Animal Rising activists have stolen three lambs from the Sandringham estate, owned by King Charles III in Norfolk, to denounce the breeding of animals for food.
Images published Thursday on Twitter by Animal Rising show three women stealing three lambs from a field in order to give them "a life in freedom", according to the testimony of one of them, who claims to be on the Sandringham estate. "Otherwise they would have been taken to the slaughterhouse soon and people would have eaten them," the activist added.
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"Rescue" operation
In a statement, Animal Rising said the "rescue" operation was conducted Wednesday night "around 20:00" (21:00 in France), and that the three activists then surrendered to the police. Norfolk Police confirmed in a statement that three women "voluntarily" surrendered to Slough Police Station, near Windsor, and were arrested "on suspicion of theft".
The move marks the start of a series of other animal "rescue" operations that Animal Rising plans to carry out over the summer to raise awareness among Britons about changing their feeding patterns, the group said.
On Thursday, three activists from the environmental group Just Stop Oil were arrested in London after throwing orange paint at a floral creation at the Chelsea Flower Show, the group said. Just Stop Oil, which is calling on the British government to abandon the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the country, has been multiplying shock actions for months, to the point that the Conservative government adopted a law to strengthen the powers of the police to fight against these operations. Several of their activists were arrested on the sidelines of the coronation of Charles III on May 6 in London.
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.