Animal rights protesters disrupted "Cow Appreciation Day" at a Pinellas Park Chick-Fil-A on July 11.
- Video of protest showed one protester holding fake knife
- Protesters shouted "It's not food - it's violence"
- Protesters left after restaurant staff called police
Witness Tina Leacock, who caught part of the disruption on video that she posted to Facebook, said the protesters entered the restaurant before noon, shouting "It's not food -- it's violence."
Two of the protesters were dressed up as a cow and a chicken, and another was "armed" with a fake knife.
"They proceeded to cut the throats of the cow and the chicken that was dressed up," said witness Tina Leacock. "Thank goodness I had the kids already in the play area.”
Leacock said the protest lasted under five minutes. It lasted long enough, however, to eventually draw shouts from other customers, telling them to get out.
The protesters did leave once staff at the Chick-Fil-A called Pinellas Park Police.
Leacock told us she's ok with protesting, but was upset that these protesters scared the children in the restaurant.
“Unfortunately, they kind of crossed the line when they proceeded to cut the throats of what were humans dressed up as a cow and a chicken," Leacock said. "There’s innocent little kids there who can’t tell the difference between what’s fake and what’s real.”
Every year on "Cow Appreciation Day," Chick-Fil-A gives away a free entree to anyone dressed in cow attire.