Meet the Stoke-on-Trent activist who has dedicated her life to protecting animals
By The Editor
3rd Jan 2024 | Local News
Meet the activist from Stoke-on-Trent who has travelled around the world and dedicated her life to protecting animals of all shapes and sizes.
From chasing a criminal fishing vessel for 146 days straight and opposing illegal whaling in the Antarctic, to paddling out on an inflatable kayak to capture abuse in Scottish salmon fish farms and witnessing the horrific conditions of pigs in factory farms - Lex Rigby has seen her "fair share of death".
Lex, 40, said: "Protecting animals is one of the most courageous and inspiring things we can do, one that, in a way, gives our own lives meaning - It makes life worth living!
"For me, the ultimate goal is total animal liberation - but there are so many roads we have to travel to get there."
Lex has been a vegan advocate for 20 years - and gives credit to David Attenborough documentaries which ignited her spark interest in animals and the natural world.
Lex explained: "I've never been a big fish eater, but I ate all kinds of meats as a kid.
"My Dad had an aquarium when I was young and I used to spend hours watching these animals swimming around.
"I thought they were so amazing but they were always used as a decoration – something you see in the dentist waiting room. I never considered them to have their own personalities.
"When I started watching environmental and David Attenborough documentaries, which have impacted whole generations, I started to question why it was ok to eat one animal but not the other?
"People would come together to save a whale but not a pig?
"Pigs are far smarter than dogs but we don't give credit for that - there is no difference, it's only our perception. They are very similar and should be treated as individuals in their own right.
In 2006, Lex began her activism volunteering for Sea Shepherd, an international, non-profit marine conservation organisation that engages in direct action campaigns to defend wildlife, and conserve and protect the world's ocean from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction.
Five years later, an opportunity arose for Lex to join one of the ships going to Antarctica to conduct anti-whaling operations - and she was able to take a sabbatical from her position as a librarian at the University of Sheffield.
Lex said: "I had a full-time job and a mortgage but felt I wasn't making that much difference just waving banners - and the only skill you needed to join the ship was to be able to swim!
"I went to Southampton where one of the ships was undergoing a refit. They had just returned from opposing the mass slaughter of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands.
"I met the crew coordinator and said I would do anything to join the ship, and they told me if I could get to Australia in five weeks I could join the Bob Barker for the next whale defence campaign, 'Operation Divine Wind'.
During her first campaign on the ship travelling Antarctica, under which Lex joined as a deckhand - the crew saved 768 whales opposing the Japanese whaling fleet.
Lex describes how they achieved that goal through aggressive non-violent direct action: by positioning the Sea Shepherd ships, between the whaling fleet's harpoon vessels and the whales.
She explained: "We had to keep following these ships trying to shoot explosive tip harpoons into the whales for as long as we could.
"If they wanted to kill whales, they'd have to get through us first. It was all about being a nuisance, making working conditions uncomfortable and keeping on their tale.
"Japan had its own self-imposed quota of how many whales they could kill at the time - there's a loophole in the moratorium on commercial whaling which states if you're taking them for scientific purposes then that's a 'reasonable' cause to kill them.
"The Institute of Cetacean Research's quota (the whaling fleet) was 935 minke whales, 50 humpback whales and 50 fin whales. All of which are protected or endangered species."
Lex was on that ship for five months, and recalls struggling to settle after returning to the UK - so handed in her notice to join Sea Shepherd full time, where she worked in ports in Australia helping with campaigns there.
Lex admitted: "I came back to work and just thought there's a whole world out there I could have a positive impact on."
In 2014, after another two whale defence campaigns, Japan's 'scientific' programme was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice - which gave Sea Shepherd the chance to target some of the other issues happening across the waters.
Lex then joined a campaign called Operation Icefish to protect Antarctic and Patagonian toothfish - of which she was at sea for 146 days straight.
Alongside this campaign and others, Lex says one of the challenges of her work has been trying to sell the protection of fish to the public – to get people interested in fish issues and how the destruction of marine environments impacts all of us
She explained: "We are so far removed from fish on the evolutionary scale - they have no expressions, don't blink their eyes or nod their heads.
"Patagonia and Antarctica tooth fish are incredible animals but it was a struggle to get public support for the campaign because they weren't whales. Nobody knew what these fish were. They're a long-lived species that spend most of their lives 1,500 meters below the water's surface and are considered white gold – they're that lucratic!
"We left port with one aim; find a ship and follow it. We had a list of illegal operators and once we found them, we'd report their position to authorities.
"Two of these had Interpol Purple Notices (international arrest warrants) for illegal unreported and unregulated fishing activities.
"It was a great experience - you feel like you are having a real impact when you're shutting down criminal operations and assisting governments to uphold the law in the seas.
"But it did get to the point where you see a lot of death."
After working with Sea Shepherd in West Africa, Lex admits she became "so overwhelmed" she felt as though she was unable to have "much of an impact anymore."
She said: "I was burning out. I knew it was time for me to come home and see what would be next - I felt I was living the dream on the ship but I wanted to settle after so much adventure!"
That was when Lex saw a job as campaigns manager at Viva!, the world's leading vegan charity, where she's worked since 2018. Her current role is Head of Investigations..
She said: "Having been vegan for so long, I think I'd started to forget about the barbaric things we do to land animals as well.
"Learning it all again at Viva! helped reinforce why I went vegan and why I'm so passionate about animal issues - it got me back to my roots and thinking about what is on our plate!"
Some of Lex's activism highlights were one of the first tasks she was assigned at Viva! - getting kangaroo meat removed from the shelves in major supermarkets Lidl and Iceland as well as Pets at Home.
Though she admits her proudest achievement in the last six years with the vegan charity was an investigation in 2020 at Flat House farm in Leicester, containing 8,000 pigs.
Lex said: "When you work in the animal protection movement, there are very few things to celebrate so you have to celebrate the smallest wins imaginable.
"Viva!'s investigation into Flat House farm spanned five months - and I have to say it was horrendous. From day one it was very clear something really bad was going on.
"Our team witnessed brutal scenes: piglets being hit over the head, dead animals left to rot, cannibalism - it was really bad. There were decades worth of dilapidation, systemic negligence ingrained.
"We then spent two years trying to liaise with Trading Standards, Red Tractor - and even though 68 criminal charges were brought against the farm owners and manager - they were all dropped bar one.
"Although that doesn't sound great, we have to celebrate it as a victory. Farmed animal issues rarely make it to court; this is the only response we've had like that - and we closed it down."
Lex is now working on Viva!'s campaign to stop the horrors of farming salmon in Scotland.
The animal advocate admits her ultimate dream is "total animal liberation" - whether this comes in her lifetime or the future, she hopes to see a world without the suffering and exploitation of animals.
She recognises it's a big target but added: "We're not going to create a vegan world overnight, we have to be pragmatic about the ways in which we campaign and advocate for animals.
"I think within my lifetime we'll see an end to factory farming.
"Kids are realising the detrimental effects it has on their futures and people are becoming far more aware.
"We have to and must see an end to it - for animals on land and the seas.
"We need to focus on re-wildling and transitioning to plant-based diets for animals and our planet."
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