclusively found in meat alone, carnitine and carnosine are exclusively found in animal products, and plant products are naturally deficient in Vitamins A, B-2, B-3, B-6, B-12 (this particular vitamin especially), D-3, and K-2; iron; iodine; calcium; zinc; dietary creatine; dietary taurine; dietary keratin; and the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. Plant protein is not as uncommonly found in plant products as a lot of people make it out to be, but it is still a lot more easily absorbed in the human body from animal products though. Heme-iron is also a lot more easily absorbed in the human body, compared to regular iron as well. Plus, heme-iron and animal protein function slightly differently, compared to regular iron and plant protein too (I think). Yes, high consumption of processed meat has been known to increase risk of colon cancer, and high consumption of seafood has been known to cause mercury poisoning. However, we also have to keep in mind that too much of pretty much ANYTHING is bad for you. Moreover, while dietary cholesterol doesn’t really have any upside, it still gets a worse reputation than it actually deserves – particularly if only consumed in moderation.
Animal products THEMSELVES are not the cause of most of the major pandemics that we’ve been having throughout these last few decades or so; the problem is just that people have not been taking the best safety precautions when getting too close to living diseased animals. Of course, it’s hard to be very safe (or even live in full mental stability) if you work at a factory farm anyway…but that’s why local livestock farming, as well as hunting and fishing in moderation – are a million miles away from factory livestock farming, in terms of animal welfare, the environment, and human employee safety.
Finally, the only reason why veg[etari]ans, on average, HAPPEN TO live a bit longer than everyone else does, is because they also tend to exercise more and do fewer drugs than most other people do too. Correlation is not causation. In fact, if it weren’t for our ancestral humans who ate meat a lot of the time to begin with, then they wouldn’t have evolved to have given us bigger brains and smaller guts, as it is. And no, humans are not physiological herbivores, as confirmed by the following article – which was ironically written by a vegan biologist:
https://veganbiologist.com/2016/01/04/humans-are-not-herbivores/#:~:text=%20Humans%20are%20not%20herbivores%20%201%20Definitions.,bit%20about%20cherry%20picking.%20The%20image…%20More%20
We have to be very careful who we call ‘murderers’ or ‘rapists’.
I know that this isn’t linked to this particular complicated article you have published, however, a friend of mine was just going about her business in a busy city centre in the UK. There was a group of vegan protesters – I think fairly young people (so we can’t be too judgemental about them), and one of them approached her, I can’t remember what the protester asked her, it might have been ‘are you are vegan’, or something similar, anyway, she said ‘no’. And she said the protester followed her up the street, calling her a ‘murderer’. And it was a busy street, heaving with shoppers.
The issue I have with that is – if your intention is for people to become vegan, than you are going to put them off by accusing people of murder. As a previous fundraiser myself, I know how difficult it is to get people on board, alter their opinions about current issues, and ask them to make a change to their life on the spot – doing this in a busy city centre and approaching people, who had no intention, of speaking to anyone, or getting their mind change on that particular day whilst shopping, or commuting in town.
However, fundraisers, (that I know of), have targets, and they need to get so many donations (monthly by direct debit) a day (usually minimum of 4 people of day to pay a minimum of £10 a month). And I found that, yes it is a tough job, but very possible, and often, (it all depends on the fundraiser and how you have communicated with people that day), you can easily get well over 4 people a day on board per day.
So, how many people have these protesters, who chase people up the street and call them ‘murderers’, how many people have they influenced to become vegan each day they protest (or at least, at the minimum consider becoming vegan). I don’t know the answer to that, but I assume not very many.
Note, I probably gave an unfair comparrison, as giving £10 or more a month to a charity, requires little effort, especially those who work full-time, don’t have huge outgoings, and would eitherwise use that £10 on two pints of beer or a just one glass of wine per month, whereas veganism, you would have to change your lifestyle, and think about everything you buy and eat the day you decide to do it. However, I felt it was important to raise the issue of the importance of communication, which involves talking to people in a very respectful way and becoming welcoming.
I have learnt, whilst fundraising, if you want people to get on board, it’s good to approach it by informing people that they can help the situation, that they can be part of the solution, rather than telling them that they are the problem. Shaming people, making people feel guilty about their present actions, just makes people feel offended, and they walk off.
So secondly, loosely calling people a murderer without even considering the negative effect that can have on someone is actually very inconsiderate, and considering vegans fight for the ‘fundamental right for all beings, nonhumans and humans, not to be exploited.;
Bullying people is abuse, abuse is a form of exploitation, even if it is verbal. So what gives a person, campaigning for the fundamental rights for all not to be exploited, the right to chase people down the street and call them a murderer.
Also, when there is a very complicated case where an actual death has occured, and the courts need evidence to determine exactly what happened, it is deeply irresponsible, and careless for others to comment, when they don’t know the full facts to quickly jump to the conclusion that, in this case, the driver is a ‘murderer.’, without any thought or consideration of how much damage that will cause him and his loved ones and his children, especially if it was an accident and the driver had no intention.
Haha Cautious, your comment here reminds me a bit of LouBricano’s second response to the following thread:
^^^ In general, he is right though. Yes, the typical non-vegan person DOES kill more animals and do more environmental damage, compared to the typical vegan person. However, even being a vegan is not completely animal cruelty-free nor environmental damage-free either. Also, as I’ve established in my earlier comment from this thread, there are still a few instances in which vegans ironically kill MORE animals and do MORE environmental damage than non-vegans do as well (even if this is relatively uncommon).
BTW, I do know that the OP of the thread I linked to, is written by Anupam Katkar – the very same guy who tried to convince everybody that 1) local livestock farming does MORE harm to animals and the environment compared to industrial veganic farming, 2) wild prey animals will NOT overpopulate if everybody in the entire world permanently stopped hunting and fishing, and 3) animal products are completely unnecessary and bad for our health, and the idea that they caused our ancestral humans to evolve to have bigger brains and smaller guts, is just a common misconception.
But then again, I actually found out that that Katkar guy works for the animal rights group Free From Harm, which has a vested interest in promoting veganism and is therefore not evidence-based. So honestly, I’m not even going to waste my time refuting his individual points.
What we SHOULD be doing is support groups like ASPCA – who are promoting the welfare of pets and local livestock, campaigning against the evils of the factory farming of livestock, and campaigning against over-hunting and over-fishing as well.
We have become so isolated even as we live in societies that we are unwilling to live and let live while continuing to change our ways for common good.
Sad.
Stay out of the way and you won’t get run over.
Simple, isn’t it?
You would think LOL
These people have no respect for workers having a safe workplace. Everyone deserves a safe workplace. This loss of life was predictable and preventable. No one should stand in front of a truck