BITEBACK'S INTERVIEW WITH PATTY MARK
Republished with kind permission from Biteback magazine.

Patty Mark is the founder of Animal Liberation Victoria and the Open Rescue movement. Patty and ALV's Rescue Team have visited hundreds of chicken farms in Australia, rescuing hundreds of chickens from death. Patty has been openly rescuing farmed animals for nearly 20 years, inspiring activists around the world. Earlier this year, she received a 17-day prison sentence for non-payment of fines, resulting from "trespassing" at egg farms, although the police have yet to come and get her. Patty has consistently refused to pay fines, perform community service, or to sign bail conditions not to return to factory farms.

“For many years I wrote countless letters, attended meetings with numerous Minister's for Agriculture, inspected factory farms and abattoirs around Australia, submitted reports to legal authorities, lobbied government agencies and begged the police and especially the RSPCA for help. None of this worked. I received on-going appeals and complaints about conditions from workers inside factory farms. Then in 1993, born out of sheer frustration and torment of knowing what was happening to so many animals - combined with repeated lack of attention or resolution by the legal authorities - our 'open rescue' life saving efforts began.” -Patty Mark; Statement to Magistrates Court on Non-Payment of Fines, July 12, 2005; Victoria, Australia.

Biteback: Australia has a fairly extensive body of laws intended to protect animals, yet like legislation in many countries, chickens, pigs and other animals in Australian farms are excluded from protection, and enforcement of existing laws is rare. What is the state of animal welfare legislation in Australia?

Patty Mark: Australia has 'recommended' Codes of Accepted Farming Practice that, if in place for specific animals, act as a defence to an offence under the State Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (POCTAA). For example there are Codes of Practice for the Welfare of Poultry that cover factory farmed chickens (including laying hens and birds raised for their flesh) and factory farmers consider themselves 'covered' against prosecution under the POCTAA because of this Code which isn't even regulatory. However, for instance it is a violation to both the POCTAA and the Code to knowingly let an animal starve or dehydrate to death which is routine practice in the 'broiler' chicken industry and inside battery cages. The problem isn't necessarily with the law itself, but with the fact that when it comes to animals on factory farms there is no law enforcement to speak of.

BB: The intensive caging of layer hens has been one of the main campaigns of animal rights groups in Australia since the 1970's. What's the status of efforts to ban battery cages in Australia?

Patty Mark: There was an amazing united and long standing effort around Australia to bring about a ban on the battery cage that climaxed in 2000 when this issue was on the Agenda of the National Meeting of all State Ministers of Agriculture. When the Ministers failed to ban the cage and only gave slightly more space to hens inside their wire prisons the overall attention from the animal movement waned on this issue. Our open rescue team still rescues battery hens, but our main focus the past five years has been on 'broiler chickens'. This August however, we conducted our 21st rescue at Happy Hens Egg World (sic) and found the same filthy conditions, cobwebs, dead rotting bodies, sick and dying birds unable to access food and water... the only change was they have gutted the old rusty four tiers of wire cages and replaced them with cages EIGHT TIERS HIGH, so instead of the 20,000 battery hens per shed there are now 80,000.

Biteback: You have said before that animals are "invisible before the law." What do you think is the value of political efforts for animals? What should be the role of politics in the struggle for animal liberation?

Patty Mark: After almost 30 years in this movement I am more convinced than ever that grassroots activism is the single most important tool in the box. Who you work with or without, how you do it, whatever approach you want to take, just do it... assuming of course we're talking about a non violent and vegan baseline. It's also vital to stress over and over again that animals are not property. We must find as many ways as possible of saying, writing and instilling this concept until it's common knowledge.

BB: A related question; what do you think about single-issue politics (political campaigning/support based on one issue)? In the U.S., most major animal welfare groups actively support politicians who vote the "right" way on pro-animal legislation, despite the fact that many of these same politicians vote the "wrong" way on legislation affecting civil liberties, the environment, and a host of other social issues.

Patty Mark: My gut level instincts are to support integrity and ethics at every twist and turn, anything else wouldn't be honest or longstanding. It's a universal challenge but possible to find solutions that ensure dignity and respect for all. I've never had much trust or hope in politicians, it's a game that takes a great deal of energy and time. I've known a few politicians, Richard Jones comes to mind, who have held a banner high for just causes including animals, but these guys are few and far between.

BB: What did you think of Peter Singer's candidacy for the Australian Senate?

Patty Mark: Peter Singer wrote an important book 30 years ago that opened many minds to animal suffering. But Peter is a philosopher, not an animal activist and some of his views, especially regarding chickens are very disappointing, not to mention damaging to the animals we are all struggling to help. I was not interested in Peter's quest for a Senate seat as I feared, along with these views I just mentioned, the passion was misplaced and misguided and wouldn't make that much of a difference.

BB: After conducting investigations at farms, ALV encourages city council's to file cruelty charges against farmers. Do you have more luck with local governments?

Patty Mark: No, we haven't but we've just started to lobby local Councils and the immediate replies are very dismissive and unhelpful. What is needed is more grassroots actions outside the council offices as well as the rate paying shops and businesses selling the cruel end products of the factory farms to bring the message home. We did this recently regarding a huge puppy breeding factory farm we had been exposing for almost ten years. Two very large and continually loud demo's outside major events put on by the local Council involved did the trick and the puppy factory farm was closed on July 31 this year!

BB: The failure of the federal government to protect animals is not surprising, but you are also "battling" the RSPCA. In Australia, the RSPCA has a responsibility to act on evidence of cruelty to animals. Yet, despite being presented with clear evidence of animal suffering at numerous factory farms, the RSPCA has never launched a cruelty prosecution following an ALV investigation. Why do you think the RSPCA is so ineffective in protecting animals in farms?

