From Animal Freedom Aotearoa's website www.animalfreedom.org.nz

It was before first light on Sunday 20th February. After careful planning the Coalition to End Factory Farming (New Zealand Open Rescue, Animal Freedom Aotearoa and the Wellington Animal Rights Network) set off for a battery hen farm in Tuakau. Around 6am Coalition members, corporate media and our own team of camera toting documenters converged at the entrance to the factory farm.

By around 6:35am two well prepared protesters from the Coalition were atop two 7 metre high feed silos, holding up banners that read 'ban cages', and 'battery hens suffer' to highlight the plight of the birds in the sheds below. Another larger banner was attached high to the front of the silos. The sickening stench of the farm permeated our nostrils in waves.

As the day progressed more caring people came to join us in opposition to Factory Farming. Tasty vegan foods kept us well sustained and in good cheer.The Tuakau farm is situated on a high traffic rural road and we recieved an overwhelmingly positive response from countless motorists, many stopped to express their disgust with the cruel ways the hens are kept and factory farming in general, showing a keen awareness of many issues.Locals joined us, taking up placards and banners. Some local children even baked us biscuits to help keep up energy levels, amazing!

Overall, we received a lot of media coverage from a broad section of corporate media, as well as our own media who were uploading images and messages from the demo throughout the day, we received a lot of positive feedback and some people even responded directly by coming out and joining the protest.

Coalition media spokespeople appeared on television news shows making clear, well backed arguments in favour of abolishing factory farming and when possible against farming in general. 

There was a fluctuating number of police throughout the day with little impact on our activities other than trespassing protesters from the farm.

Overall we had a strong presence and a good turn out. We wish to say a big thanks to all who got involved! 
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Activists from Coalition to End Factory Farming (New Zealand Open Rescue, Animal Freedom Aoteaora and the Wellington Animal Rights Network) occupied a battery hen farm in Tuakau recently. Deirdre Sims and Marie Brittain chained themselves to seven-metre high silos on the farm. Sims and Brittain undertook the action to draw attention to the cruelty inherent of factory farming.

Dozens of supporters holding banners, placards and chicken costumes were outside the farm. Sims and Brittain were prepared to stay in their position occupying the factory farm overnight but came down voluntarily after police agreed not to arrest them.

Ms Sims said, “Over the past year we have been involved in investigating many battery hen farms the across the country. What we've seen is both shocking and sadly typical of factory farms in New Zealand.”

“It is heartbreaking to see inside these sheds. You see row upon row of caged hens that are treated as nothing more than egg producing machines, unable to carry out the most basic natural behaviours such as wing stretching and walking.”

88 per cent of the 3 million layer hens in New Zealand are kept confined and suffering in cruel cages.

“Our action was not aimed at any particular farm but at the egg industry which is inherently cruel and a government which refuses to act,” says Ms Sims.

Coalition to End Factory Farming believes the new draft Code of Welfare for Layer Hens is appallingly inadequate as hens will still be confined in cages for many decades to come.

“The egg industry is proposing to introduce colony cages as a replacement for existing battery cages. But colony cages still breach welfare legislation as they do not allow hens to express their normal behaviour. A cage is a cage no matter how the Egg Producers Federation tries to spin it.”

In 2006 Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee ruled that battery cages were in breach of the Animal Welfare Act 1999.

“This means that we have illegal systems in place sanctioned by our government, purely so that these industries can continue to make a profit - this is completely unacceptable,” says Ms Sims.

“A Colmar Brunton poll showed that around 80 per cent of New Zealander's think battery cages are cruel. The public want change and, in an election year, it would pay for the government to listen.

“Until factory farming practices cease to exist, we will continue to expose animal cruelty and carry out non-violent civil disobedience actions," concludes Ms Sims.

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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

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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.

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View photographs from today's civil disobedience here

Watch the TV3 news coverage here

New Zealand Open Rescue member John Darroch has today began an occupation of a pig farm near Cambridge, locking himself to a silo on the farm. Darroch is taking this action to draw attention to the cruelty inherent in factory farming. Supporters with banners, placards and pig costumes are also outside the farm. Darroch is prepared to stay in his position occupying the factory farm for up to two days.  

Darroch says, “Over the past month I have been in several pig farms in the Waikato. What I have seen is both shocking and sadly typical of factory farms in New Zealand.  

“It was heartbreaking to see sows who had just given birth. They were completely unable to carry out any of their natural behaviors and could do no more than stare as we walked around. These mother pigs would never be able to build a nest for their young or nurse them as they wanted.

“Today's action is not aimed at this particular farm, which is acting lawfully. It is aimed at an industry which is inherently cruel, and a government which refuses to act.”  

New Zealand Open Rescue believes the new draft Code of Welfare for pigs is inadequate. Sows can still be confined in crates for their entire lives until 2013, limited to 20 weeks by 2013 and 10 weeks 2018. When not in crates pigs will still be unable to enjoy life outdoors - sows are typically confined in barren concrete group housing while their piglets are confined in concrete fattening pens.  

“Even in the best case scenario proposed to be implemented in 2018 sows can still be confined in crates for 10 weeks per year. The rest of their life is likely to be in barren concrete group housing which isn't much better. NAWAC's previous history in ignoring public submissions gives me little faith that the situation will improve” says Darroch.  

New Zealand Open Rescue wishes to put pressure on Minister of Agriculture David Carter to fix up the loopholes in the Animal Welfare Act which allow Codes of Welfare to be implemented that to do not meet the basic principles of the Act.  
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