14 DAY TRIAL // A farmer in Australia reportedly had a legal complaint filed against him by animal rights activists over at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) after one of his workers was caught on film swearing at sheep.
PETA activists submitted their complaint to the Australian RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), alleging that the profanities the farm worker shouted while shearing sheep might have been offensive to the animals.
“The allegation was that bad language was used by an employee on the property in front of the sheep and that they could have been offended by the use of bad language,” farmer Ken Turner said in an interview, as cited by Metro.
To PETA, shouting swear words at sheep counts as verbal abuse. Since the poor ruminants can't speak or write and, therefore, cannot seek help themselves, the animal rights activists had no choice but to address the Australian RSPCA on their behalf.
Unfortunately, PETA's incriminating footage, obtained by an animal rights defender who had somehow managed to infiltrate Ken Turner's farm posing as a regular worker, was found not to be legally admissible, and so the case was dropped.
Baffled by the entire occurrence, farmer Ken Turner reassures that, although it is true that his workers don't always mind their language when around sheep, the ruminants don't seem to care all that much about having profanities being shouted at them.
“I still haven’t had a sheep come to me to complain. They didn't even look offended to me after they were shorn,” the Australian farmer explained in a statement.