Early Friday morning, ALF visited a busy intersection in
Perth, Western Australia and threw paint bombs at a large sign outside a
meat wholesaling business. Promoting animal abuse is not acceptable in
civilized society."
In the cold, early hours of the morning I visited a
Gascoigne Leather Centre with 10 paint bombs and a written message for
the owners that read: 'Make furniture out of your own skin!!! - The
Animals'
"In the early hours of 5 April 2012, four women from
Animal Liberation Victoria chained themselves inside a hen factory in
Victoria. All four women (Patty Mark, Felicity Andersen, Jo Osborne and
Lisa Manning) were already on bail not to go within 100m of this
particular farm after staging a rooftop protest there alongside 11 other
activists in May 2011. Despite previous investigations, complaints and
the rooftop protest no authority has taken any notice of ALV's pleas to
help the hens inside this hellhole. The lockdown was an attempt to bring
more awareness for these birds and to physically make the police enter
the sheds (the police have the power to prosecute the farm for cruelty
and have previously refused to go into the sheds). The police did act
quickly, but to block off the road (preventing media and our support
crew coming near the property) declaring it a crime scene and doing
their best to remove them from the shed quickly.
Conditions inside the shed were typical of what has been
found previously. Sick birds, dead bodies, extreme featherloss,
overcrowding, debeaking, birds fighting and extremely stressed. The
place was filthy with rats and mice running around, droppings, dust and
cobwebs everywhere and the air was so foul that the four women had to
wear professional gas masks in the shed to avoid putting themselves at
risk of sickness. The police made several attempts to talk the women
into leaving , but at the same time absolutely refused to meet their
appeals to bring in an independent vet and do their own cruelty
investigation. The relevant sections of both the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals Act and the Code of Practice/Poultry were handed to the
Police. Finally, after four and a half hours locked down in the shed,
8-10 police surrounded the women in the middle of the aisle, demanded
they leave and then forcibly removed them by literally dragging and
manhandling them along the filthy floor of the shed.
After being retained at the police station for interview
for several hours the women were released on bail with a surety and
further charged with trespass and criminal damage (for a padlock worth
$25 which they did not break).
Prior to the lockdown a second rescue team had helped
film and document the conditions of the birds in the shed,
photos can be seen here...
14 hens were rescued from the shed and several of them
taken to the vet so their pitiful condition could be documented. You can
see details and
photos from the vet visit here...
Despite the attempt by the police to prevent media
coming near the egg factory, the lockdown was reported in The Age, The
Herald Sun, The Leader newspaper. And importantly footage of the
appalling conditions for the hens was shown on the Channel 10 news that
evening.
ALV would like to thank the four women, the
openrescue team and all the support crew who worked so hard to bring the
plight of egg laying hens to public attention."
"Parkwood Egg Farm, located in Macgregor ACT and owned
by Pace, is the ACT's only factory farm, housing between 100000 and
200000 layer hens in small cages. Last night, Parkwood was infiltrated.
Various items of equipment along the automated grading and packing
production line were damaged or destroyed in an attempt to cause
economic harm to those who profit from torture and murder. No equipment
relating to the welfare of the hens was touched; they will continue to
receive food and water.
While there are many such facilities across Australia,
this Canberra farm was chosen for two primary reasons: 1. Its
significance as the only factory farm in the seat of Australia's
parliament. 2. Its history as the target of multiple campaigns by a
number of different organisations over a span of twenty years, and its
consequent infamy across the nation; these campaigns, despite garnering
intense public outrage towards the facility, have failed to shut it
down.
A large quantity of free-range packaging was found at
the facility, with brands including Pace, Coles, and Woolworths Select.
It is therefore believed, though not confirmed, that Parkwood's battery
cage eggs are also packaged and distributed as free-range. The hens at
Parkwood are currently being emptied from their cages one shed at a time
and sent to slaughter, as they have reached 18 months of age and are no
longer producing at peak capacity. It is recommended that Pace uses this
opportunity to close down the facility and leave our nation's capital.
Already three sheds have been emptied, with only two remaining.
This action was intended to highlight not simply the
atrocities of the 'cage egg' but the ethical impossibility of justifying
the unnecessary torture and murder of any sentient being. Free-range
eggs, for example, still require the males to be macerated (ground up
alive) at birth, just like organic milk still requires the cows to be
repeatedly impregnated and their calves slaughtered. We cannot rely on
or be content with welfare regulations that ultimately seek to assure us
of humane slavery and slaughter, because slavery and slaughter can never
be humane. We did not improve the transport or living conditions of
human slaves traded across the Atlantic, we abolished the trade, and
again abolition must be our moral baseline.
It is time to question the validity of the Australian
identity. What values do we consider virtues? The icon of the Aussie
battler - the family-oriented farmer slaving in tough times for the good
of the country - is outdated and does not reflect the heavily
industrialised nature of modern livestock farming. Nor does it reflect
the severe environmental damage caused by such practices.
