For the time being...
But Newchurch demo regulars have now heard, via the Burton Mail article below, that guinea pig breeding still continues! Campaigners have therefore vowed to continue with the regular Sunday afternoon protests until this evil business finally comes to an end, and until protesters are shown proof of this.
Read the article from the 3rd January edition of the Burton Mail, below.
FINAL STAGES FOR GUINEA PIG CLOSURE
Burton Mail 3-1-06
THE OWNERS of a controversial guinea pig farm are in the final stages of closing down the business, the Mail can reveal.
The **** family, who have owned the ****** **** Farm, in Newchurch, for 30 years, had intended to close the guinea pig breeding operation by the end of the year and return to dairy farming following a long-running hate campaign by animal rights protesters.
However, they have revealed that the operation will now run into January, but should be concluded in the early part of the month.
Meanwhile, **** ****, who runs the farm with his brother ****, said they were still considering whether or not they would return to cattle breeding once the guinea pig operation had ended.
He told the Mail: "We had intended to cease at the end of the year but we are not quite there yet, though we will be closing in early January.
"We have not yet returned to dairy farming and we will consider our options when the time comes. I cannot really say any more at the moment because our hands are tied by the ongoing court case." Mr **** declined to discuss how the farm was ending the operation and what was happening to the guinea pigs.
A campaign against the farm, its owners, their families, employees, their families and anyone else connected with it, began in 1999.
However, in more recent years it turned more sinister following arson and bomb attacks, death threats and smear campaigns before culminating in the theft of the remains of **** **** mother-in-law, Gladys Hammond, from her grave in Yoxall.
Four people are awaiting trial for blackmail in relation to the matter.
Earlier this year, Newborough Parish Council chairman ***** ****, along with the **** family, failed in a High Court attempt to ban animal rights activists from a 77sq mile zone around the property.
Mr **** confirmed that protesters were still gathering outside the farm every Sunday, as they are allowed to do under the terms of the part of injunction granted at the court case.
When the **** family announced their plans to close the business, it was labelled "a tragedy" and a "victory for terrorists" by local MPs, while animal groups said the farm would "continue to be a legitimate target" after the family returned to dairy farming.