An Australian vegan activist and her boyfriend announced bankruptcy after losing a defamation lawsuit to a veterinarian in Perth, Australia.
Tash Peterson and Jack Higgs made the announcement in a May 9 Instagram post, in which the couple also announced they were forfeiting their passports, according to WAtoday, a Perth and Western Australian news outlet.
“We are officially bankrupt and our passports are being taken away from us,” Peterson said in the video clip.
Higgs added that the couple now owes “half a million dollars” to a vet clinic.
“And on top of that, our personal accounts have been wiped, which means we have no money for everyday living expenses,” Peterson said.
The controversy began in September 2021, when Peterson and Higgs harassed veterinarian Dr. Kay McIntosh and her husband, Andrew, at their Bicton Veterinary Clinic in Perth, WAtoday reported in November 2024.
The activists walked into the office and confronted the McInstoshs on camera about two cockatiels displayed in the window.
Was Peterson given a fair ruling in the defamation lawsuit?
The couple posted the video to Facebook and made numerous defamatory remarks, even accusing Mrs. McIntosh of “eating her own patients.”
McIntosh sued, and in November 2024, the Australian Supreme Court ordered the activists to pay her $150,000, on top of interest, and Mr. McIntosh $110,000, according to Perth Now.
Vegan activist Tash Peterson has been ordered to pay $280,000 to a vet she accused of ‘eating (her) own patients’. Tash Peterson stormed into the Perth-based Bicton Veterinary Clinic in September 2021 to accuse its owner Dr Kay McIntosh of ‘enslaving’ two pet birds. pic.twitter.com/B1MOfUQtgz
— Apex World News (@apexworldnews) December 21, 2024
In April, Mrs. McIntosh won bankruptcy orders against the couple when they still owed $172,911.
In a video posted the day after the passport video, Peterson said the McIntoshs’ lawyer also accused her of tax fraud.
“During the trial, I was forced to produce financial and bank statements because their lawyer was trying to claim that I did animal rights activism for financial gain,” Peterson said. “The judge denied this claim. The opposing lawyer also accused me of tax fraud, a serious allegation which again the judge found to be untrue.”
Peterson said that because of this accusation, the Australian Tax Office audited her income over the last two years.
She said the lawyer is now being investigated by a Western Australia legal board.
“Our money can be taken from us and so can our passports, but our voices for non-human people will never be taken away from us, and we’ll never stop speaking up for the victims of animal exploitation and the animal holocaust,” Peterson said.
“Adios passports,” she added.
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