"What we have found has been deeply disturbing,” Wayne Pacelle-President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States
In a press conference this morning in Washington, D.C., Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, announced the atrocious findings of a 28-day undercover investigation of a facility run by Cal-Maine, a US-based egg producer with over 30 factory-style egg operations around the country. The appalling conditions in their Waelder, Texas facility, documented by an undercover HSUS employee who was hired as a Cal-Maine employee, show not only the egregious cruelty to animals but also an imminent public health risk that these facilities pose to the US public.
With possession of between 26 and 30 million birds nationwide, Cal-Maine owns approximately 10% of all egg-laying hens in the United States. Their eggs are shipped to fast food chains and retailers around the country, including large grocery store-chains HEB and Publix. Within their Texas facility, Cal-Maine houses approximately one million egg-laying hens within 18 barns, and employs only five people charged with caring for the animals and their well-being. Pacelle describes that “(the undercover investigator) discovered birds laying eggs on top of the carcasses of their dead cagemates, hens with bloody uteruses (a condition where the uterus falls out and is on the exterior of the hen’s body), and birds that were tangled in the wire of the cages, dying of starvation and dehydration just inches away from their food and water. Barn number 7 was so infested with flies that it sounded like he was walking on Rice Krispies when he stepped inside.”
While the horrific demonstration of animal cruelty is certainly disturbing, the living conditions of these hens are also a severe public health issue. “This is not just an animal rights issue,” explains Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League. “We have shown consumers something they need to know… these unacceptable conditions.”
Documentation shows that the massive egg recall from earlier in 2010(which recalled 500 million eggs after salmonella exposure) came from facilities with similar conditions to the Cal-Maine factory. In an attempt to combat this salmonella epidemic, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the Egg Safety Rule, which implements guidelines such as limiting visitors within poultry houses, monitoring for rodents and flies by visual inspection and traps, removing all visible manure, and refrigeration of eggs within 36 hours after they are laid. With these new provisions, the FDA aims to reduce annual salmonella poisoning in the US from 142,000 to 63,000 people each year. Even if this goal is achieved, over 1,000 each week will still be affected by salmonella poisoning.
HSUS hopes that the documentation from this revealing investigation will further drive conversations with the major egg producers and US government to require cage-free egg farming, which is seen by experts as the most effective way to eliminate salmonella poisoning from US food sources. “From a human health standpoint, even under the best circumstances, there are food safety problems inherent in caged systems,” explains Dr. Michael Greger, Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture for HSUS.
“We are asking (Cal-Maine) to take a look at our videotape and move to cage-free farming,” comments Pacelle. “(Cage-free egg farming) is a commercially-viable operation; countries such as Germany and Austria are completely cage-free, and more than half of the eggs produced in the United Kingdom are cage-free. The new cage-free systems can provide eggs for our entire country too. “
At the time of the press conference, Pacelle announced that he has written a letter to the USDA and the FDA to intervene, and he encourages the concerned public to respond by purchasing only cage-free, free-range, and organic eggs that offer the animals a better life than that of their caged counterparts. “We have seen time and time again the terrible mistreatment of the animals, and we’ve seen food safety problems result from the conditions… the time to trust the industry to handle itself has passed, and we MUST do better than this.”
Comments
Thank you for writing about this important issue - it is yet another reason to add to the laundry list of reasons to go cage free!
Thanks for this Lisa. Passing it on to others. This is deplorable. I raise my own chickens. They are free range pets, not dinner. They have such good lives they still lay at 8 years of age.
The condtions these hens suffer are deplorable.
Five people are supposed to care for One Million hens?
It's disgusting and shameful. I hope this exposure will persuade more people to buy free range eggs.
Some of our supermarkets in the UK no longer stock eggs from caged hens now.
And again we find cruelty to animals and risk to human health outweighed by the almighty dollar.
When Wayne Pacelle sits down to a meal of "free range " eggs and 'humanely raised" bacon.. then I will listen to him..
thia is awfu.l! glad they were expose, this is one of the reason i dont eat eggs. Because of the abuse and negligense the hens get. They should be treated well, if it werent for them. We would not have egss! "a Areatness of its nation is its moral progress and the way its ANIMALS are treated" I feel that places like this were it involves animals should be inspected periodicly with out notice, so this abuse stops! poor hens....
Cruelty to chickens and all animals must stop! Either raise them humanely with access to space, fresh air, sunshine, shelter,
proper nutrition as a good steward of the earth or give up eating their eggs and flesh. These conditions are not good for the chickens and farm animals or the humans that devour their products.
The sad thing isn't the conditions of these Chickens but the fact that this farm has no where near those awful conditions!! This is actually a very clean safe and healthy facility which is very well kept. do your research people, don't just believe one little report, HSUS gives us whatever info they want because they have a ton of money from all of their "save the puppies" advertisements which many people send their money to. the truth of the matter is that 0.01 percent of the money sent is actually used to help animals, the rest is used for advertisement, paying their salaries, and supporting politicians (thus gaining their endorsements!!) HSUS puts animals before people and themselves before animals. this video is manipulative and not all of it was even filmed at the farm
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!