Farmer secretly visits Animal Rights

He entered the dilapidated room with a beating heart: the farmer who went undercover on the January 23 Animal Rights night. He himself wanted to know what kind of people they are who break into farmers' houses at night. And so this LTO driver went into the lion's den.

The LTO driver is still so impressed. Since he is anxious that he will still receive a visit from Animal Rights, he prefers not to reveal his name. That is why we call him Bertus in this article. Boerenbusiness discussed the evening with him, with the main question being: what can livestock farming learn from this?

The supporters of Animal Rights
Bert is impressed. Impressed by the people, by what they say and by the images they show. "There were 60 to 70 people in the room and they came from all over the country. The average age was somewhere between 20 and 30 years." That made him look quite out of place, and his posture certainly doesn't fit the average Animal Rights fan. He looks a bit overfed. Pretty soon he got the question: "You're from the opposing team, aren't you?" He had thought of an alter-ego beforehand, because a farmer's driver didn't seem like the best answer. He got away with it.

The most horrible images of animals in livestock farming passed on a screen. Erwin Vermeulen, the figurehead of Animal Rights, addressed the audience. The LTO director finds him very credible. "He's eloquent." Vermeulen talks about his children: a deaf and a blind dog. "They love that. However, when a farmer has a sick animal, he is immediately dismissed as an animal abuser. Vermeulen is a hero because he has a deaf and a blind dog. Farmers take care of sick animals every day."

Indoctrination
"I understand that you become extreme and activist when you see these images and think that this is the common practice." He points to an orange bottle on the table: "If you've been told all your life that that bottle is red, then it's red to you, isn't it?" It is the same with the Animal Rights supporters, he believes. "They are indoctrinated. I never see the abuses they show. From my work (besides the board and the farm) I visit about 600 stables a year. I have never seen what Animal Rights shows."

Esther Ouwehand (Party for the Animals) also speaks, thanking the audience for making the abuses visible and for distributing the images. Vermeulen always talks about showing abuses. The word 'break in' is not mentioned by either of them. Peter Jansen, the Vegan Streaker, also speaks. He gives tips on how to stay out of the camera when looking for wrongdoing.

News hour
Bertus also watched the broadcast of Nieuwsuur, in which Jaco Geurts (CDA) and Esther Ouwehand debate the burglaries. According to Ouwehand, the filmmakers are open and honest. "They report to the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) what they find and actually say 'come on, here I am'." The driver becomes angry when he sees the images. "This is hypocritical, because they're just sitting there on that night giving tips on how not to get caught."

He has nothing good to say about Ouwehand, who supported her on 23 January to Animal Rights and, according to Bertus, acted as if they were the heroes. "The interdependence between the Party of the Animals and Animal Rights is in any case clear. The contacts are at least warm. Logically, the people of Animal Rights will also vote for the Party for the Animals. It is therefore not surprising that Ouwehand likes to befriend these people."

"It's sad that livestock farming is getting all this shit," says Bertus. Unilever makes a 30% return on our products and they have nothing to answer for. However, how much return does a farmer make? That is hardly something and then we can also defend ourselves continuously."

The learning points?
Looking back at the evening, the LTO director thinks it is important that farmers continue to tell their own story and open the stables. "If we tell our own story, then we don't have to respond to these kinds of people. However, we do have to get a stage." He refers to Schouten's vision: "That vision also includes that people hear the real story, that people realize what we all do." The ministry also has a role in this, he believes.

On the evening there were sweaters and scarves for sale with the image of Animal Rights on them. When asked whether he has bought some of the merchandising, he sounds convinced: "No, really not, what should I do with that? Although it might have been useful for a next undercover operation."

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