October 13, 2005 - Egg Production Exposé
UNDERCOVER FOOTAGE EXPOSES SHOCKING CRUELTY OF EGG PRODUCTION IN CANADA
Global Poultry Expert Labels Conditions “Extreme cruelty”
Toronto, ON: Graphic undercover video and photographs showing extremely inhumane conditions at a Canadian egg farm owned by a veterinarian will be released at a media conference today by the Canadian Coalition for Farm animals (CCFA), along with a report presenting scientific evidence that caging hens in egg production is cruel.
This is the first such undercover operation in Canada. The photos and video, taken on a farm in the Guelph area belonging to LEL Farms and owned by a veterinarian with connections to the University of Guelph, show birds covered in excrement, birds crammed into cages so small they can barely move, birds suffering from extreme feather loss, and escaped birds left to languish on a pile of manure three feet deep. These conditions mirror cruelties repeatedly exposed in investigations of egg farms in the US.
“Government and industry are constantly reassuring consumers that things are better for farm animals here in Canada,” states Debra Probert of the CCFA and executive director of the Vancouver Humane Society. “We have long suspected that’s not the case and now we have the proof. This footage shows filthy, disgusting, hideously abusive conditions. The fact that the farm is owned by a veterinarian makes it even more disturbing.”
The CCFA will use the footage to illustrate a report documenting the cruelty of overcrowding hens in battery cages for their entire lives, a practice so inhumane that many countries have outlawed it. The report draws on the latest research into animal cognition and welfare.
The CCFA will also ask Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocery retailer, to label all battery eggs as “eggs from caged hens” and to purchase more eggs from alternative systems.
“All caring Canadians will be shocked when they learn that the government and the egg industry have misrepresented conditions on Canadian factory farms,” said Probert. “This is a farm with quota. There is no reason to believe that conditions are any different on any other egg farm in Canada.”
International poultry expert Dr. Mohan Raj has described the images as depicting “extreme cruelty to layer hens, which I have not seen before in my academic career.”
4-minute video footage available in BETA CAM SP & DVD format and photos on CD, or can be seen at www.humanefood.ca.
