A social media row has erupted after a Wiltshire goat farmer was “targeted” by a vegan encouraging bad reviews of her business.
The Gourmet Goat Farmer, a farm shop and kitchen on the edge of Avebury that specialises in goat meat, was the subject of a controversial post in the private Facebook group Vegan Wiltshire.
A screenshot from the page showed group admin Ian Somerville say: “Can we have some negative reviews on this place, please?
“There’s no way an animal farm should be able to enjoy a five-star rating.”
The post attracted both support and criticism online and received several angry comments after being shared in local Facebook groups.
Gourmet Goat Farmer owner Laura Corbett was shocked by the post and claims to have had "sleepless nights" over the situation.
But despite the furore, she has yet to receive any negative reviews and has hit back at criticism of her farm, which rears goats for meat rather than dairy.
She said: “We’re third-generation farmers doing our best to modernise, we left dairy eight years ago and have a growing herd of goats.
“My heart is with the livestock… the UK has some of the highest welfare standards in the world and our animals have a free-range lifestyle where they are only housed in winter.
“We do conservation work and encourage wildlife, and the livestock has regenerative purposes which helps the whole lifecycle.”
But while Mr Somerville did not accuse the business of substandard practices, he believes free-range farmers have a responsibility to speak out against industrial farming methods.
He added: “I see posts from firms like GGF far too frequently in my feed and I don't encourage them.
“Those who bring sentient beings into this world for the sole purpose of using them until they're worn out and then killing them are not on my list of favourite people.
“This kind of farm makes out that their animals benefit from being farmed there. Although they don't generally mention the larger, industrial kind of farms, the implication is that those farms are somehow wrong.
“After all, if you set a standard and you shout about it, you must believe that those who don't measure up are substandard.”
In a post on Facebook, Ms Corbett invited any critics to come and see the farm’s techniques but says she received no response.
She added that other farms in the area have been the victim of negative reviews and fears that any rural business could end up on a “target list.”
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