Activists arrested for robbery of a chicken from sun valley have case dropped
Western Animal Rights Network | 23.05.2008 21:47 | Animal Liberation
Two activists that where arrested in connection with the theft of a live chicken from the Sun Valley Foods slaughterhouse in Hereford were today told the police would be taking no further action against them.
Two activists that where arrested in connection with the theft of a live chicken from the Sun Valley Foods slaughterhouse in Hereford were today told the police would be taking no further action against them.
One of the activists was arrested whilst leaving the site whilst the other, who was acussed of actually removing the chicken, voluntarily attended the police station at a mutual date.
The Sun Valley site in Hereford is one of the largest poultry abattoirs in the UK and the cost of the chicken to them is under 50p however this did not stop the company from kicking up a fuss but due to poor CCTV evidence and failed identification by witnesses, West Mercia Constabulary have decided there is insufficient effidence to prosecute. Sun Valley are responsible for supplying chicken to McDonalds and many other major supermarket chains; including the Co-Op Group who pride themselves ona high ethical and animal welfare policies.
See also - www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389024.html
One of the activists was arrested whilst leaving the site whilst the other, who was acussed of actually removing the chicken, voluntarily attended the police station at a mutual date.
The Sun Valley site in Hereford is one of the largest poultry abattoirs in the UK and the cost of the chicken to them is under 50p however this did not stop the company from kicking up a fuss but due to poor CCTV evidence and failed identification by witnesses, West Mercia Constabulary have decided there is insufficient effidence to prosecute. Sun Valley are responsible for supplying chicken to McDonalds and many other major supermarket chains; including the Co-Op Group who pride themselves ona high ethical and animal welfare policies.
See also - www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389024.html
Western Animal Rights Network
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Comments
Hide the following 13 comments
Another life saved with no crime paid!
23.05.2008 22:03
veg.a.
How did you cook the chicken?
23.05.2008 22:51
anonymous
Good news
24.05.2008 09:03
In solidarity! X
Miss X
RE: how did you cook the chicken?
24.05.2008 10:41
Western Animal Rights Network
Waste of lives
24.05.2008 15:58
veganbuddy
Something smells funny...
25.05.2008 12:13
Wasn't the arrest at Sun Valley used by the prosecution in the Sequani trial?
Something just seems wrong to me. I can sense it in my bones, although at my age that could just be my arthritus playing up ;)
Dutch Tony
RE: Something smells funny...
25.05.2008 20:45
If the CCTV was that bad then they might not have managed to even show that a chicken was taken. So what would the police be able to do - it's just the word of the staff...staff who couldn't identify someone positively. So for all they know it was just a couple of people trespassing, not even aggravated trespass if they hadn't been asked to leave and if it couldn't be proved that anything was taken or damaged.
However, there appears to have been a rise recently of the number of people police have been asking to give them info - Lynn Sawyer I heard was even asked! I think it shows that they're desparate to get information and are too incompetent to get it themselves, but, having been asked myself and finding out the things they offer you to try and sweeten you up, make it seem beneficial, I reckon there may be some people out there (quite a few if what they told me was true, but then it rarely is) who would agree to help them out...
Stay on your toes my friends, well done to the activists mentioned in the article.
Cat
Staying on toes..
26.05.2008 10:21
cluck
police dropped the chages as it was a poultry offence
26.05.2008 15:48
peter ambler
e-mail: tigger1946@fsmail.net
Agreed Cat
26.05.2008 21:59
I'd say that the people to look out for are those who get off or very light sentances or let off altogether whilst others get the book thrown at them. Also the main ones to be careful of are the ones that want to know what everyone else is up to in the area.
Be careful people
Dutch Tony
Don't be so para!
28.05.2008 14:25
The reason it was dropped was because 3 of the 4 witnesses couldn't pick out the activist that was alledged to have been seen running away with the chicken; the other witness couldn't make it through illness or something.
Secondly, the CCTV was crap and also showed the insides of the chicken 'loading sheds' where there was alledged to have been abuse aplently - would the police want to land Sun Valley in the shit?
And last of all from a corporate point of view. Sun Valley had been exposed the day before this happened, for cruelty in their chicken breeding units where the animals are kept from birth until they are old enough for slaughter. Next day, activists go to their chicken abattoir and witness distgusting and vomit-enduicing conditions, scared animals wallowing in filth with upto 10 odd
crates crammed full of live chickens above them (more than a battery cage, but the same size). One chicken is spontaniously liberated by one campaigner - when examined it has hock burns, is extremely unhealthy and very overweight for its young age. That evening (and throughout that week), the chicken meat industry is slammed for its factory farming by two highly-respected chefs and conditions exposed on national tv - resulting in a mass drop in sales costing the industry millions. That same week, local press cover that an animal is taken from Sun Valley and the police want to talk to another person who was last seen 'running with a live chicken under their arm'.
The last thing Sun Valley were going to want is a high profile case, for something that one of the main-men in Hereford CID himself compared to "petty shoplifting", which would result in raising the issues of animal welfare again and turning people away from eating chicken - especially when their clients include McDonalds, Co-Op and others who pride themselves on a high-ethical status in farm animal welfare. This would have cost them more than the apx. 50p that would have be gained through slaughter and sale of the liberated chicken.
Questions answered?
Long live Rocky!
Dutch Tony Blair?
Questions NOT Answered
28.05.2008 20:26
Was the arrest brought up in the Sequani case or not? Wasn't it nicely timed (for the prosecution) so that it happened right at the beginning of the case?
Why are any witnesses needed to identify the person who was arrested on site and who admitted aiding the escape of the chicken? Given West Mercia police campaign against animal rights people (eg Sequani case) I'm very surprised they and the CPS let this one slip away.
One minute you claim the CCTV was so bad it couldn't identify anyone the next you claim that it was so good that it would show horrible conditions for chickens (inside cages no less) in indoor lighting. Which is it? Is the CCTV good or bad, you can't have it both ways.
You are right I am paranoid because I've seen what police grasses can do first hand. I said before that this happened to my local group in Scotland back in the 80's, of course I'm paranoid about this.
Tony (Not Blair ;) )
Dutch Tony
the common sense thing is to go it alone
29.05.2008 09:50
peter ambler
e-mail: tigger1946@fsmail.net