VGT sentenced for protests in front of Spar branch
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Because of a protest in front of a branch of the grocer Spar, the association against animal factories (VGT) has now been sentenced to pay 47,500 euros in the first instance. The animal rights activists should no longer associate Spar with animal suffering, according to the verdict.
As the VGT announced on Friday, he had been sentenced to the payment – not legally binding – and he must refrain from associating savings with animal suffering. The reason for the lawsuit was a protest at the end of June, when the association demonstrated against fully slatted floors in front of a Spar branch and displayed the company’s logo with dripping blood.
VGT sees intimidation lawsuit
In this context, the VGT spoke of an intimidation lawsuit and criticized the verdict. VGT chairman Martin Balluch expected in a broadcast on Friday: “The fact that the court tells us against whom we demonstrate and what we can criticize is unbearable for a democracy.” For him, the situation is clear: “Who eats meat from Pigs sold on fully slatted floors must also be held responsible for what this floor means for the pigs.” According to the verdict, the Spar logo may no longer be used in a satirical form by the VGT, Balluch said
Spar emphasized that the trading group with its headquarters in Salzburg-Taxham has no problem with the demonstrations by animal rights activists against slatted floors in pig fattening. However, it is unacceptable to pretend that only Spar offers meat from animals of this kind. On the contrary, Spar processes more pigs from animal welfare than all other retailers combined. This reasoning is also the judge at the Commercial Court of Vienna.
Spar: “We cannot accept a blood-dripping logo”
The fact that a “blood-soaked” Spar logo is also used in the VGT campaigns “goes too far, we cannot accept that,” said Spar spokeswoman Nicole Berkmann to the APA. Spar is by no means concerned with intimidating the VGT with monetary claims, but with such a procedure it is now necessary to name a disputed value.