Victorian Battery Hen Rescue - Press Release
From: Patty Mark
media release December 11, 2000
ESCAPE IS THE ONLY OPTION!
19 Chickens Run Free From Victorian Egg Factory
PRESS CONFERENCE
Monday, December 11, 2000 at 11 am
2A Spray Street, Elwood 3184
The Action Animal Rescue Team, Australia's only animal rights group
dedicated to farmed animals, last night orchestrated a mass "CHICKEN
RUN" at Nature's Dozen Egg Farm, north of Melbourne.
19 battery hens found a way out of their cages but then found
themselves trapped in a giant manure pit below. The activists then
aided their great escape from this enormous factory which imprisons
120,000 hens.
The hens, who will flaunt their freedom at today's press conference,
will live out their natural lives at lush animal sanctuaries, and
will never become "chicken pie."
The Action Animal Rescue Team have repeatedly rescued dozens of hens
from this manure dungeon. Last night's "run" was the fourth time
this year the activists have broken in and raided the property. The
police and RSPCA have been notified each time and continue to turn a
blind eye, both to the starving animals and to several forced
entries.
The Action Animal Rescue Team vows to help chickens run from the
appalling and inhumane conditions inside Australia's egg factories
until all are free!.
Rescue Team member Romeo Gadze said today:
"No hen deserves to die in her own waste. The current movie, CHICKEN
RUN shows that hens can be heroes too. To know them is to love them.
The birds rescued last night, like Ginger, Rocky and friends, have
experienced an exodus to freedom that 10 million battery hens
imprisoned around Australia can only dream about."
further information: Romeo Gadze 0401 257 098
Patty Mark (03) 9531 4367
VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE 'RUN' AVAILABLE
Australian hen rescue update
From: Patty Mark
I wish you could all see these 19 angels basking in the warm
Australian summer sun..i've never seen such a group bath before!!!!
we'll get photos online asap. These girls have never even SEEN the
sun before and they took to it with pure BLISS. Mind you, forgot to
say they were SWARMING (and i mean swarming) with mites. Just lifting
one bird out of the rescue box had hundreds of mites running up your
arms....
All the hens are debilitated, defeathered, exhausted, but
ALIVE and FREE. most of them have faecal balls hardened on their
claws in varying degrees of size depending on how long they were
trapped in that manure pit.
One TV station (7) came to press conference (the others all
apologised saying they have covered our raids so often now, they
don't want to be "branded" so until something really changes or "the
rspca" does something they'll have to leave it....
but we got lots of radio and maybe something in the paper
tomorrow. We really hit out at police on national ABC radio. We
admitted that this time we broke in (busted the lock on the door, as
we knew the hens were locked inside with no food or water. And only
did this after FOUR rescues this year with the police and RSPCA doing
nothing!!!!
Well, i think we finally got to the police...(the police just
ignore us lately when we go in and do the rescues and i think the
industry has warned all members to ignore us also so there is no
media) I've had several calls from police today however, and i think
they're getting worried. The owner of the factory threatened one
radio station who named them... he tried to deny it even happened
(even though he complained to the police).
I've told the police that if they don't help or prosecute
this place we will CONTINUE TO BREAK AND ENTER... and if anything
happens to us we'll sue them for not looking after us, as their
negligance will be the cause!!! (this is when I started to get more
calls from the CIB)
keep in mind we have HARD HITTING video evidence over almost
a year of on-going cruely and abandonment of hens to slowly starve to
death in their manure pits... the video would make you cry...
will keep you all updated....
with you in spirit and strength till all the hens are free!!
patty and the rescue team
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