New Zealand Open Rescue

Today I appeared in the Hamilton District Court as a result of a protest earlier this year. A few months ago I locked myself to a silo on a pig farm to draw attention to cruel nature of pig farming. I was hoping that through actions like mine we would see a phase out of the factory farming of pigs through the new Code of Welfare for Pigs. The protest which received national media attention ended with the police cutting me from the silo and charging me with Trespass. As a result today I and around ten supporters travelled to Hamilton for my court case and to hold an awareness raising protest outside the court.

Before court started we held an hour long picket, displaying photos taken recently inside pig farms and holding a banner reading “Factory Farmed Pigs Suffer”. We received a lot of support from passers by with many stopping and talking to us about what we were doing. Several people going into the court mentioned they had worked on pig farms, of these most supported our protest. We later heard our protest was the talk of the court with many lawyers highly interested in who we were and what we were doing.

At ten am we headed into court for what was supposed to be my trial. We quickly found out that far too many cases had been booked for our court room and after a considerable delay my trial was postponed. This was a considerable disappointment and an inconvenience for my supporters, family and wonderful lawyer who had all travelled for the trial. After some negotiation we managed to get another date on September the 10th in the Hamilton District court. Once again supporters are welcome to attend on this date.

While I am proud of my action I am deeply saddened that little progress has been made over the past few months. Over the past 18 months there has been widespread consumer opposition and disgust at current pig farming practices. Despite this the final draft Code of Welfare for Pigs before Agriculture Minister David Carter in October looks like it will do little for the pigs suffering and dying in farms across New Zealand. Open Rescue and groups like us will continue to work to expose conditions in these farms and rescue animals from a lifetime of misery. Regardless of the eventual outcome of this trial I am committed to taking action on behalf of these animals which cannot speak for themselves.

John Darroch

New Zealand Open Rescue activist John Darroch, will appear in Hamilton District Court at 10am tomorrow defending charges after chaining himself to a piggery in Roto-O-Rangi near Cambridge earlier this year.  Darroch is charged with trespass and unlawfully being in a building.

Darroch chained himself to a 6-m tall silo on the Roto-O-Rangi piggery in protest against legalised cruelty within the New Zealand pork industry. Darroch was prepared to occupy the farm for up to two days and nights but was cut free by police after a day’s occupation.

The action was timed with a government review of the Code of Welfare that regulates how pigs are farmed. A Colmar Brunton Survey carried out late last year showed that 77% of New Zealanders want a ban on sow stalls and farrowing crates, yet the Pork Board has consistently refused to change cruel farming practices.

Darroch says, “A Levin piggery owned by ex-Pork Board member Colin Kay was recently exposed for the third time by New Zealand Open Rescue. This is the same farm that shocked former pork industry frontman Mike King. We couldn’t believe that despite the public outrage, conditions at this piggery were actually worse.

“We have since inspected other piggeries across the country, including a facility at Hawera, and we have found consistently horrific conditions”.

New Zealand Open Rescue would like to follow up at the Roto-O-Rangi piggery and see if conditions there have changed, however the Pork Board is working to ensure that doesn't happen.

Darroch says, “A private investigation firm was used to track down the homes and workplaces of a number of our members and serve them trespass notices to prevent them from re-entering the Roto-O-Rangi piggery. Clearly the Pork Board prefers to have their farms hidden behind closed doors.

“Our legislation is failing these animals. What will it take to change this industry? How much more legalised cruelty do we need to expose before the Pork Board and the government finally act to clean up their mess?”

Recently the Tasmanian government announced a ban on sow stalls. Australia’s largest pork producer, Riverlea, has banned the use of sow stalls and the Australian supermarket chain Coles will no longer sell pork from pigs raised in sow stalls. Open Rescue questions why the New Zealand pork industry is falling so far behind.

“The final draft Code of Welfare for Pigs will be before the Minister of Agriculture David Carter in October. We would like to see some concrete changes for pigs in the new Code but we are not hopeful. The Pork Board puts economics first and refuses to change despite public outrage.

“We will continue to expose the pork industry and carry out non-violent civil disobedience as long as our animal welfare legislation is nothing more than a regulatory facade” concludes Darroch.

15 months after New Zealand Open Rescue and former Pork Industry front man Mike King investigated Colin Kay’s Levin piggery, the Open Rescue team has inspected the farm again - only to find that, unbelievebly, the conditions for the pigs have actually worsened!

Spokesperson Deirdre Sims says, “Despite the massive public outcry following the Mike King pig farming expose, absolutely nothing has changed for these animals. The conditions we found recently at Colin Kay’s Levin pig farm were actually worse than what we witnessed with Mike King 15 months ago.

“We re-visited the very same sow stall shed that we took Mike into. As well as the legalised confinement the sows were suffering under in their tiny stalls, we also documented many sows with open, infected wounds - one of which had turned gangrenous.

“We discovered one sow with an injured ear. Her ear was massively swollen and bloody. Blood from this wound covered her face and body, the bars confining her and even the sow next to her.

“Prime Minister John Key said he found the first images from this farm 'very, very disturbing'. The fact that conditions on this farm have only gotten worse since the original expose is outrageous and appalling. Colin Kay's farm needs to be closed down immediately. It is completely unacceptable that the pigs on Kay's farm continue to suffer in these horrific conditions.

"The New Zealand public are largely compassionate people that care about the treatment and well being of animals. Open Rescue appeals to New Zealander's to use their consumer power to make change for animals confined on factory farms. Ultimately its the people of New Zealand that will force these cruel and archaic industries to change their abhorrent practices" says Ms. Sims.

New Zealand Open Rescue works to expose the cruelty behind the closed doors of intensive animal production. The organisation inspects farms across the country at random and always uncovers the same appalling cruelty. This is because the cruelty of these intensive industries is legally sanctioned, reducing our animal welfare legislation to a regulatory facade.

Our Animal Welfare Act and the Codes of Welfare offer no protection for these animals. Rather they are treated as mere production units instead of as the intelligent and sensitive creatures that they are. Factory farming must end.

Well finally New Zealand Open Rescue have our own website! You'll see lots of changes here over the next few months as we add stuff and customise the site more, so keep your eyes peeled!

Last year (2009) we collaborated with band 8 Foot Sativa, Meat Free Media and Sunset Studios to make a music video for the band's song Sleepwalkers. NZ Open Rescue provided footage from our investigations of factory farms and slaughter houses for this hard-hitting video. You can watch the video here

In 2009 we took former Pork Board frontman Mike King inside a pig factory farm, enabling Mike to confront the cruel reality of this industry for the first time. Our investigation with Mike was a key element of a highly successful expose on the NZ pork industry that was showcased on TVNZ's Sunday show.

And 2010 is going to be another busy year for NZ Open Rescue! The Code of Welfare for Pigs is currently being reviewed and the Code of Welfare for Layer Hens is due for review later in the year. So it really is a big year for challenging factory farming in NZ. Watch this space!