Tash Peterson defamation trial: Bicton vet Dr Kay McIntosh claims activist video ruined reputation, marriage

A Bicton vet has tearfully recounted to WA’s highest court how allegations made in a video by notorious vegan Tash Peterson that she was an “animal abuser” and “eats her own patients” had not only left her distraught but had led to a breakdown in her marriage. Dr Kay McIntosh made the claims as she was giving evidence in her defamation lawsuit against the animal rights activists. The owner of Bicton Veterinary Clinic and her husband Andrew are suing Ms Peterson, her boyfriend Jack Higgs and her company V-Gan Booty Pty Ltd over a video they made then posted on social media in September 2021. In the footage, Ms Peterson accused the clinic of promoting “animal slavery” because of two birds – Bruce and Gandalf — that were kept in a cage stationed outside the front of their clinic. She also accused the vet and the clinic in the video that was posted to Ms Peterson’s Facebook page of “enslaving animals and forcing them into murder factories”. The couple claim the video not only damaged their reputation by bringing them into “hatred, contempt and ridicule” but that Ms Peterson and Mr Higgs deliberately filmed then posted the footage to not only gain publicity but also earn money from it. Taking the stand on day one of the trial in WA’s Supreme Court on Monday, Dr McIntosh, who broke down in tears several times during her evidence, told the hearing how she was “horrified” by being accused by Ms Peterson of eating her own patients and that her love of animals was being questioned. “I was accused of being immoral, of sending animals to murder factories. I have spent my life advocating for the health and wellbeing of animals … to have someone and accuse me of abusing them.” The court was told Ms Peterson and Mr Higgs visited the clinic on September 23, 2021, after first noticing the two cockatiels in the cage outside where they told a staff member they were concerned they were out in the sun. The following day, the pair came back armed with a mobile phone where they allegedly confronted Dr McIntosh inside. Dr McIntosh said during the confrontation Ms Peterson accused her of animal slavery, of eating her own patients because they kept the birds in the cage. She said she tried to explain to Ms Peterson that Gandalf and Bruce were captive birds that had lived in a cage for 14 years, and that they could not survive if they were set free. But she said, Ms Peterson would not listen and kept making accusations at her. She also said the activist and Mr Higgs refused to leave despite repeated requests and only ceased after police were called. Dr McIntosh said after the incident she and her husband then went to the coffee shop to de-stress when they got a call from a staff member saying the incident had been posted on Facebook. When asked by her lawyer, Martin Bennett, how she felt about this, Dr McIntosh said she was outraged at first then distraught when she learned it had garnered 5000 views in 24 hours. “I think it’s disgusting people are still able to find it and comment and share it,” she said. “It’s my reputation that is being smeared as an animal abuser and I’m not.” Dr McIntosh then told the court that since the incident she had become reclusive, and that her husband had become so obsessed with the entire incident that their “marriage has fallen apart”. She also told the court in the immediate aftermath of the posting, the clinic had received negative reviews on Google, numerous false bookings as well as accusatory emails. When she attended a veterinary conference in Sydney in October 2022, Dr McIntosh said another vet from Queensland remarked that she was “that vet” when she recounted the incident with Ms Peterson. “In the vet community, I had become ‘that vet’ who had run in with Ms Peterson,” Dr McIntosh added. The court was told Dr McIntosh and her husband tried to get Ms Peterson to remove the video and issued a concerns notice but she refused. They also issued a barring notice against the pair and took out a restraining order against Ms Peterson banning her from being near the clinic. The court was told Ms Peterson breached the restraining order not long after by having coffee at the coffee shop near the clinic. In another video taken from Ms Peterson’s Patreon account, that was played to the court the activist tells her followers that while she “can’t go into too much” she was being sued over a post she made in September 2021. She then says a month after the incident they received a letter asking her to remove the video and pay damages. “Of course I am not going to pay,” Ms Peterson says in the video. “We are speaking up for animals.” The trial continues.