Most people are aware of various animal rights groups. Often these are concerned with wild animals, or with treatment of domestic pets. Another group however is concerned primarily with treatment of farm animals.
Mercy For Animals-Canada (MFA) recently went undercover at two factory egg-producing operations in Alberta, in western Canada. They filmed what appear to be abusive conditions and handling and this week are launching an awareness campaign about such battery hen operations
Stephane Perrais is the Director of Operations with Mercy For Animals Canada
ListenIn Canada, eggs are most commonly sold by the dozen at the retail level. Each year, some 600-million dozen eggs are produced in this country by an industry estimated at a billion dollars. The egg producers have a code of conduct, but it is entirely voluntary.
In a battery-hen type of operation thousands of hens are crammed into small cages where they spend their entire lives which is a little over a year, producing eggs. As their production drops off, after about one year, , they are sent for slaughter.
By confining tens of thousands of hens in layers of cages in large enclosed “barns”, the operation becomes more efficient, less labour intensive, and more profitable.
The trade-off according to MFA, is that the hens live in completely unnatural, terrible conditions, never able to walk, perch, fully stretch their wings or do nearly anything that comes naturally to them.
In addition, being confined in such crowded quarters many suffer a variety of diseases, in spite of liberal use of antibiotics, and broken bones (lack of calcium from high egg production), and beak trimming.
MFA says battery hens suffer a miserable life from birth to death
In response to the MFA video and a report on the CTV network, Egg Farmers of Canada, a non-profit organization that inspects egg producers across the country, said that what was aired was an “aberration” from normal practices.
EFC Chairman Peter Clarke in a phone interview to CTV said, “I can tell you categorically that that activity that was shown in that video in regards to such things as how birds were being handled, how chicks were being disposed of is something that does not go on in egg farms across this country.”
MFA is calling on major corporations which buy eggs, such as the McDonald’s chain, to demand that the suppliers cease battery hen production and supply eggs from hens raised in more humane conditions.
MFA points out that battery cages have been banned in many jurisdictions including the entire European Union, Switzerland, New Zealand, and the states of California and Michigan.
In other areas, battery cages have been replaced by “enhanced” battery cages, which are a slight improvement, being slightly larger to allow for some movement, although still resulting in a miserable life.
Stepahne Perrais says, in addition to putting pressure on corporate buyers, he hopes that on the consumer level, egg-buying citizens will become aware of the situation and add to the pressure on retailers and corporations to create more humane conditions for the hens.
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