SA: Farmers brand activist's fine a 'reward' for wrongdoing

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-2004
SA: Farmers brand activist's fine a 'reward' for wrongdoing

ADELAIDE, April 2 AAP - Farmers are outraged at a $140 court fine given to an animal
liberationist they describe as a "serial pest".

Animal rights activist Ralph Hahnheuser, 39, was fined $140, with no conviction, in
the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday for trespassing at a piggery east of Adelaide
last year.

Hahnheuser, of Semaphore in Adelaide's west, had pleaded guilty to trespassing and
causing $30 worth of property damage at the piggery.

He admitted to entering the Tailem Bend piggery in January last year and welding shut
three stalls he claimed were too small.

Hahnheuser today said the size of stalls at the piggery were "illegal in many countries
and, quite frankly, disgusting".

But South Australian Farmers' Federation spokesman Rob Berlin said the court sentence
was "a joke".

"This decision sends out the message that you can do the wrong thing, admit to doing
the wrong thing, and walk away virtually scot-free," Mr Berlin said.

"Hahnheuser's illegal actions have been rewarded instead of punished, with his high
profile as a serial pest earning him unwarranted publicity.

"If this is justice being served, then the system appears to be seriously flawed."

Hahnheuser called on Australia to follow other countries including the United Kingdom
and New Zealand in phasing out the stalls in favour of group pens.

The farmers' federation said it would seek a meeting with SA Attorney-General Michael
Atkinson about the court decision.

Hahnheuser said the SA government lagged behind other states in dealing with animal cruelty.

"Premier (Mike) Rann might say he's tough on crime, but he's soft on animal cruelty,
soft on animal crime," he said.

"I have been to every major piggery in the state and not one complies.

"The more progressive companies are putting in group stalls but SA laws lag behind
the other states."

The animal rights activist said proposals to ban new stalls and phase out existing
ones would be pushed at a national review on pig housing later this year.

Hahnheuser is also contesting charges in Victorian courts of causing an economic loss
by contaminating goods and entering a private place without lawful excuse.

The charges relate to an incident at Cape Nelson feedlot near Portland in November
last year, when the export of tens of thousands of sheep destined for the Middle East
was delayed after their feed was contaminated with pig meat.

AAP sl/drp/tnf

KEYWORD: HAHNHEUSER NIGHTLEAD

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