We need to ask ourselves, do we take pride in the
shadowy men who hide behind piles of blood money - the Frank Paces, the
Bob Inghams, the John and Simon Camilleris - or do we take pride in
those who fight for the oppressed; those who don't live by the legal law
of the day but instead by a universal moral law, acting out of
compassion and for a justice that discriminates not against race,
gender, age or species; the voices for all who cannot speak for
themselves yet scream unheard behind the closed doors of our nation's
factory farms? A true revolution of values will soon cause us to
question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present
policies, and to say of a system predicated upon hate and violence: This
is not just.
Consumers must be made aware of the truth behind the
meat, dairy and egg industries. Our politicians have the power to make
such information widely available, but choose not to because of the
industries' economic value, even if it means more Australians dying of
preventable diseases and disorders, more unnecessary soil degradation,
water scarcity, and greenhouse gas emissions, and the slaughter of
millions more animals every year.
The industries and their employees, on the other hand,
must be made aware that they are in danger of being exposed; that their
participation in these violent atrocities will no longer be tolerated,
and that the secrecy of their actions can no longer be guaranteed.
Members of the public, and of the parliament, must no
longer be afraid to stand up and make their voices heard; never through
violence but through the affirmation and embodiment of social and
ethical responsibility.
reported by Animal Freedom Aotearoa (click
here for more photos from the rescues):
"As summer begins we see spring�s new life rising high
from the soil and new animals born into this planet. Unfortunately for
most of the animals born into the agriculture industry, their fate is
exploitation, abuse and pre-meditated death. This spring, AFA rescued
two piglets from a pig factory farm, one bobby calf who had been
separated from his mother, and two young layer hens from an industrial
�free range� farm.
The conditions of the factory farm we found the piglets
in were typical of the �pork� industry. They were confined with their
siblings within metal and concrete walls under heated lights, while
their mother was in a farrowing crate unable to move around. The stench
of excrement was overwhelming as we entered the farm. In the farrowing
crates we noticed dead piglet bodies flattened on the faeces-encrusted
metal grills. The piglets had been mutilated, with clipped tails,
chopped teeth, and other situational injuries. The two piglets have been
freed from a life of misery and confinement that would have had them
slaughtered for what gets labelled in the supermarkets as �pork�, �ham�
and �bacon�.
When we rescued the bobby calf, we found him in a
paddock without his mother. He approached us and suckled on our hands as
if they were teats. The dairy industry artificially impregnates cows
every year to produce milk, and when their calves are born the male ones
generally are separated within 24 hours and shipped off to the
slaughterhouse. Bobby calves are treated as disposable by-products in
the dairy industry while their mothers are mere �production units�,
reproductive machines producing milk to massively profit dairy
companies.
The layer hens we rescued were found on an industrial
�free range� farm in a large shed, housing thousands of hens in close
confines. While they were not in battery cages and could flap their
clipped wings, they are still de-beaked, live in highly stressful
conditions and end up short-lived at the slaughterhouse. The two hens
were severely dehydrated when we found them. One of the hens had an
injured leg disallowing her from walking and barely able to stand. Under
the conditions she was rescued from, she almost certainly would have
died within days.
These animals have now been placed in new homes where
they can express themselves freely and exhibit their natural behaviours.
If you would like to help us continue our rescue work, you can
support by getting involved, providing a home for rescued animals, or
making a financial contribution. It is expensive and risky work rescuing
animals, but for the individual animals it is the most important thing
that could happen, in fact, it is their best chance for freedom.
"This World Farm Animal Day (October 2nd 2010) we
rescued five young goats from a zero graze dairy goat farm. Inspiration
for this rescue came earlier in the year when we were investigating two
Waikato farms with sheds full of pregnant goats around the time that the
goat Code of Welfare was released for public consultation.
No amount of regulation is going to save these goats
from being made pregnant every year only to have THEIR babies stolen and
sent to slaughter. Regulation is not going to stop them being milked
most days for five years before being sent to slaughter themselves.
Regulation is only ever going to perpetuate their existence as milk
machines for human profit.
These lucky young girls will never know the pain of
their mothers; instead they have a long life ahead of them full of love,
excitement, browsing trees, climbing and plenty of other cheeky goat
activities.
For love and liberation
Animal Freedom Aotearoa
For pics from our rescue click
here.
For images and details of our mini-investigation click
here."
According to media reports, power was cut and machinery
damaged at Edgeworth Knackery, a slaughterhouse near Newcastle (NSW),
during the night of July 8. 50+ Brumbies (wild horses), removed from a
national park, had been sent to the slaughterhouse earlier in the week.
The saboteurs claimed to have contaminated the horse's
water supply with phenylbutazone, an analgesic that is commonly used in
horses. A warning was painted at the slaughterhouse: "These horse have
been contaminated ... a 28-day withholding period before slaughter is
required ... if slaughtered we will publicise that your slaughter house
... is selling contaminated horse meat."
"Over the last month we have been on a couple of rescue
missions to broiler and battery hen farms in South Auckland. We rescued
four broilers from a farm just days before they were due to be killed.
When we entered the shed the broilers, about six weeks of age, were wing
to wing throughout the shed with little room to move about. The absence
of cages does not prevent their movement being restricted in these
conditions. Fortunately for the four who we rescued they will never have
to suffer such confinement again. They are now free to play in the grass
and enjoy the sun!
