Thousands of animal rights activists rally in Tel Aviv

Thousands of animal rights activists gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday to protest the treatment of animals, under the slogan “stop the suffering –choose compassion.”

The rally, at Gan Meir Park, had demonstrators chanting “6 million, every 20 minutes” and “Justice, compassion, veganism.”

Event organizers said that the rally heralded a new era for animal rights on the public agenda in Israel.

Media reports put the number of demonstrators in the thousands.

Participants also carried signs reading “Do not pay for abuse,” and “Veganism — live and let live” to protest the cruelty of industrial animal farms and experimental laboratories.

“Israel, like the rest of world, is a murder scene,” said Tal Gilboa, an animal rights activist and the most recent winner of the reality show “Big Brother.”

Gilboa said she was confident that legislation safeguarding animal rights is a matter of time. “Laws get changed by societies, not politicians. And we, as a society will work to make this change, until our laws go hand in hand with morality,” she said according to a Haaretz report.