Cattle stolen from royal lands? In the Middle Ages, the penalty would probably have been severe for the three animal activists who stole lambs on Thursday from the Sandringham estate, owned by King Charles III in Norfolk. The activists belong to the Animal Rising association, which denounces the breeding of animals for food purposes. Images published Thursday on Twitter by the collective show the three women giving back "a life in freedom" to three lambs, according to the testimony of one of them, who claims to be in the Sandringham estate. "Otherwise they would have been taken to the slaughterhouse soon and people would have eaten them," the activist added. "I hope that our action will have an impact on the way we eat," says one of the three young women.
As a nation of animal lovers, how can we justify harming gentle babies? Actions like this are often laced with both joy and grief. We are celebrating newfound freedom while grieving for the hundreds of lives left behind.
Today, every attempt was made to rescue a mother sheep... pic.twitter.com/nrwPABNHWn
— Animal Rising (@AnimalRising) May 25, 2023
In a statement, Animal Rising said the "rescue" operation was carried out on Wednesday evening "around 20pm" (19 GMT), and that the three activists then surrendered to the police. Norfolk Police confirmed in a statement that three women had "voluntarily" surrendered to Slough Police Station, near Windsor, and were arrested "on suspicion of theft".
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The Sandringham estate, several thousand hectares of forests, crops and gardens, has belonged to the royal family for five generations and Charles III inherited it on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
A law to combat these actions
Civil disobedience by environmental activists has increased over the past year in the United Kingdom to the point that the Conservative government has passed legislation to strengthen police powers to combat these operations. On Thursday, three activists from the environmental group Just Stop Oil were arrested in London after throwing orange paint at a floral creation of the Chelsea Flower Show, the group said. This collective, which calls on the British government to abandon the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the country, and its shocking actions have inspired environmental associations including in France where the group "Last Renovation" conducts similar operations. Several Just Stop Oil activists were arrested on the sidelines of the coronation of Charles III on 6th May last in London.