A Peta animal rights protester who disrupted Crufts at the weekend is a 39-year-old vegan activist who calls her pets ‘companions’, can reveal today.
Julie Hayes managed to smuggle in a huge banner under her clothing and had been at the show in Birmingham for four hours before she sat in the stands and unfurled the ‘boycott breeders’ poster.
She clung on to the railings with a fellow activist shouting ‘boycott breeders’ and ‘adopt don’t shop’ before ugly scenes saw a security team sprint and scale up the railings to get to the pair.
Ms Hayes claims she was surrounded by about eight to ten security staff who manhandled her.
She accused one of ‘kicking my feet away’ which caused her to fall to the floor and injure her elbow and feared she was going to be dragged down the stairs.
The NEC Group said its security teams are trained to identify and ‘de-escalate potentially dangerous situations’ and the Peta protester was refusing to move.
But the former beer brewer told today the ‘few bumps and bruises’ she suffered is nothing in comparison to ‘the agony’ some dogs go through ‘of having your brain grow too big for your skull or not being able to breathe’.
Peta animal rights protester Julie Hayes, 39, who disrupted Crufts at the weekend is a vegan activist who calls her pets ‘companions’
She managed to smuggle in a huge banner under her clothing and had been at the show in Birmingham for four hours before she sat in the stands and unfurled the poster
Ms Hayes vowed to continue to speak up for pooches as ‘anyone who has ever known a dog knows their individuals with their own thoughts, feelings, and personalities’.
The Peta editor had purchased a ticket online for the annual show in advance having volunteered to take part in the protest.
She made the two-and-a-half hour car journey by herself from her home in Kingston upon Hull to the NEC where she met up with her fellow activists.
Having smuggled the banner past security checks at the door they toured the halls and watched parts of the show for four hours before launching the protest as the best in show was announced.
Shocking footage showed the violent brawl moved into the seating area as a man tried to force Ms Hayes to let go of a barrier as she resisted being moved, with shouts of ‘get out’ and jeers heard in the background from the crowd.
She labelled the ‘intimidating’ security response ‘extreme’ and told : ‘We were peaceful. We just had a banner, and they came in with violence.
‘And so, yeah, it goes to show how desperate Crufts is to hide the pain and suffering caused by the breeding industry.
‘But I can’t compare a few bumps and bruises, really, to the agony of having your brain grow too big for your skull or not being able to breathe. You know all these defects that dogs are bred to have? So yeah, so it wouldn’t put me off. I continue to speak out for dogs.’
Ms Hayes with a fellow activist at Crufts before security team raced to halt the protest and eject them out of the NEC in Birmingham
Ms Hayes claims she was surrounded by about eight to ten security staff who manhandled her
Ms Hayes protests with a fellow unnamed animal rights activist during the Crufts Dog Show, holding banners
Security staff were ‘hitting and punching’ her fellow activist’s hands in chaotic scenes to force him to let go of the railings, Ms Hayes claims.
In response to the accusations, the NEC Group told the safety of the dogs, owners, and thousands of spectators was ensured by removing the protesters.
‘Public safety at all our events is our utmost priority,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Our security teams are trained to identify and de-escalate potentially dangerous situations as quickly as possible. Concerning the incident at Crufts Best In Show on Sunday 10th March, our security teams acted swiftly to remove a protestor that was refusing to move, ensuring the safety of the dogs, their owners, and the thousands of spectators.’
After being ejected from the show out the back door she made the long 220km drive home rather than continuing their protests outside as ‘there was no one to protest to’.
Despite the protest being shut down pretty quickly it was described as a ‘success’ as ‘you don’t need to be there for ages, it’s all about just getting the message across’.
‘You don’t need to stand around much longer after that. I think it’s important for that audience as well, because a lot of people there [at Crufts] think that they care about dogs and that Crufts is somewhere to go for them,’ she said.
‘But if if we taught anybody in the audience how much dogs suffer, then that’s also worthwhile.
‘The extreme reaction has actually backfired, and it helped raise awareness of the cruelty of the breeding industry, and it does feel that everybody is talking about dogs who can’t breathe.’
The animal rights activist lives in Kingston upon Hull, east Yorkshire, with her partner and their two adopted rescue cats – Kitty and Squirly – and adopted dog Rusty who was saved from the streets in Bosnia.
But she refuses to call them ‘pets’ saying they are her ‘companion animals’ who ‘hang around the house’ and are allowed to ‘do whatever they want’.
Ms Hayes is challenged by security during Crufts 2024 at NEC Arena as they storm the event
She gripped the barrier as security thumped her hands to force her to let go
A small group of protesters try to get onto the showground at the dog show
Protesters are removed from the arena during the fourth day of the Crufts Dog Show
A protester is challenged by security during Crufts 2024 at NEC Arena
‘They’re not here for me for my entertainment, and they are individuals with their own right. So yes, I always call them companions – my animal companions.’
She doesn’t cook them breakfast every morning like some ‘strange people do’ and instead feeds them dog and cat food bought online.
‘It’s what the word [pet] sort of alludes to. It could potentially mean this animal is yours. You know, to have as a pet, and then maybe you pet them.
‘Those are the implications. So you stroke them and you fuss them, and some animals don’t like that. Some animals want to share your house and they might not like the human contact and the attention.’
Ms Hayes became a vegetarian aged nine and later became a vegan.
She previously worked at Wold Top Brewery in Driffield, Yorkshire, as a head brewer. It was here she was inspired to get into animal rights activism having read Princeton scholar Peter Singer’s book Animal Liberation.
She took part in a previous Peta protest this year outside the Ministry of Defence headquarters dressed in a bear mask and covered in ‘bloody arrow wounds’ to highlight the slaughter of Canadian black bears for purely ornamental bearskin caps.
‘Our message is really simple,’ she said.
‘Adopt don’t shop and then people who do care about dogs can also visit peter.org.uk to tell Channel 4 to stop giving this shameful show airtime and promoting the cruelty of the breeding industry.’
A Crufts spokesperson said: ‘Far from “promoting cruelty”, as Peta claims, Crufts is a unique platform which educates breeders, owners and judges about the importance of ensuring dog health is their top priority, as well as millions of visitors, and viewers on Channel 4, about how to get the right dog for your lifestyle, so that all dogs – whether rescue dogs or puppies – are happy and healthy, with a home for life.
‘And The Kennel Club, which organises the event, is at the forefront of improving dog health by investing in research and developing health tests, some of which we offer for free to those at Crufts.
‘The event is a forum for promoting improved health and moderation, providing breeders with evidence-based tools and resources to protect and improve dog health, and is a vital educational platform which urges people to ‘stop and think’ before getting a dog.
‘While Peta believes that it is wrong to own dogs as pets at all, there are millions of dog lovers that would disagree, and millions of dogs that are well cared for by responsible owners.’