Today Rochelle and I were hanging out in Levin, as you do on a Saturday afternoon, and decided to go check out the local layer hen slaughterhouse.
There was no one around so we decided to climb the fence and see if anyone was there and see if there was a possible opportunity to take some pictures.
There was no one there so we took some photos of where the hens are shackled upside down on a conveyer belt, electrocuted, killed and have their feathers removed.
Rochelle went back over the fence to get the video camera just as the owners happened to be driving by; oops.
They stopped and called the Police.
After stashing the cameras, I came back over the fence to meet the Police.
After a chat with them I was arrested for unlawfully being in an enclosed yard and taken to the Levin cop shop to be processed. Rochelle was left on the side of the road with our ginger kitten to play with.
Before leaving the Police unlawfully searched my car. We called our lawyer and confirmed that the search was unlawful because a search pursuant to arrest can only be carried out if the person is charged with something carrying a penalty of at least six months imprisonment. Unlawfully being in an enclosed yard only carries a penalty of three months.
Rochelle requested that they stop searching the car and told them that the search was unlawful; when they would not listen she tried to pass them the cell phone to talk to our lawyer, however they were not interested and confiscated stuff from the car anyway.
Rochelle went to talk to the Senior Police Officer about the search and was assaulted by the female slaughterhouse owner, who grabbed the cell phone out of her hand and hung up on the lawyer. The Police had to step in to stop her and get the cell phone back.
I was processed at the Levin Police Station fairly quickly, yay for small towns, they even drove me back to my car and escorted me out of town cos I am no longer allowed anywhere near Levin. Rochelle and I thought this Police escort was hilarious as we blasted ‘fuck the law’ from our car.
After speaking with our lawyer she thinks I have a good case because filming is not an unlawful purpose. I have court in Levin at 9am this Thursday 17th of December.
We will be having a demo outside the court and then moving it on the slaughterhouse afterwards. It would be good if people can come as we would like to get local media.
The slaughterhouse is owned by Henry Poultry Farm.
[rocky – with the greatest of respect – I’ve deleted the contact details – please reconsider whether it’s a good idea to post such things here? — r0b]
[r0b-fair enough. I had about 5 minutes of internet earlier (I’ve now figured out how to use the old 2G vodem lprent gave me) and copied and pasted what Jasmine had written up for our animal rights private mailing list. I think getting people to contact the owner is a valid protest action, but I guess posting on a private list is a little different to posting in a public forum where there is absolutely no control over what people decide to do with those contact details. I will think more carefully about it in future. — rocky]
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