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.





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ENDS.



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