Patty Mark: The RSPCA in Australia is in business with factory farmers, so how can we possibly expect them to make a difference for farmed animals. The RSPCA receive royalties from all "Liberty" Barn Laid Eggs produced by PACE FARMS (the largest producer of battery eggs in Australia). Pace Farms in turn does business with Happy Hens Egg World and on it goes. I've finally fully understood the meaning of an 'old boys club'. The RSPCA in Australia is also very outspoken that there is nothing wrong with eating and farming animals, they continually degrade ALV's 'agenda' to promote veganism and vegetarianism, as if once the public knows what we're really on about they will realise we're just a bunch of 'radical terrorists' trying to force our lifestyle and diet on others. The RSPCA should be leading the way forward for animals yet I'm not aware of one time in the past three decades the RSPCA has lodged an objection against a planning permit for a factory farm much less exercised their considerable prosecution powers against POCTAA [Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act] violations causing the prolonged suffering and hideous deaths of multiple animals.

Biteback: In a visit to a farm (Parkhurst Farm) in March of this year, you were fortunate to find sympathetic police who arranged for ALV to remove sick and dying hens from their cages for veterinary care. It's amazing that you have more luck with the police than with the RSPCA!

Patty Mark: Parkhurst Farms is actually a 'broiler' chicken factory and in March this year we found over 50 very ill and crippled chicks who were only a few days old and 120 dead bodies within an hour of being inside the shed. There were many others needing attention and we were overwhelmed with the task of helping them all, so I rang the police. The Sergeant attending was visibly distressed by the situation and helped us take the birds to a vet. The RSPCA refused to take any action as the number of birds involved was too low a percentage of birds affected considering the shed held 40,000 chicks (so much for all creatures great and small!). Between January 2004 and March 2005 our rescue team conducted 17 undercover inspections on this property and rescued 219 birds needing veterinary care. The police have our 65 page cruelty complaint and 80 minute compilation dvd and are currently investigating.

BB: For a long time, conventional wisdom was that farmers would not press charges against open rescue activists because any trial would result in negative publicity for their businesses. Some farms in Australia are now surrounded with electric fences, and guarded by dogs. In July, ALV activists were sexually and physically assaulted during a daylight raid at the largest egg factory in the state of Victoria. In the U.S., three activists have been charged with burglary following an open rescue in New York, and face years in prison. Do you think the days of farmer's choosing to ignore open rescues are coming to an end?

Patty Mark: Deb and I were the two activists assaulted in July during a daylight rescue at Happy Hens (for five years we had been unable to get past the guard dogs and electrified 11 foot fence in place after working hours). We have made statements to the Police and are vigorously seeking a prosecution against the violent men who assaulted us and who have total control over every caged hen on the property. On August 11 this year (a couple weeks after our assault) our rescue team returned to Happy Hens in the middle of the night and successfully passed through the eleven foot high electrified fence surrounding Happy Hens, dodged the huge Alsatian guard dogs on patrol inside the fence and waded through mud and building rubble surrounding the sheds to gain entry, we then rescued 6 hens and took damning video evidence of animal abuse. We yet again asked the RSPCA to do an inspection, their reply on September 30 stated there were "no animal cruelty issues...observed" and "two birds were located that (sic) appeared to be in need of intervention, however when they were removed from the cages, appeared healthy.." [note this is out of 110,000 birds they claim to have randomly inspected!?] No charges have been laid against any members of our rescue team. Bearing in mind there are currently 8 warrants outstanding for my imprisonment (17 days) for unpaid fines - some from Happy Hen rescues in the past!

BB: You have said before that because open rescues do not damage property, they are not an immediate threat to industry. Obviously, rescuing animals from farms is of tremendous value, and open rescues have been successful in educating the public. Have your feelings about the effectiveness of open rescue as a tactic changed over the years?

Patty Mark: Yes, any rescue which saves any animal's life is of tremendous value. I believe Open Rescue as a tactic for real and large scale change has tremendous potential if it is practised widely and wisely on a global scale. This has not happened yet. Let’s consider when Hurricane Katrina struck and countless people and animals were trapped, injured, some dying and needing urgent rescue... good people from all walks of life and directions came forward to help - even though the 'authorities' were so slow to act (sound familiar). Goodwill lies deep within so many of us. Every single day is a hurricane of hell for battery hens, chicks raised for their flesh, pigs in concrete stalls and crippled turkeys crammed in sheds sitting in their own excrement. It's just as important and just as valid for all good people to come to their aid. The flesh and egg factories are worldwide; this is where grassroots activists need to act locally at any animal factories near them.

BB: What do you think about the Animal Liberation Front?

Patty Mark: Individuals who put their own freedom on the line and rescue tortured animals and destroy the equipment harming the innocents are very brave and very strong in their hearts and minds. It's a 'freedom' that few people really grasp and experience, I know I haven't. How many of us would have done all we could to rescue people from the concentration camps, and then how many of us would have then smashed the ovens on the way out so others wouldn't have to die? The ALF do this for animals!

BB: In the U.S., the United Kingdom and in many other countries, governments have been in a frenzy passing laws targeting activists. Many of the new laws have been passed under the veil of "fighting terrorism." Is it becoming more difficult to be an activist in Australia?

Patty Mark: It is definitely more challenging in the current world climate to do undercover animal rescues, but not impossible. The best help I've ever had is a book called Being Nobody, Going Nowhere written by Ayya Khema, a vegan feminist buddhist nun who once slipped me $20 to help rescue a battery hen.