IRELAND'S leading farmer has revealed how he has been the subject of vicious online abuse from vegan activists.
Dairy farmer Peter Hynes from Aherla, Co. Cork, has garnered quite the online following since winning the Zurich/Farming Independent 2017 Farmer of the Year last May.
The growth in online attention since the win has not been all positive, however, as with it has come a spate of online abuse from vegan activists.
In recent days, both himself and his wife Paula have been called rapists for using Artificial Insemination on their farm.
Peter spoke to Independent.ie about the nature of the harassment: “I’ve been accused of being a rapist and a Nazi and stabbing animals in the neck,” he said.
“I was told we should take our children to a slaughterhouse to show them their pet calves being slaughtered and stabbed in the neck.”
Both Peter and Paula have used social media to showcase their working farm, including a live video on Twitter of a cow having a calf.
However, the negative online reaction has forced him to block hundreds of abusive posts.
“As farmers, we have great respect for our animals and our children live on a working dairy farm. We post pictures of the children enjoying life with the animals on the farm,” he continued.
“But, the abuse that I’ve got since last May from the vegan activists has been quite frightening.
“We artificially inseminate the herd, it's the most efficient way to get a cow in the calf and its a lot kinder on the cow. I'm being called a rapist because of that. I find it disgusting. Rape is a crime that is punishable and unfortunately, an awful lot of women have suffered and it's not right that that term is used."
It's amazing @Bovidiva but all these activists are back tracking fast & telling me later it's not a dig at me personally once I've quoted there tweet comments too media @OpinionLine96 . I won't be bullied anymore by activists. I'm proud too be a dairy farmer
— Peter Hynes 🐄🥛🇮🇪 (@Peterhynes15) February 5, 2018
Vegan activist Sandra Higgins, who spearheaded the Go Vegan billboard campaign, told Cork 96fm that she wanted to give the public facts about the use of animals as meat and that there is an alternative.
"He's presenting himself a victim of animal rights campaigners, but the victims are animals - we don't need to kill any of them, we don't need to use them.
When asked if it was fair that he was called a rapist, she said told Cork 96fm that "people become extremely irate at what we do to animals...I don't call farmers rapists. Animal rights activists object to other animals being used."
The process of AI is unacceptable to animal rights activists, she said and said that the question of whether it is fair to call Peter a rapist for using AI on his farm was "irrelevant".
"A 100pc plant-based diet is far more environmentally friendly and economically better - we need farmers, we respect farmers, but not to farm other animals."
She eventually admitted that; "I don't think it's helpful to call you (Peter) a rapist or a Nazi", but said that all slaughter is violent and unjust and that she too is subjected to online abuse.
