Vegan slammed after taking neighbours to court for cooking meat on barbecues

A furious vegan has launched an extraordinary legal fight against her neighbours after claiming she’s been left unable to go out into her own backyard due to the overwhelming smell of barbecued meat and fish – and it’s sparked a very angry reaction online.

Perth woman Cilla Carden has taken her bid to ban her neighbours’ barbecues as far as the Supreme Court, while she also called for them to stop smoking and bouncing balls outside. In fact, she claimed to Nine News that the strong-smelling barbecues are being cooked “deliberately”.

“They’ve put it there so I smell fish, all I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my backyard, I can’t go out there,” she said in a TV interview with the news outlet. However, she went one step further and added that she’s also sick of the constant sound of bouncing balls, as well as the stench of smoke, adding: “It’s been devastating, it’s been turmoil, it’s been unrest, I haven’t been able to sleep.”

Despite taking the matter through the State Administrative Tribunal and the Supreme Court, her case was dismissed – and her attempts to appeal the decision have so far been blocked.

“It’s deliberate, that’s what I told the courts, its deliberate,” she insisted. Shockingly, the feud extends to both sides of her property, with Carden claiming she’s getting turmoil from all angles.

However, one of the neighbours invited the Nine camera crew into their own backyard, showing how they had removed the barbecue since and also asked the kids to stop playing the the ball so much outside.

Another neighbour issued a statement to the news outlet, which read: “Ms Carden’s demands were proven to be not reasonable and indeed were to the detriment of the other owners’ ability to enjoy their lots in a reasonable and acceptable manner.”

It sparked an instant reaction online, with one person commenting on Twitter: “Does anyone think there’s something weird that two sets of neighbours are the problem and not her?” while another agreed, adding that it was a waste of courts’ time: “Because it’s not like the courts have a backlog of real cases that actually affect people’s lives. Sad.”

Another added: “A gross waste of the courts time,” and one more wrote: “A kid cant even practice basketball in his backyard anymore without someone having a moan… smh. Why doesn’t she move to the country?”

It comes amid a stream of vegan protests across the country in recent months, as campaigners push to stop farmers in their tracks. In fact just two months ago, radio host Steve Price locked horns with a passionate animal rights activist in a fiery exchange on The Project in which he labelled recent protests on Aussie farms “disgraceful”.

The 65-year-old joined the panel to discuss the NSW Government’s new laws to stop protestors from trespassing on property’s in the state. From August 1, it was announced protestors would receive on the spot fines of $1,000 for trespassing on private land, which could rise to up to $220,000 for individuals and $440,000 for groups depending on what damage they cause. There was also talk of enforcing jail time in the state, while the Federal Government is set to roll out new laws as well.

Activist Chris Delforce appeared on the program to share his thoughts on the laws with hosts questioning him over whether or not it will impact his actions against Aussie farmers. “I think as long as there isn’t transparency, there isn’t openness in these industries into what’s happening in these places, people are always wanting to go in and stop what’s happening,” he claimed on The Project.

This didn’t sit well with Price who hit out at the activist for releasing a map earlier this year with details of farmers and their addresses. The host of 2GB claimed it was “disgraceful” and said farmers are fearing for their lives thinking their properties could be stormed by protestors any moment.

“That disgraceful map that you produced which allows you to go and invade people’s private property – that’s probably the reason why these tougher laws have been introduced,” Price exclaimed. “How would you feel if we produced a map of where all the vegans in Australia live and invite people to go and kick your front door and complain about what you’re doing?”

To which Delfore replied: “Nobody’s inviting anyone to go kick anyone’s front door.” Price didn’t give him the opportunity to finish his sentence, cutting him off by saying: “Well that’s what you’re doing. You’re scaring children and scaring farmers.”

The activist then chimed in explaining that activists haven’t gone near farmers’ homes or incited any violence towards them. However, Price didn’t agree claiming farmers were “too scared” to leave their properties for fear protestors would show up when their children were still home.

“Farmers are not scared of non-violent vegan activists who are simply trying to get into these sheds which are actually far away usually from the homes,” Delfore replied. “It’s private property, mate. You have no right to go there,” Price shot back.

To which the activist claimed: “Industries have no right to abuse animals in secrecy. If they think what they’re doing is okay they should be transparent and open about it. They should say to the Australian public, ‘this is what’s happening,’ and allow them to make up their own minds.”