| 7
March, 2008
Footage Confirmed
as from Pitt's Poultry!
2pm Friday
7th March
Marine Board Building, 1 Franklin Wharf, Hobart
** Media Opportunity **
Emma Haswell, the Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania (AACT) member who filmed
shocking footage of animal welfare abuse at a battery hen farm operation,
will today deliver 3 signed Statutory Declarations to Primary Industries
Minister David Llewellyn and DPIW Biosecurity and Product Integrity General
Manager Alex Schaap in which she confirms that the footage was taken on
Thursday 28th February 2008 from Pitts Poultry Farm at Oyster Cove. The
statutory declarations will be accompanied by the footage taken at the
farm and will be delivered in person at 2:00p.m. to the DPIW offices in
the Marine Board Building, 1 Franklin Wharf.
Emma Haswell stated:
David Llewellyn is on the record as stating that a depopulation of
Pitts Poultry hens was taking place. Our footage confirms this. We were
in the midst of a huge depopulation with very few live hens remaining
in the shed, a giant pit dug into the ground and a truck and skip heaving
under a mass of dead carcasses.
Emma Haswell stated:
If the Department of Primary Industries is to be believed Pitts Poultry
was a model farm. Our footage demonstrates the absurdity of this view
and this has subsequently been confirmed by David Llewellyn who stated
in Parliament yesterday that the treatment of hens found in our footage
would not satisfy the requirements of Tasmanian law. If the Government
is going to maintain that Pitts Poultry is a model farm and the abuse
of hens is continuing then the Government must act and ban battery hen
farming.
Shane Dalgleish, AACT spokesperson stated:
The Government has no other choice other than to initiate a formal
and independent investigation into the matter given we have provided
irrefutable evidence of animal cruelty. The fact that the department
that enforces the animal welfare legislation - DPIW - is disputing the
veracity of the evidence demonstrates the levels the department will
go to protect the interests of industry and their own mediocre performance.
The Minister now has to intervene; show some leadership on the issue
and get to the bottom of this ugly mess to ensure that welfare of animals
is adequately protected. This is what the Tasmanian public rightly expects
and a fundamental responsibility of the government.
For further Information:
Emma Haswell – 0408 658 356
Shane Dalgleish – 0404 442 240
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