In the early hours of December 5, a nearly completed but still empty broiler farm in Schnega (Lower Saxony) was damaged by fire. According to police, the fire started in several different places. Damage is estimated at €50,000.

This is the fourth time in Lower Saxony that a broiler farm under construction has been targeted in an arson attack. In July 2010, an empty broiler farm in Sprötze was completely destroyed; fires followed at farms in Alvesse (July 2011) and in Mehrum (October 2011).

The new farms are intended to supply animals to a new, massive slaughterhouse in Wietze which, when fully operational, will be the largest poultry slaughterhouse in Europe.