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Update on Tasmanian rescue court case On February 26, 2002 the Animal Liberation Victoria Rescue Team saved eight hens from PURE FOODS egg factory in Tasmania. (full story here) Following is the update by rescue team leader Patty Mark about the ensuing court case, in which she and Pam Clarke were charged with burglary and the stealing of eight hens. Tasmanian court case result June 3, 2002 All in all a good result, even though Magistrate Sam Mollard did convict us both of burglary and fined us $400 plus costs (for some reason I had more costs my total was $515 and Pam's $425). Both Pam and I told him we refused to pay fines on ethical grounds, he just shrugged his shoulders and said we could leave the court. BUT... in his summing up he really slammed PURE FOODS and made some really damaging comments about how bad the place was and that it was full of contaminants, the cobwebs reminded him of stalactites, the hens were in lousy conditions... inspection methods were inadequate etc (We have ordered a full court transcript). And he did comment that we were different from the normal burglar. The court was packed with media and Tasmania's three TV stations ran long stories that night, two were really really good and they replayed our footage inside the shed and quoted all the bad things the Magistrate said about the conditions in the shed.. (The other one ran footage given to them by the RSPCA (??!!) of a barn laid shed owned by the same company and one they endorsed). This was strange, but they did also mention the bad things the Magistrate said about the battery shed. The Hobart Mercury (who simply love Pam Clarke) ran it on the FRONT PAGE on Saturday's paper!! A huge pic of Pam holding a placard saying "Constantly jailed for being kind" it was so good!! Tassie's other two main newspapers also ran good stories. All the papers ran quotes on how we both had thousands of dollars of unpaid fines, which all get stuck under the carpet and ignored (which is true). We also said we'd go back into Pure Foods as soon as we built up our strength... and we will! Thanks to all those who sent such kind messages of support. For animals, Patty Mark, President Click photo for larger version
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