On Monday, 14 April 2025, we blocked the slaughterhouse in Crailsheim, Baden-Württemberg, together with 80 activists.
Several access roads were blocked by our activists, who had glued or concreted themselves to the ground. Various banners demanded a systemic change in the agricultural and food system and solidarity with the slaughterhouse workers. Some activists were on the roof of the slaughterhouse and lowered another banner.
The reason for the action was the planned takeover of the slaughterhouse by the Tönnies Group. After the Dutch slaughterhouse group Vion announced last year that it would be withdrawing from the German market, Tönnies now wants to buy up several Vion sites. In addition to Crailsheim, this also includes Buchloe, Waldkraiburg and Memmingen, where we also organised protests in November.
In order to stop the takeover, we also filed a complaint with the cartel office; the deadline for the proceedings ended on 22 April. “Tönnies must not be given even more market power, on the contrary. The company must finally be stopped,” says Meerle Schneider from Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie.
We are not only calling for a stop to takeovers, but also for the abolition of the animal industry and a comprehensive change in the system. “Tönnies is part of a system based on exploitation. The animal industry causes immense animal suffering, fuels the climate crisis, destroys our environment, makes workers labour under precarious conditions and is partly responsible for the disenfranchisement and displacement of indigenous people in the Global South. This must finally stop!” Instead of profit, the agricultural and food system should be orientated towards needs. “We want a socially just, ecological and plant-based agricultural and food transition. That means good food for everyone instead of profits for billion-dollar animal industry conglomerates,” says Schneider. ‘This requires a just transformation of agriculture, in which farmers and workers must be included and supported.’
The action in Crailsheim was part of our protest series ‘Together against Tönnies’
You can find the media coverage of the action here.