Truck Driver Responsible For The Death Of Animal Activist Regan Russell Outside A Slaughterhouse Pleads Guilty To “Careless Driving”

Earlier this week, Andrew Blake, the driver who was charged with killing animal rights activist Regan Russell in Ontario, Canada, on June 19, 2020, pleaded guilty to the provincial offense of careless driving causing death.

As previously reported by WAN, Russell was a decades-long pioneer in animal rights activism in Canada who had peacefully campaigned on behalf of nonhuman animals for over 40 years. Tragically, Russell was violently struck and killed by a transport truck carrying pigs entering Sofina’s Fearmans slaughterhouse in Burlington, Ontario. Russell was attending a special pig vigil with Toronto Pig Save to protest Bill 156, which had passed the previous day. She was also there to bear witness to some of the 10,000 sentient beings who are violently killed for their meat each day.

During the plea hearing, which took place at the Halton Court in Burlington, Blake was reportedly ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and received a 12-month probation period, allowing him to only operate a vehicle for work.

“Regan died doing what she most cared about,” Anita Krajnc, co-founder of Toronto Pig Save, said in a statement. “The justice we want are more systemic changes, not just to punish the pig transport truck driver.”

Still, the sentence hardly seems appropriate for taking an innocent person’s life.

“We believe our darling Regan’s violent death is worthy of a more detailed, meticulous, intensive investigation than what culminated as a mere moment of “careless driving,” Bill Russell, father of Regan Russell, said in an Opinion Piece published in the Hamilton Spectator on Sunday, March 19th.

Prior to the sentencing, Lori Croonen, a witness the day Regan died, urged that the prosecution and courts take seriously that the driver’s activity presents a threat to legitimate protest.

“Even though this is an offense under the Highways Traffic Act, this should not diminish the impact Blake has had on Regan’s family in particular who supported her activism and the animal rights community at large,” stated Croonen.

Animal rights activists in Canada and worldwide feel equally saddened and inspired even more to continue to participate in this form of expression to help raise awareness for animals killed on factory farms.

You can help all animals and our planet by choosing compassion on your plate and in your glass. #GoVeg