Disgraced animal activist Chris Delforce is being endorsed as a senate candidate by the Animal Justice Party. He launched the Aussie Farms website which defamed many farmers (including freerange egg producers) and published their contact details. The site included an interactive map which purported to show factory farms, slaughterhouses and other 'animal exploitation' facilities across Australia.
Even fellow activist vegetarians and vegans are appalled by the extreme antics of Chris Delforce.
An article by ‘Vegan Police’ paints a poor picture of the man. It says:
“Whilst Mr Delforce is gleefully enjoying his 15 minutes of fame thanks to an eager media, it appears that he is paying very little attention to the damage that his comments and websites are doing to ‘the movement’.
Unfortunately, the more that Mr Delforce and his Aussie Farms website(s) appear in agricultural media, the more that animal advocates are being demonised, and the harder things will become in the future.
Mr Delforce is another one of a growing number of people who have labelled themselves as ‘Animal Rights Activists’, andhave paid very little thought to what that actually means. Maybe ‘animal rights’ is the new black.
In a deleted facebook discussion the question was asked on the Aussie Farms fan page how they envisioned these ‘rights’ being granted. Would it be through the granting of a type of personhood or via legislated rights, and would it apply to all animals, or only those used for food?
Their response was we’re more interested in achieving a paradigm shift (as discussed in the interview) in the way animals are viewed, so that people view them not as stock or property, but as living, sentient animals who have a desire and a right to not be abused, exploited or killed. Laws prohibiting the killing of animals can only come as a result of this.
This appears to be contradictory to the footage and images that are on the Aussie Farms website. All I have been able to find are images and footage of other animals as they are used in the animal agricultural system. There are no scientific reports of the sentience of other animals, evidence of their desire to live or anything for that matter that would lead the viewer/reader to believe that they are anything else than property.
If it is Mr Delforce and Aussie Farms’ true intent to ‘convert’ people to veganism, they appear to have gone about it the wrong way.
Gruesome footage doesn’t get people to change their minds or create a paradigm shift. If it did, then the government wouldn’t have resorted to plain paper packaging for cigarettes after the ‘shocking’ photos, and we would be seeing ‘shocking’ images on TV in an attempt to improve the road toll.
If Aussie Farms has the network of supporters that Mr Delforce claims, then I am sure there would have been at least one person who would have been able to do some research into alternative uses for farm land.
We need to be mindful that as it is ‘us’ who are instigating the change, ‘we’ need to be able to present alternatives. Not stomping our feet on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.
Maybe they could contactHarold Brown at Farm Kind and have a chat to him before they talk to the media again.
Honestly, I am surprised that no one advised Mr Delforce to have his answers prepared BEFORE the media contacted him.”Vegan Police
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