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ALF Strike Fife Deer Farm

CH | 26.03.2006 22:45 | Animal Liberation

A deer farm praised for its animal welfare standards was attacked by animal rights activists late on the night of Wednesday 22nd March. Hundreds of metres of fencing were cut down and slogans painted on the road leading to family-run Reediehill Farm near Auchtermuchty.

Grafitti on the Road Sign
Grafitti on the Road Sign

Fencing cut down and left on site
Fencing cut down and left on site

6-foot tall Deer Fencing cut
6-foot tall Deer Fencing cut

ALF Claiming the Action
ALF Claiming the Action

No Deer Escaped
No Deer Escaped


The slogans included "Wildlife Prison", "Scum" and "ALF See U again soon". Fences were cut down from four of the six fields, including six foot high double fencing to keep the deer away from hedgerows and tree plantations. None of the herd of 450 deer chose to escape through the holes cut or were injured on the rolls of fencing left lying in the fields. A member of the family pointed out that deer have escaped in the past but made their own way back to the farm.

The residents were distraught and baffled as to why they had been targeted. "Why don't they go free some battery chickens instead?" asked a friend of the family. No animal welfare concerns have ever been raised about the herd, kept outdoors in several acres of field and slaughtered on site. On the contrary, the vets and hygiene inspectors who work with the family are said to be impressed by how humanely the system is run. The Chief Executive of Compassion in World Farming condemned the action, saying "clearly farming systems that involve the animals enjoying an outdoor environment where they are not subjected to transport stress or alien environments at slaughter are far better than the factory farmed conditions that most farm animals endure".

The locally-produced venison is sold mostly through Farmers' Markets and by mail order. In many ways the farm is the antithesis of mass, industrial meat production, raising questions of whether it was chosen to be "visited" because it was perceived as a soft target by the activists.

CH


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