ANIMAL rights activists wearing Guy Fawkes masks staged a disturbing protest in a city centre.
The mask-wearing group appeared to upset some children and parents shielded them from the protest.
Activists from the Anonymous For The Voiceless (AV) animal rights organisation formed what they called the “Cube of Truth”, in Norwich City Centre to protest against alleged animal cruelty in farming.
But many were dressed in black and the Guy Fawkes masks gave the protest an ugly anarchic edge.
They showed shoppers a video of alleged cruelty but many people were annoyed by their presence and objected to the upsetting video being shown in front of children.
One shopper said: “It was a nice sunny afternoon and families don’t need to be subjected to this.
“Any sympathy these people may have they lose by these type of tactics.
“Hire a church hall and have a meeting but don’t disrupt families trying to have a nice day out. it’s not on.”
The chief executive of the National Farmers Federation, Tony Mahar, defended the farming industry against the claims.
He said: “Farmers care for their animals and are themselves the strong advocates of good animal health and welfare. Not complying with animal welfare requirements is unacceptable.”
In his response the AV spokesperson, Paul Bashir, said: “We’re only showing the realities of meat, dairy and egg production even in free range, organic and RSPCA approved situations.
“A lot of products have the humane stamp on them, but people don’t realise these labels are not designed to make the animal feel better, they’re to make humans feel better about buying them.”
