Egg farm owners get violent during peaceful protest
Egg farm owners visited by peaceful protest
Press release: STOP Craddock Farms
Date:
29/03/2015
This morning around 30 animal activists from 'STOP Craddock Farms' confronted egg farmers at Craddock Farms, a cage egg producer in Pukekohe.
Craddock Farms want to build New Zealand's
biggest caged hen factory farm in Patumahoe. Auckland City
Council declined their application earlier this year but
Craddock Farms are appealing in the Environment
Court.
Today, without permission, the activists
entered the Pukekohe-based farm with straw and silverbeet
for the hens and vegan sausage rolls for the
workers.
"Caged hens are deprived of straw to scratch
and nest in. And they don't get anything green or fresh to
eat. Instead they stand on hard wire and eat dry pellets,"
says STOP Craddock Farms spokesperson Deirdre
Sims.
"We didn’t want to cause an upset but we
wanted to give Craddock Farms' caged hens something to
brighten their day. Unfortunately the owners of the farm,
Dwight and Stefan Craddock, became violent. The men grabbed
protesters, threw rocks at our cars and made verbal threats.
This was despite us being completely peaceful and
non-threatening. We were shaken and shocked at their
behavior,"
[SCOOP EDITOR'S NOTE: The Farm has since issued a statement making a blanket denial that these events occurred - CLICK HERE.]
"Despite this, we'll keep working hard to
stop Craddock Farms from building the biggest caged hen farm
in our country," says Ms. Sims.
ENDS.