Vegan activist bankrupt after losing high-stakes defamation case

Outspoken vegan Tash Peterson has declared bankruptcy and handed over her passport after a costly court loss to a Perth vet.

 

Source: Instagram

Controversial animal rights activist Tash Peterson has declared bankruptcy and surrendered her passport after losing a high-profile defamation case brought by a Perth veterinary clinic owner and her husband.

Peterson and her partner Jack Higgs were ordered by WA Supreme Court Chief Justice Peter Quinlan to pay $280,000 in damages after publishing defamatory claims about Bicton Veterinary Clinic owner Kay McIntosh and her husband Andrew. The case stemmed from a video shared on social media in which the pair made accusations about the couple.

According to media reports, bankruptcy orders were granted last month based on $172,911 owed to McIntosh. In a video posted to social media, Peterson confirmed the outcome.

“On top of that, our personal accounts have been wiped, which means we have no money for everyday living expenses,” she said.

“So 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 will never stop speaking up for the victims of animal exploitation and the animal holocaust.”

Higgs added, “So we’re going to head into a bankruptcy office and we’re going to officially surrender our passports,” explaining that they now owed more than half a million dollars as a result of the failed legal battle.

The court loss adds to a long list of controversies involving Peterson, who in August 2024 was fined and banned from leaving Western Australia for six months following protests at Perth’s Fyre restaurant. She had pleaded guilty to trespass and disorderly behaviour, having interrupted diners with pig squealing noises and shouts about an “animal apocalypse”.

In 2022, British broadcaster Piers Morgan grilled Peterson over her comparison of animal farming to the Holocaust. “Why would you use the word holocaust? Holocaust is the mass extermination of more than six million Jewish people by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis,” Morgan said. “Why would you use that very emotive language knowing it would offend people?”

Peterson replied, “If you look at the definition of a holocaust it is slaughter or destruction on a mass scale. Multiple holocausts have occurred throughout human history and non-human animals can be subjected to the same atrocities that humans can.”

Her Instagram account @vganbooty was removed in 2023 following several blood-smeared protests at luxury retail stores.

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COMMENTS

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  • John Landry
    commented 2025-05-13 07:05:55 -0400
    Someone wanted attention. Well, now she has it.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2025-05-12 19:20:08 -0400
    What a wacko! Humans are radically different from animals. This self-righteous woman and her followers think they’re right to pull stunts. All that does is angers ordinary and sane folks. And for the stupid people, I don’t agree with animal cruelty. Neither do I agree that animals are people. I have to explain this for those who are hard of thinking.