Cracking the Cruelty During National Egg Month: Pledge to Go Egg-Free!

by Erica Meier · 2009-05-24 14:19:00 +0200
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Following is a guest post from COK executive director Erica Meier. Please note that though this post focuses on what life is like for hens in battery cages (and that's where the majority of egg-laying hens experience their suffering), the pledge is to go egg-free for 30 days--because as anyone who's been reading this blog in the last several months knows, cage-free and free-range are not nearly free of cruelty. So in this final week of the industry's "Egg Month," make your compassionate pledge for the next 30 days and get your action pack from COK; you'll learn it's easy enough to kick the habit for good. -S. Ernst
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As kids, most of us probably sang along to some version of "Old MacDonald's Farm" ("...and on his farm he had some chickens...ee-i-ee-i-o..."). It's a fun song that helps children learn about different animals, but it also makes a long-lasting impression about how farmed animals are raised, so it's no surprise that as adults, we still conjure up images of these animals romping around on idyllic green pastures while happily clucking, mooing, or oinking. Little, however, could be further from the truth-and some of the worst abuses of farmed animals are taking place on today's egg factory farms.

No matter how you scramble, poach, or boil them, behind the vast majority of "incredible, edible" eggs sold in grocery stores today is a hen crammed inside a wire battery cage so restrictive, she can barely even move. On average, each battery caged hen is afforded a meager 67 square inches on which to live-that's less living space than the size of a sheet of notebook paper. Denied the opportunity to engage in many important natural behaviors, these birds will never nest, forage for food, or even set foot on solid ground. Instead, the more than 250 million hens forced to spend their lives confined inside massive egg factory farms across the U.S. are treated like mere egg-producing machines. The birds may not have a choice, but we do.

The most effective step each of us can take to combat such abuse is to simply leave eggs out of our shopping carts-and what better time to crack the cruelty than during May, which has been declared "National Egg Month" by the egg industry?  In response to the industry's self-declared holiday, Compassion Over Killing is celebrating with a month-long effort to expose the hidden horrors of egg production and encourage others to take a 30-Day Egg-Free Pledge. Sign up today to choose egg-free foods for 30 days and you'll receive a Crack the Cruelty action pack filled with recipes, menu ideas, coupons, and other practical tips to help you crack the egg habit.

Visit www.COK.net or www.EggIndustry.com to learn more.

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Photo courtesy of Compassion Over Killing

Erica Meier
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