Police Blasted for Posting Photos of Beefy Breakfast for Fear of Upsetting Vegans

Police Blasted for Posting Photos of Beefy Breakfast for Fear of Upsetting Vegans
(North Wales Rural Crime Team)
Tom Ozimek
1/5/2018
Updated:
1/5/2018

Police officers in rural Wales have come under fire for posting a photo on their popular Twitter account of a politically incorrect breakfast that vegans may find offensive.

The North Wales Rural Crime Team’s pioneering use of social media to raise awareness about rural offences has won widespread renown.

But one person on Twitter was not impressed when the police force posted a picture of a meaty fry-up.
(North Wales Rural Crime Team)
(North Wales Rural Crime Team)

Incensed follower Diana commented: “Speaking as a tax payer I'd prefer them to be less selective when answering questions and perhaps not post breakfast pics that offend vegetarian/vegan followers - pretty thoughtless considering the job title they have.”

The tangy tweet triggered a response by a commenter offering a different perspective.

Farmer Jono Dixon replied: “It’s pathetic...The vegans are ruling the roost. They are nothing more than a menace.

“We as carnivores or vegetarians don’t dictate about there preferred diet so its time they stopped trolling and whingeing about everyone’s daily diets #moveon.”

The offending photo was posted in support of the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW)’s Farmhouse Breakfast campaign—an initiative to encourage agricultural workers to get together over a cooked breakfast to consider the pressures facing their industry.

Not long after the controversial photo was posted, the team announced it would no longer be responding to comments on social media, prompting coverage that questioned whether the move was in response to a vegan lobby.

Rural Crime team leader Rob Taylor said the decision was not sparked by vegan backlash, but an “overwhelming” number of replies.

He told the North Wales Daily Post: “We regularly get 1m interactions each month and in August alone we had 1.9m.

“We just can’t answer [all inquiries] any more as it’s a huge commitment.

“Over Christmas we had too much general interaction with people from various walks of life bombarding our feed with questions and we couldn’t cope.”

Announcing the decision on Twitter, a force spokesman said: “We have considered all options and from immediate effect we will cease responding to comments and questions until further notice.”

Meanwhile, police at the RuralCrimeTeam continue posting breakfast pics.

This one, vegetarian, with a comment.

“At some point you have to draw a line under it...”

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Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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