The petition against the animal factory “Chueweid” in Drälikon Hünenberg has addressed many people and hit a nerve. Currently there are 4201 signatures (as of 10 September 2019) online and more than a thousand signatures handwritten of people who have proclaimed their solidarity with the petition. The resistance of the population is big, and it is therefore not surprising that the other party tries to trivialize the contents of the petition and to accuse Fluid Spirit of using false information. Fluid Spirit would like to comment with this letter:

The confusion with the numbers

The petition describes that Interfarm GmbH wants to make room for 1040 cows. These figures are the published figures from discussions with the farm in question from the year 2018 and were published by the Luzerner Zeitung. At that time, it was talked about 400 – 450 cows and 300 – 400 young animals, which would correspond to a capacity of 700 – 850 animals. The hall, 200 meters long, 50 meters wide and 20 meters high (planning status 2018), could accommodate around 1040 cows with a maximum occupancy rate. Until the time of Fluid Spirit’s petition, no one was willing to say publicly what numbers in terms of sizes and volumes were correct. Even in February, the «450 cows plus young animals» were still communicated to the public, as can be seen in an article in the Luzerner Zeitung of 6.2.2019. The last interview with Interfarm GmbH, which took place after the start of this petition, namely on 7.9.2019 with Zentralplus, revealed that Mr. Schuler wanted to accommodate his currently around 300 Jersey cows as well as the young animals in the replacement construction and that he only slightly wanted to increase the livestock: «I need the extra space to give the cows more space to lie down» (Bertschi, 2019). In summary, this means that Interfarm GmbH wants to build a stable with very large dimensions but would like to accommodate «only» 300 cows and 200 young animals. As the barn is larger than the number of animals indicated, Mr. Schuler states that this is intended in order to serve the animal welfare, because like this the animals would have much more space than necessary. In the original planning with the utilization of 850 animals, however, the animals were not given correspondingly much more space and there is the legitimate question of many people, how it will continue in five or ten years. A step by step increase in the number of animals is obvious in this sense as a conclusion.

Thomas Anderegg, head of construction of the community Hünenberg stressed in an interview with Zentralplus from 7.9.2019:«A lot has happened in the meantime. So much so that the people from the petition now act with false figures» (Bertschi, 2019). This is very surprising, because on one hand, no other numbers were published by the time of this petition and on the other hand, Fluid Spirit is attacked with the statement that the petition is written with old numbers, although this is in no way true. It is all the more important that the public has now been awakened and that it presses for information. Thus, Mr. Anderegg, triggered by the petition, approaches the media with new numbers and Zentralplus writes on 7.9.2019: «Martin Schuler has meanwhile redimensioned the project. There is no more talk of 1000 cows, but only about 300 jersey cows plus young animals, which should find room in the hall.» It is basically a replacement building of the existing animal livestock farming. A rezoning into a special agricultural zone would therefore be irrelevant – and thus as well, that the project would come before the communal assembly.

Many Hünenberger already feel that a capacity of 300 cows and 200 young animals is too big and intolerable. The destruction of the Reuss area in Hünenberg has been an issue for many years for the Hünenberg population, not only related to the project «Chueweid», but also the adjacent greenhouses are causing uproar in the village. Instead of organic vegetables in the countryside, substrate vegetables are grown in many greenhouses.

The accusation of Interfarm GmbH in an interview with Zentralplus on 7.9.2019, that a false visualization is displayed on the flyer and the homepage of the petition, can be checked at https://www.chueweid-huenenberg.ch/. Fluid Spirit had to have an adequate image created in order to protect the copyright of Mr. Schuler’s picture. It can be seen that the petition made absolutely no misrepresentation. Unfortunately, the planning of the Chueweid is bitter reality. Fluid Spirit is grateful that the population cannot be dissuaded by trivializing and distracting from their resistance to this even more animal suffering causing construction project. Fluid Spirit is thankful for every voice that prevents even more animal suffering!

Bibliography

Bertschi, S. (07. 09 2019). Petition gegen Stallausbau läuft heiss – es gibt nur ein Problem. zentralplus.

Biermayr, R. (13. 07. 2018). Die Pläne für einen riesigen Stall in Hünenberg stossen auf Widerstand. Luzerner Zeitung.

Hug, R. (08. 09 2019). Hünenberg: Tierschützer wehren sich gegen Mega-Stall in Drälikon. Luzerner Zeitung.

Hug, R. (06. 02 .2019). Die neue Zone ist für uns existentiell. Luzerner Zeitung.