September 21, 2007 - Egg fight looms at UBCM conference

 

Humane Society calls on cities to fight for cage-free resolution in face of Abbotsford challenge

 

The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is calling on B.C. municipalities to stick to their principles in a debate over cage-free eggs at next week’s Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver.

 

The Mayor of Abbotsford has vowed to fight a resolution forwarded by the Resort Municipality of Whistler calling on all B.C. municipalities to encourage consumers, retailers and their own catering services to use eggs from cage-free hens rather than eggs from caged hens in battery farms. Vancouver, Richmond and the District of Saanich have all recently adopted policies urging the use of cage-free eggs.

“These cities have taken an ethical stand against the inhumane conditions on battery egg farms,” said VHS spokesperson Bruce Passmore. “They need to defend their position and support Whistler’s resolution.”

 

VHS has been educating consumers, through its Chicken Out! project www.chickenout.ca , on the conditions of caged hens on battery farms. The society says approximately 98 percent of egg-laying hens in Canada are kept in tiny wire battery cages, where five to seven hens are crammed so tightly together that the hens can barely move or even flap their wings.

 

“The science is clear, hens suffer in cages,” said Passmore. “Battery cages represent one of the worst forms of animal cruelty in our society, but the problem is also one of the easiest to fix. If you buy eggs, choose cage-free options such as certified organic, free-range or free-run.”

 

This week Abbotsford Mayor George Ferguson told local media he would speak against the Whistler motion supporting cage-free policies for municipalities.