‘They handcuffed me and dragged me on the grass’: Vegan activist moans after she was thrown to the ground and arrested for filming a dying cow after a horror cattle truck crash
- Truck overturned carrying cattle in Koo Wee Rup, south of Melbourne at 7.15am
- Several cows were roaming nearby fields, some injured ones were euthanised
- Vegan activist Leah Doellinger filmed herself tending to a put-down cow
- She was arrested for hindering police and uploaded video of the moment
A vegan activist has posted footage of herself being arrested at the site of a cattle truck crash where several cows had to be euthanised.
Leah Doellinger, an activist with 32,000 Instagram followers, drove down to Koo Wee Rup, south of Melbourne after the truck rolled this morning.
Several cows had escaped and were roaming nearby fields before officials rounded them up into a paddock.
Leah Doellinger (pictured), an activist with 32,000 Instagram followers, drove down to Koo Wee Rup, south of Melbourne after the truck rolled this morning
A vegan activist has posted footage of herself being arrested at the sight of a cattle truck crash (pictured) where several cows had to be euthanised
Some of the cows were badly injured and sadly had to be put down.
Ms Doellinger filmed herself tending to one of the euthanised cows with a group of friends.
In her Instagram video, officials can be heard repeatedly asking the group to move away from the dead cow which was having muscle spasms.
But the women refused, believing the cow was still alive: ‘We’ll leave when she’s dead,’ one said.
After Ms Doellinger refused to move away from the cow, a police officer approached and arrested her.
She posted the moment to her Instagram story with a teary message in which she said: ‘A cop just ran at me and tackled me to the ground’.
Ms Doellinger filmed herself attending to one of the euthanised cows with a group of friends
The activist claimed her arrest was unnecessarily violent. She told the Herald Sun: ‘They handcuffed me and dragged me on the grass. I’ve got cuts on my wrist – he didn’t even give me warning.’
A Victoria Police spokesman a man and women were arrested for hindering police and would be charged on summons.
The B-Double truck overturned next to a roundabout at 7.15am this morning. The 42-year-old female driver suffered minor injuries and the cause of the crash is being investigated.
Victoria Police said in a statement this morning: ‘Several cattle are being euthanised at the scene with assistance from the Department of Agriculture.
‘The remaining cattle are being herded into nearby paddocks and the recovery operation is expected to take several hours.’
A Victoria Police spokesman a man and women were arrested for hindering police and would be charged on summons