Friday 6 April 2007

Open Rescue Collective

As a gesture of goodwill this Easter, the Easter Bunny, helped by animal rights activists from the Open Rescue Collective, broke into a South Auckland battery hen farm and rescued 10 battery hens from their cages.

Click for big version

Click for big version

Click for big version

Farm workers were left vegan Easter eggs and a Happy Easter card explaining the reasons for the rescue.

The Easter Bunny explains that while eggs are traditionally a symbol of new life, this symbol has been perverted as eggs laid by hens kept in battery cages are the product of a lifetime of suffering and deprivation.

“The rescued battery hens have been placed into good homes and are enjoying grass, fresh air and sunshine for the first time in their lives” says Open Rescue spokesperson Deirdre Sims.

“We carried out this action to highlight the suffering of battery hens. Hens confined in battery cages are denied their most basic natural behaviours. They can’t even walk or stretch their wings.”

“This Easter, we urge the New Zealand public to follow the example of the Easter Bunny by refusing to support cruelty. Boycott caged eggs and help bring new life to battery hens.”

© Scoop Media

Denniston Announcement: Coal Mine Gains Access Approval

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced his approval under the Crown Minerals Act for an access agreement for Bathurst Resources for its Escarpment Mining Project on the Denniston Plateau, near Westport.

“This approval is for an open-cast mine on 106 hectares of the 2026 hectares that comprise the Denniston Plateau. This area is not National Park, nor Conservation Park nor does it have any particular reserve status...

“The loss of conservation values is compensated by a $22 million package by Bathurst Resources. This will fund pest and predator control over 25,000 hectares of the Heaphy River catchment in the Kahurangi National Park, 4,500 hectares on and around the Denniston Plateau, as well as for historic projects on the Plateau itself. This is More>>