Woman already on trial for giving water to pigs arrested after pig truck rollover

A woman on trial for giving water to pigs that were headed to slaughter last summer was arrested again Wednesday, this time at the scene of an accident where another truck full of pigs headed to the same pork plant flipped over in Burlington, Ont.

The arrest of Anita Krajnc, 49, capped off a chaotic day outside Fearmans Pork Plant, where the squeals of injured pigs filled the air next to a busy intersection. Workers walked the surviving animals that could move across a parking lot to the nearby plant where they were to be slaughtered.

Police said 40 of the 180 pigs in the truck died in the crash.

Krajnc faces jail time or a maximum $5,000 fine on a mischief charge stemming from an arrest last year, after she gave pigs water through the narrow openings of a metal trailer as they were headed to the same plant on June 22, 2015.

She testified in her own defence on that charge Monday, saying that pigs are "more noble" than people. She was not being held in custody on the previous charge.

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Halton police say Krajnc was arrested Wednesday for "obstructing police," but called the rest of the demonstration "largely peaceful."

The next court date for her original charges is in November.

The truck carrying the pigs lost control and flipped over just after 7 a.m. ET Wednesday, Halton police said, near the corner of Appleby Line and Harvester Road and near the Fearmans Pork Plant. 

Some of the pigs were roaming free for a time, but Halton police Staff Sgt. Peter Corner told CBC News that they were "corralled" in the immediate area. 

Harvester Road was closed eastbound from Appleby Line, but reopened around 1:45 p.m. ET.

Police had set up tape around the scene, where workers were walking the pigs from the truck to the plant. Krajnc walked past the police tape more than once, and did not follow police directions to stop what she was doing, said CBC freelance reporter David Ritchie.

Halton police say Krajnc has been charged with obstructing police and a breach of recognizance, which related to a bail condition from her original charge to keep the peace. She was released on a promise to appear.

Other protesters yelled at the plant's workers as they attempted to walk the pigs across the parking lot. The animals' squeals could be heard from across the busy intersection.

Protesters from Toronto Pig Save have been a fixture outside the plant in recent years, where they "bear witness" for animals headed to slaughter.

"Do you have a soul?" one woman yelled. "Please show some mercy," yelled another.

Workers from the plant brought out sheets of cardboard, and held them to make a makeshift barrier, blocking the pigs from the view of cameras and protesters. 

"They're trying to block us so we can't see what's going on," said Lorin Croonen, a member of Toronto Pig Save.

Dead and possibly injured pigs could be seen being carted from the scene of the crash in the bucket of a Bobcat tractor, draped in a tarp.

Investigators said in a news release that no other vehicles were involved in the crash and the 25-year-old driver of the truck was treated for minor injuries. 

A hydro pole that was damaged when it was struck by the truck was repaired by Burlington Hydro, police said.