英王室農場から子ヒツジ「救出」　動物愛護団体

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英動物愛護団体アニマル・ライジングは２５日、イングランド東部サンドリンガムにあるチャールズ国王の別邸の農場から、子ヒツジ３匹を「救出」したと発表した。（写真は資料写真）
　女性メンバー３人が２４日夜、別邸の敷地内にあるアップルトン農場に侵入し、小ヒツジを連れ去ったという。
　同団体はソーシャルメディアに動画を投稿し、「救出」しなければ、子ヒツジは食肉処理されていただろうと主張した。
　３人はロンドン西方のウィンザー城前で、「私は国王のヒツジを助けた」などと書かれたプラカードを手に写真撮影をした後、警察に出頭した。
　アニマル・ライジングは「彼女たちは動物を危険から救うのは正しいと考え、行動を起こした」と投稿。「（動物への）哀れみに基づいた行動であり、一般の人々は動物愛護と（動物の）自由を支持してくれると信じている」「これは私たちと動物の壊れた関係を修復する方法だ」とツイッターに投稿した。
　警察は「２０～３０代の女３人が自主的に警察署に出頭し、窃盗の疑いで逮捕された」としている。３人は勾留中だという。
　アニマル・ライジングは先月にも、英国で行われた競馬の世界最高峰の障害レース、グランドナショナルでコースに侵入し、発走を妨害した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/05/26-17:09）

Animal rights campaigners said on Thursday they had rescued three lambs from slaughter on a farm on King Charles III's Sandringham estate in eastern England.
The Animal Rising activist group, which disrupted last month's Grand National steeplechase, said three of its members had entered the grounds of Appleton Farm on the royal estate late Wednesday and taken the lambs.
It posted footage on social media, arguing that the animals would have been sent for slaughter.
Three women -- named as Rosa, Rose and Sarah -- then turned themselves into police in Windsor, west of London, after posing for pictures outside the town's royal castle holding protest placards.
One read: I rescued the king's sheep.
They did this because rescuing animals from harm is the right thing to do, Animal Rising said on Twitter.
These women have acted out of compassion and they stand by the belief that a jury of ordinary people will take the side of care and freedom.
This is how we fix our broken relationship with animals.
Police said they were investigating reports that three lambs had been stolen from a farm.
Three women aged in their 20s and 30s voluntarily attended a police station... and were arrested on suspicion of theft, the force added. They remain in custody.
- Flower show targeted -
Also on Thursday, police in London arrested three activists from the environmental pressure group Just Stop Oil, after they threw paint over a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.
The capital's Metropolitan Police said the trio were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and that its enquiries are ongoing.
The force released a picture showing orange paint splashed across an exhibit at the flower show, the highlight of the British horticultural year which opened to the public on Tuesday.
Just Stop Oil confirmed three women had thrown paint over a garden designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes, an award-winning plantsman, early on Thursday.
The group, which demands that the UK government stop all new fossil fuel projects, has staged a flurry of eye-catching direct-action protests in recent years.
They include throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting and halting play at the World Snooker Championship after spraying orange powder on one of the tables.