Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

A controversial duck slaughterhouse where birds are allegedly killed with blunt blades and not properly stuffed is bringing in hired muscle to keep activists away.

The news comes after the premises suffered a million-EUR arson attack in recent days.

Gertjan Tomassen, director of Tomassen Duck-To in the town of Ermelo in Gelderland Province in central Netherlands, warned: “If the perpetrators walk free after a couple of weeks, we may have to take action ourselves.”

According to local media, a 34-year-old man who gave himself over to the cops is currently under arrest in connection with the arson attack last week.

However, it has not been confirmed if he is the same man captured on CCTV cameras starting the blaze at the duck slaughterhouse.

Tomassen said that he happy the police have at least one suspect under arrest: “That is always a good thing, but we don’t yet know if he is the same one who visited us.”

He also claimed that the arson attack cost him one million EUR (896,000 GBP) in damages after five lorries were set alight by the suspect last week.

After reviewing the CCTV footage, Tomassen immediately said the fire was started by animal activists with petrol cans.

He added: “We normally have people around, but we stopped briefly due to the COVID-19 crisis. You don’t think there would be such criminals running around burning things at this time.”

According to reports, the suspect left his car keys at the scene and they fit a car a Belgium-registered vehicle that was parked nearby.

Tomassen claims the car is owned by a known Belgian activist, but admits the person could just be “an accomplice”.

He warned: “We are waiting to see how this pans out. A crew of fighters is a serious option if this is going to be covered up.”

Animal activists have accused the company of using water and electricity to stun the ducks before slaughtering them with blunt blades.

They also claim that the duck slaughterhouse keeps the birds in cramped, badly-ventilated conditions.

According to local media, the company has been fined several times over the years and some supermarkets have removed their products from the shelves.

Earlier this year, animal rights campaigner Erwin Vermeulen said: “This is an excellent opportunity to end this cruel industry for good in the Netherlands’.”

The investigation is ongoing.

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