Farmers furious as court clears activist

[Animal 0]

Farmers furious as court clears activist

08may05

CLEARING animal rights activist Ralph Hahnheuser of criminal charges after he contaminated animal feedlots to stop live sheep exports has been slammed as a "licence for crime" by SA's peak farming body.

The SA Farmers' Federation outburst came as Mr Hahnheuser said he would not rule out committing a similar act as part of his protests.

Mr Hahnheuser, 42, of Semaphore, was cleared by a jury in the Geelong County Court on Friday of contaminating feed to cause economic loss.

The charge was laid after Mr Hahnheuser added pizza ham to an animal feedlot in Portland, Victoria, in November, 2003.

His said his goal was to stop the export of live sheep to the Middle East. Adding the pizza ham would have resulted in the sheep being rejected by Arab countries due to strict dietary laws.

SA Farmers' Federation chairman of the pork section Rob Berlin described the decision as a "licence for crime" and said it was sending the wrong message.

"It shows a lack of understanding by the judicial system about animal industries," he said. "How can you teach younger generations these are not the right things to do when these people . . . seem to get away with these things?

"It really is a mockery . . . and is not discouraging people from interfering with other people's livelihoods, just because they don't believe in it."

He also said the decision would mean farmers would have to protect themselves by installing better and more costly security systems.

Mr Hahnheuser said he was "not going to pre-empt whether I'm going to do it again".

"I will certainly look at that in further detail," he said.

"There is nothing unlawful about what I did.

"This is new legislation that has never been used anywhere in Australia and I'm the first person to be prosecuted.

"I was up-front about what I did and why I did it.

"The key point was I was able to save nearly 10,000 animals from cruel transport and ritual slaughter."

Mr Hahnheuser said the prosecution failed to prove that the intention of his protest was to cause the state of Victoria or farmers economic damage.

He said he had argued it would actually be more profitable to slaughter sheep in Australia than the Middle East, creating Australian jobs.

"They failed that test because live exports do not add up," he said.

"My main goal was to further public awareness about the cruelty of live exports."

He was unapologetic towards farmers affected by the two week delay in shipment of 50,000 sheep, which cost the livestock industry tens of thousands of dollars.

"I don't think any apology is needed or conceded in any way," he said.

SA Farmers' Federation president Jeff Klitscher said he was very disappointed in the court decision.

"It defies logic really," Mr Klitscher said.

"The evidence I saw said he did what he did."

At the time of the protest Mr Hahnheuser was described by the Victorian Farmers' Federation as committing an act of economic terrorism.

Mr Klitscher said he was concerned to learn that Mr Hahnheuser had not ruled out another protest.

Mr Hahnheuser is now leading a group called Australians Against Cruelty after recently resigning from Animal Liberation, the group he was with when he contaminated the feed.

Sunday Mail