Activists document cruelty and rescue 20 battery hens

Auckland Animal Action received the following communique from anonymous animal rights activists who recently rescued 20 battery hens from appalling conditions:

"Egg Affair is a battery hen farm situated at 62 Barrett Road, Albany, Auckland. We have visited this farm on several occasions, rescuing hens from disturbing conditions and documenting what we have found.

We recently rescued 20 battery hens from this farm and have since placed them into loving homes where they will live out the rest of their natural lives free from exploitation and suffering.

To gain access to these hens we were forced to walk through thigh deep manure, which had collected in huge piles at the ends of the sheds. There were times that our legs would sink so deep into the excrement that we would wonder when our feet would hit solid ground. The smell was almost over powering, the ammonia fumes leaving burns on our lips and nostrils.

After wading our way through this manure, we reached the door of the shed, only to find it locked. However, we could see the hens in confinement in their cages through some wire meshing and were determined to reach them. We proceeded to remove the door from its hinges, then stepped into the building filled with thousands of imprisoned hens.

The shed was pitch black, which made it difficult to remove the hens from their cages but as we did so, we could feel that their thin bony bodies were almost completely devoid of any feathers and this made us even more determined to rescue as many as we could carry. Upon inspection in the light, we could see that the hens had been debeaked and that their skin showing in featherless patches was an angry red colour.

In an earlier visit to Egg Affair, we had obtained extensive daylight video footage clearly showing the appalling conditions prevalent in this farm. The footage shows piled up manure, touching the cage bottoms and hens in near featherless condition obviously suffering from severe psychological and physical stress.

This year alone, over 100 battery hens have been rescued from factory farms around Auckland by animal rights activists who have lost faith in a legal system which allows the immense suffering and exploitation of over 2.8 million battery hens in New Zealand. A large portion of the New Zealand public have expressed their opposition to the battery cage system, however our government continues to consistently ignore the public outcry against this caged cruelty. As long as our laws are unjust, we will continue to rescue hens from intensive battery farms, placing them in homes where they will receive the respect which they deserve as sentient creatures."

After receiving this communique Auckland Animal Action proceeded to do some further research. We found that the Egg Affair was first incorporated as a company in April 2001, but were put into liquidation by the Inland Revenue in October 2003.

EGG AFFAIR (2002) LIMITED was incorporated in June 2002, and EGG AFFAIR 2004 LIMITED was incorporated in September 2004. EGG AFFAIR (2004) LIMITED was struck off just last week on the 15th of July 2005. These all appear to be the same company.

For further information, or for a copy of the video footage and high resolution photographs from the Egg Affair farm, contact AAA spokesperson Deirdre Sims on 021 175 1399.

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