By Charlie Carey

An artist’s display saw performers holding “dead babies” in a Kent high street to protest against the “cruel” veal industry.

The installation saw people wearing lab coats holding dolls wrapped in food packaging, aimed at trying to shock visitors and shoppers in Canterbury at the weekend.

Artist Stephanie Lane brought the work to the high street outside The Beaney on Saturday.

She says the intent of the work is to create empathy in people for the acts being committed to animals by mimicking those acts with people in the place of the animals.

One of the performers was dressed as a farmer and holding a megaphone, read out a speech promoting the sale of her new product - human veal.

The artist says portraying the cruelty to animals in this way is supposed to make people question the industry.

Performers could be seen handing out leaflets to passersby and calling for their reaction and feedback about how the installation made them feel.

Organisers behind the installation said that despite people being shocked by the graphic nature of the art, they received positive feedback.

‘This has really got me thinking…’

Ella Barlow, who was involved in setting up the piece, said people agreed that veal is “not humane”, with one saying that is why they did not eat the meat.

She added that others praised the bravery of the piece for standing up against the farming practices.

While she also said another commented: “I absolutely would look into the industry, and this has really got me thinking, you’ve really got a good point.”

The process of how veal is produced is viewed as particularly controversial.

Young male calves who cannot contribute to the dairy industry are taken away from their mothers at birth and put into very small, confined cages and slaughtered at 20 weeks old.

They are often, it is claimed, fed high iron diets in order to produce a more tender meat for the human consumer.

Susan Clark, campaign manager for the installation’s tour, which has also visited Australia, India, Chile and Malta, told KentOnline how the installation comes together.

“It shows some cute babies at the front,” she said. “Then you see more levels to look into. Then you see a conveyor belt.

“Then you suddenly realise there are little chopped up body parts on the conveyor belt. And then you see these babies in cages.”

Lane’s show is due to return to Canterbury again on an undisclosed date and could showcase some of her other works protesting against the dairy and poultry industries.