Austrian Animal Rights campaigner visiting New Zealand

A prominent Austrian animal rights campaigner is visiting New Zealand to talk about the successful campaign to ban battery hen cages in Austria. Dr Martin Balluch is president of Austria's largest animal rights group and was a key figure in acheiving the outlawing of battery hen cages in Austria, a world first. He was one of ten Austrian animal rights campaigners arrested and jailed last year as part of police repression that was condemned by Amnesty International and several Austrian politicians.

Local campaigners are hoping to lessons learnt from Austria will help in the campaign against factory farming in New Zealand. Austrian campaigners succeeded in banning all battery cage farms and convincing every Austrian Supermarket to refuse to sell battery eggs.

Wellington Animal Rights Network spokesperson Mark Eden says "We are very pleased to have Dr Balluch visiting us and are confident that a ban on battery cages can be achieved here in New Zealand. The vast majority of the New Zealand public is opposed to battery farm cruelty and want to see the cages banned. The only thing preventing it is a lack of action from politicians, and that is something we intend to change".

Dr Balluch is touring New Zealand and speaking to local animal rights campaigners around the country and attending a national animal rights conference in Auckland on the weekend of 28th and 29th March.

If you would like to interview Dr Balluch, Please contact Mark Eden 021 026 49406

Biography of Martin Balluch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Balluch

Austrian animal rights movement successes http://www.vgt.at/erfolge/index_en.php

story of police repression in Austria in 2008 http://www.evana.org/index.php?id=34567&lang=en

ENDS

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