The following press release has just been issued in New Zealand by Auckland
Animal Action.  Derogatory comments about the farmer concerned have been
deleted.  By forwarding it to this forum for your information, I am not
(R) not endorsing the comments in this release, or the actions of the
Animal Liberation Front.  I will be preparing a statement on this issue
for the New Zealand Ferret Protection and Welfare Society Incorporated,
which should be released after our Executive Committee meeting next week.
 
John Chessum
Secretary
Ferret PAWS (NZ) Inc
 
PRESS RELEASE
 
July 15th 2000
 
Activists raid ferret farm, 200 animals released, breeding records
destroyed
 
An underground animal rights group has claimed responsibility for a raid
on a Waikato ferret farm.  The Hamilton Animal Liberation Front says it
released 200 ferrets from cages on the farm, damaged equipment, and
destroyed most of the farms breeding records.
 
Mystic Ferrets is a factory farm owned by Bruce Hollamby that has bred
ferrets to be killed and skinned for the fur trade for at least twenty
years.  Recently they have become the main supplier of ferrets to the pet
shop industry.  Hundreds of ferrets spend their entire lives confined in
tiny wire cages similar to a battery hen cage
 
The ALF sent an anonymous message to sympathetic animal rights groups
saying it had released the ferrets from their cages and into the
surrounding farmland early on Thursday morning.  This was aimed at causing
maximum disruption to the farmer who would have to try and round them up
again, and some ferrets would be able to escape and survive in the wild.
 
The most serious disruption for the farmer would be the destruction of his
breeding records.  Ferret farms depend on accurate breeding records to
survive economically.  The destruction of the breeding records will almost
certainly force the company out of business.
 
A spokesperson for a sympathetic animal rights group said "This action
means at least some of the ferrets will have a chance at freedom, rather
than a life of suffering in a wire cage.  And in the long term it will
hopefully lead to the closure of the farm."
 
Auckland Animal Action spokesperson Michael Bone said his group had
previously received copies of photos from the farm showing rows of filthy
wire cages the same size as a battery chicken cage, with up to three
ferrets in each cage.
 
The government should ban ferret farming in New Zealand.  There is no
excuse for keeping these intelligent animals confined in cruel conditions
like the ones at this ferret factory farm.
 
IMPORTANT: The Animal Liberation Front is a network of anonymous small
groups who carry out direct action against animal abuse.  We have no
contact with the ALF other than receiving anonymous messages describing
their actions.
 
Auckland Animal Action
Phone 021 128 7943
[Posted in FML issue 3125]