/ 8 April 2007

No Easter eggs, says protester in cage

A Croatian activist on Friday completed a 24-hour stay in a chicken cage in a central square in Zagreb to urge people not to eat eggs on Easter Sunday.

But one man attempted to scramble the stunt. He showed up with a bag full of eggs and bombarded the caged man and other activists before police stopped him.

Despite the interruption, Luka Oman completed his self-imprisonment and exited the cage on Friday at noon.

Oman is president of an organisation called Friends of Animals, which wanted to draw attention to the industrial production of poultry.

“We are calling for people not to eat eggs and to buy wooden eggs for Easter,” said Anita Eushen, of Friends of Animals.

Oman said chickens raised industrially for the purpose of laying eggs undergo “unimaginable suffering”.

About 88% of Croatia’s 4,4-million residents identify themselves as Catholic and celebrate the Christian holiday of Easter. — AFP