Animal Liberation Victoria's Open Rescue on Network TV
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Animal Liberation Victoria (ALV)
May 2010

On March 19 ALV's Openrescue team investigated Parkhurst Farms outside Werribee. Karen Barlow from ABC's Lateline interviewed ALV President Patty Mark after the investigation which again exposed the shocking and ongoing cruelty on this property. ALV have investigated Parkhurst Farms more than twenty times over the past six years. The eight sheds on the property contain a total of 320,000 birds (in each batch). Birds were found dying from hunger and thirst as they were either too small, weak or crippled to reach the food and water outlets.

In just over an hour inside one section of Shed 1 the rescue team collected over 52 rotting corpses. The crippled chicks were forced to eat these putrid and rotting corpses that lay strewn on the compacted excrement floor. ALV rescued 22 crippled and ill birds needing urgent veterinary care from the property.

Below is the Cruelty Complaint ALV President Patty Mark submitted to the Wyndham City Council, the Minister of Agriculture and the RSPCA, all legal authorities with the power to prosecute for cruelty. NO action has yet been taken by any of these bodies. We have been trying to get help for these birds for six years, if and when the authorities act, we WILL let you know!

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Parkhurst Farms Atrocity

Wyndham City Council
Minister of Agriculture
RSPCA

Dear Sir/Madam - hoping ONE of you will do something about this,

Re: Parkhurst Farms, Bulban Road, LIttle River - Ongoing Aggravated Cruelty to 1.6 Million Birds Yearly

I do not hesitate in the slightest to title this email PARKHURST FARMS ATROCITY. Each of your Authorities are well aware of Animal Liberation Victoria's extensive investigation of this property during 2004-2005. A photographic 65 page Cruelty Complaint, plus vet reports and 80 minutes of video footage filmed during our investigation was submitted to each of your Authorities in April 2005.

When we appealed to you in this report five years ago to take action to help these defenceless infant birds, we were totally ignored. At this time only four sheds were in operation, and unbelievably, Wyndham Council continued to allow Parkhurst Farms to build yet another four sheds. Currently 1,600,000 birds are suffering every year at this location. (8 Sheds, 40,000 chicks per shed, 5 batches per year).

We have not forgotten these birds, but our despair and frustration at not knowing where to turn to for help is overwhelming. Our latest visit to these sheds (Last Friday March 19) has left us not only emotionally destroyed but physically ill (yet again). I am attaching a small sample of the 200 photographs I took on March 19 inside Shed 1 on Bulban Road. Five rescue team members spent approximately 85 minutes in only a small area of this shed. During this time we pulled out 51 badly decomposing bodies, some so rotten body parts were falling out. We found crippled birds laying on these rotting corpses. One badly crippled bird (who could not reach the food or water outlets) was nestled on top of a putrid body pulling bits of flesh from the oozing corpse and eating it.

A sample of conditions we witnessed on Friday March 19, as well as numerous other times consistently since 2004:

* Sick and crippled birds unable to access food and water
* overheated birds who were panting continuously (in the thousands)
* wet soggy litter - a breeding ground for infections
* overcrowding
* numerous badly decomposing bodies left to rot with live birds
* broken feeders
* lame birds unable to walk properly

I have copied below my letter sent to you five years ago on April 16, 2005 and will resend, in a separate email, a lo-res version of ALV's 65 page photographic Cruelty Report also sent in April 2005 for the benefit of new Councillors.

This is not only a hideously cruel operation, but poses serious and grave health risks for consumers. We visit numerous of these pitiful and disgusting animal farms and hope it doesn't take a global pandemic killing millions of humans until something is done.

For animals
Patty Mark, President/Founder
Animal Liberation Victoria Inc.

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