Animal activists stage protest outside Melton's iconic pork pie shop
An animal activist group which opposed the naming of Melton Mowbray’s bypass as Pork Pie Way staged a protest in the town this morning (Friday).
Representatives of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) parked their ‘Hell on Wheels’ pig truck outside Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, the historic business which has produced Melton’s famous pies since 1851.
Members displayed placards stating ‘meat is murder’ and they spoke to passers-by in Nottingham Street and people entering the Dickinson and Morris-owned shop, which is a key driver of tourism for the town centre.
The organisation hit the headlines back in May when they wrote to Leicestershire County Council to campaign for the new Melton Mowbray Distributor Road to be named Vegan Pie Way.
County Hall instead called it Pork Pie Way, in a nod to the town’s famous food offering, following a public vote which gave nine options for potential names.
The group is also unhappy about the Pork Pie Roundabout in Leicester – it’s been called that since the 1930s due to the shape of an adjacent library building – and suggests it should be renamed.
On today’s protest, PETA spokesperson Amit Gokani said the group wanted to highlight the plight of pigs in the production of pork and to say that people should follow a healthy vegan diet without the need to eat meat, eggs or dairy products.
PETA senior corporate projects manager, Dr Carys Bennett, commented: “Every pork pie represents a pig who had a unique personality and a desire to live.
"And while we’re at it, Pork Pie Roundabout and the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road – Pork Pie Way – could both do with a vegan makeover.”
The organisation, whose motto reads, in part, that ‘animals are not ours to eat’, is taking its protest truck around the UK and Ireland throughout October.
A spokesperson for Samworth Brothers, the parent company of the Dickinson and Morris Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, said there was ‘no disruption to business’ caused by the protest and the company did not want to comment further on today’s activities outside the shop.