We also rescued and re-homed 14 battery hens.
On our first trip to the farm one of our rescuers spoke of a hen who
watched her every movement through a hole in the shed wall. When we
returned last week she was there in the same position watching us
through the same hole, as if waiting for us to come and take her some
place better. It was our privilege to do this for her and she will now
spend her days outside with her other chicken friends dust bathing,
pecking and doing what ever else takes her fancy :)
This action
is dedicated to the ALF and open rescue groups through out the world
risking their own freedom to give animals theirs.
New
Zealand Open Rescue news release (click
here
to watch a video about the campaign against pig factory farming in New
Zealand; the video includes footage from pig farms in the country and
the recent rescue of two piglets):
The Open Rescue team has saved two piglets from a
typical New Zealand pig farm. These piglets will now never have to
endure the legalised confinement and deprivation that their mothers
still endure. They will never feel the restriction of metal bars or be
treated like production machines.
Instead they are now free to run through the grass, to
play in hay and to dig in the earth - expressing all the natural
behaviours that are denied to hundreds of thousands of pigs imprisoned
on factory farms across New Zealand.
Open Rescuer John Darroch describes his part in the
rescue: 'Here were beautiful intelligent animals destined to a life of
misery and suffering. I had seen the conditions these pigs would have
been kept in and knew I had to do something to help them".
'For these two animals our rescue means the difference
between a life of misery and a meaningful existence. I'm sure I will
carry many of the things I saw for the rest of my life' says John.
NZ Open Rescue has saved several piglets from intensive
pig farms over the last few years starting with a
Mother's Day rescue in 2008. We will continue to save animals from
these 'farms', which are more like living nightmares, as long as
legislation continues to fail these beautiful and intelligent creatures.
"New national grassroots group Animal Freedom Aotearoa
carried out the open rescue of 111 layer hens from a factory farm
near Auckland. This action marked the start of our group and the
beginning of a campaign to take on the entire egg industry; including
free range and barn raised production systems.
The shed that we entered housed several thousand hens in
conditions typical of battery hen farms; about ten hens were crammed
into small cages with little room to move about, their beaks had been
trimmed and many had lost feathers from their necks, chest and back.
The hens that we rescued have been taken to a new home
where they can recover from life as a layer hen and start to enjoy the
life a hen should lead; dust bathing, running, flapping their wings and
building nests.
Today we followed up on this rescue with a demonstration
at the offices of the Egg Producers Federation in Newmarket.
Open rescues and demonstrations are just two tactics of
many that will be used to form our Egg Free Aotearoa campaign.
"On Monday the 25th of January, the ALF painted 'Burn
the Slaughterhouse' and 'Animal Liberation' on the walls of a meat
exporter in the north of Melbourne."
"This week we rescued a young lamb and goat from a
paddock outside a South Auckland slaughterhouse. This action was taken
so that they can live out their natural lives free from suffering.
"In celebration of World Vegan Day we glued the locks of
over a dozen Auckland businesses involved with meat production including
Halal butcheries, a bait shop, fish stores and a kebab meat truck.
"A series of meat and poultry wholesalers were
graffitied in an industrial area in Melbourne, Australia. They were
painted with slogans including 'Animals are not machines', 'Factory
farms are a living hell', 'Animal Liberation' and 'Meat Stinks'.
anonymous report: "On Sunday the 12th of July, the
ALF continued their harassment of Ralph's Meat Exporters in South
Melbourne by gluing the locks and covering the building in paint,
including 'Factory Farms are a living Hell' and 'ALF'."
May 11, 2009 -- ALF Targets Meat Exporter
anonymous report:
"On the morning of Wednesday the 8th of May, Ralph's
meat exporters in Melbourne, Australia were again targeted for profiting
from the death and suffering of countless animals. Locks were glued and
the walls were painted, signed 'A.L.F'."
April 13, 2009 -- Five Rabbits Rescued
Activists from the organization Animal Liberation removed five
rabbits from cages at a farm in southeastern New South Wales. The
rabbits were facing cruel slaughter (decapitation by circular saw while
fully conscious).
April 9, 2009 -- Prison Walls of Zoo Covered With Slogans
received anonymously:
"On the night of Sunday the 5th of April, the A.L.F covered the
prison walls of the Melbourne Zoo with slogans such as 'Animals are
not your for entertainment', 'Keep the animals in the wild' and
'Animal Liberation Now!'."
April 8, 2009 -- Locks Glued at Meat Company
anonymous report:
"On Sunday the 5th of April, locks were glued at the Melbourne head
office of Ralph's Meat Exporters. The building was covered with
Animal Liberation slogans and A.L.F was painted on the windows."
January 16, 2009 -- Circus Tent Slashed, Vehicles Sabotaged
According to media reports, the Loritz Circus was targeted during a
stop in Christchurch. Early on January 11, messages were painted on the
sides of an elephant trailer, the circus tent was slashed, paint was
splashed over vehicles and poured into the circus' diesel tanks. The
circus reported several thousand dollars in damages.
