Marche pour la fermeture des abattoirs from Sylvia Aubertin on Vimeo.
Paris: On Saturday, June 2nd organizers from multiple animal organizations staged a large scale demonstration at the symbolic location of the old slaughterhouses of Vaugirard in the 15th Arrondissment, where Georges Franju partly shot the movie Animal’s blood in 1949: “The first time I went there, I came back home, cried for two days, hid away all the knives, I just wanted to die,” said Franju, recounting his first experience witnessing institutionalized slaughter.
The following is translated (loosely from French into English, courtesy of the organizers): Most people, like Georges Franju, are shocked by the slaughter of animals where we witness firsthand the suffering, the distress, the hopelessness, and the terrible fright of sentient beings. We know that we would have the exact same feelings if we were in these circumstances. We know there is no ethical justification for killing an animal that has an interest in living and avoiding suffering. Slaughterhouses are a major moral question for our society and confront us with our contradictions and our cowardice.
As many famous personalities before them, the protesters will demand the end of the killing of animals for the sake of producing food, and pay their respects to the billions of animals put down in slaughterhouses or fisheries, the countless victims of our eating and cultural habits, our dietary beliefs, and the power of lobbyists.
A commemorative stone will be placed upon one of the statues at the entrance of the old slaughterhouses. Then, the protesters will march to the square Joachim du Bellay where the 3rd edition of the Vegfest, a public debate society, will put forward credible alternatives to the “products” of the slaughterhouses.
