Ten very debilitated battery hens suffering severe featherloss were rescued from the Golden Gate Poultry Farm north of Wellington, New Zealand on Easter Sunday at 1 pm in the afternoon.

Forty demonstrators from around New Zealand were joined by activists from Australia and the United States in a protest in front of the factory farm.

A rescue team freely entered two sheds on the property during the protest and were able to rescue the ten ill hens as well as gather distressing video footage of the birds tightly crammed in very old and small battery cages.

The hens were taken to a vet for treatment. The birds were emaciated and suffering from erythema, severe featherloss, badly mutilated beaks, overgrown claws and bleeding wounds on their bodies.

The protest followed a three day animal rights conference in Wellington organised by Mark Eden of Wellington Animal Action.

Patty Mark, Campaign Director of Animal Liberation Victoria said today:

"We are eager to fly to any part of the world to join with other animal activists to break into battery hen farms. Our colleagues in New Zealand are equally appalled at the cruel conditions inside the world's battery cage factories. We are determined to band together till all the hens are free!"

Romeo Gadze (in Melbourne) 0401 257 098
Patty Mark mobile 0417 396 236

Photo 1: Defeathered hens rescued from the Golden Gate Poultry Farm in New Zealand. Photo 2: Patty Mark, Campaign Director, Animal Liberation Victoria Inc, rescues a badly debeaked bird from the battery cages inside Golden Gate Poultry Farm.

For more information about the Action Animal Rescue Team, contact Patty Mark at amag@ihug.com.au