'Vegan Streaker' held in connection with duck slaughterhouse arson
A 34-year-old animal rights activist, Peter J., has reportedly confessed to setting a number of trucks alight outside of a duck slaughterhouse in Ermelo late last month, the newspaper AD reported on Saturday. J., who has been widely dubbed the 'Vegan Streaker' in the media, is known in various corners of the world for interrupting events involving animals, like bullfights and dolphin shows, by protesting naked in the middle of them.
J. reportedly turned himself in two days after the May 28 incident, in which five trucks went up in flames outside of meat supplier Tomassen Duck-To's duck slaughterhouse on the Fokko Kortlanglaan in the early hours of the morning. Police later confirmed the man's arrest on May 30, but did not allude to details about his motivation at the time.
He was slightly injured in the blaze after accidentally setting himself on fire while attempting to torch the trucks, the newspaper reported. He had been trying to take action against animal mistreatment, his lawyer Jan-Hein van Dijk told AD. He said the arson was an isolated incident, and his client was the only offender. However, the public prosecution would not comment if J. was the only suspect in the case.
The 34-year-old animal rights activist has been involved in multiple run-ins with law enforcement for his protests, which have seen him disrupting horse shows, bullfights in Spain, and a dolphin show in Japan, where he jumped naked into the water during the event.
