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Where Are All the Egg Laying Hens?

August 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

In the United States alone, how many eggs do you think are consumed each day — in omelets, baked goods, packaged foods, restaurant kitchens, etc? About 220 million. It’s a staggering number and begs the questions: Where do these eggs come from? And where are the hundreds of millions of hens who are laying them?

Animals Australia has just released 2 minutes of high definition footage from the inside of the biggest egg supplier in the Australia, but this video could have been taken at any factory farm with hens. You won’t see any people in this video. Just hens. Watch and listen:

Your Turn

The farm featured in this video is “Egg Corp Assured (ECA)” in Australia, which means it has the “mark of a quality product produced under strict guidelines.” These certifications are almost always meaningless because they are created by the trade associations who represent their industry, not the public. Please share this video. People who eat eggs deserve to know the truth about what (or who) they are consuming.


Filed under: Food, Investigations
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Factory Farmers Invoke “Biosecurity” to Pressure Lawmakers to Curb Undercover Investigations

June 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

Brian Ahmed, an egg farmer in Australia, is claiming that activists put the lives of his hens at risk when they enter his farms.  “We need tougher laws that actually penalise those who illegally enter farms and jeopardise the health of our livestock.”

Photo credit: Weekly Times Now

News & Opinion

Mr. Ahmed fails to explain how people entering his farm jeopardizes the health of his hens, but he must know that invoking “biosecurity” could help him garner support from unsuspecting lawmakers and from the public, which is largely unfamiliar with factory farms. Photos and videos speak a thousand words, which make undercover investigations the best tool available to educate the public about the horrors of factory farming.


Filed under: Food, Investigations
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States Suing California for Banning Import of Battery Cage Eggs

March 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

In January 2015, egg farmers in California will be required to provide 116 square inches per hen, compared to 67 square inches, which is the industry standard. In response to California’s decision to require out-of-state egg suppliers to provide their hens with the same space, the Missouri attorney general has filed a lawsuit to block the new rules, and several other states might do the same. According to the NY Times, “The beef and pork lobbies are also lining up against the California rules in an effort to prevent any new restrictions on raising livestock.”

Colony cages are 49 square inches bigger than battery cages. NY Times photo.

The “colony cages” shown in this NYT photo are 49 square
inches bigger than battery cages

News & Opinion

The first sentence in this NY Times article is alarming: “Hens in California are living the good life. Many can now lay their eggs in oversize enclosures roomy enough to stand up, lie down — even extend their wings fully without touching another bird.” Does the NY Times really think that being permanently imprisoned in slightly larger cages inside a shed with no natural light and no access to the earth constitutes “a good life?” Putting a positive spin on conditions that are merely “less horrible” gives consumers license to eat eggs from hens who have horrible lives. According to the NY Times, “90 percent of the nation’s roughly 280 million laying hens are still in battery cages about as big as a filing-cabinet drawer.” Please share this undercover footage of battery cages taken by Mercy For Animals.


Filed under: Food, Victories
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