NY Senators get complaints about Wegmans' Cruelty
"Please act, if not for the animals then for public health."
To: Sen. Charles Schumer
Sen. Hillary Clinton
September 26, 2005
Because there are no laws to keep egg-laying hens from being tortured in battery-cages a regional grocery chain is being attacked for its inhumane practices. Wegmans owns an egg farm in Wolcott, NY. While it is true their practices are not illegal, the chickens are suffering.
In the summer of 2004, a group of three people broke into the farm that Wegmans would not allow tours of. They recorded horrible pictures of dead as well as alive chickens in these battery-cages. Some had managed to escape only to die in the manure pits. Wegmans is pressing charges against these three now that the video has been released for the public to view. The charges include felony burglary because some dying chickens were taken from the facility to save their lives. After the break-ins, an investigation of the farm by the Wayne County district attorney’s office and the New York State Police concluded that there was no illegal animal abuse.
The standards for laying hens in the industry are horrific. In a book by Eric Marcus, Meat Market, about the industry, he talks of the beak searing, tight confinement of less then an 8 ½-by-11 inch sheet of paper, high rates of injury and mortality, and lack of individual veterinary care. He says, “There is no doubt in my mind that a bite of an egg involves more suffering than a bite of hamburger or bacon.”
Many in the American public do not want to see the animals we eat mistreated, if not for concern of the animals then because of our health. It took mad cow disease to get regulations passed keeping sick animals from being dragged to slaughter. Will it mean the public’s health before we stop marketing eggs that come from stressed and dying birds?
I urge you today to do all you can to change the U.S. Department of Agriculture standards for animal welfare. The battery-cage practice should be illegal. Cases like the one involving Wegmans should not have boiled down to an argument between the company and the public. The website, www.WegmansCruelty.com should not exist because the battery-cage should not exist.
Thank you for your consideration.
Liverpool , NY
"Please act, if not for the animals then for public health."
To: Sen. Charles Schumer
Sen. Hillary Clinton
September 26, 2005
Because there are no laws to keep egg-laying hens from being tortured in battery-cages a regional grocery chain is being attacked for its inhumane practices. Wegmans owns an egg farm in Wolcott, NY. While it is true their practices are not illegal, the chickens are suffering.
In the summer of 2004, a group of three people broke into the farm that Wegmans would not allow tours of. They recorded horrible pictures of dead as well as alive chickens in these battery-cages. Some had managed to escape only to die in the manure pits. Wegmans is pressing charges against these three now that the video has been released for the public to view. The charges include felony burglary because some dying chickens were taken from the facility to save their lives. After the break-ins, an investigation of the farm by the Wayne County district attorney’s office and the New York State Police concluded that there was no illegal animal abuse.
The standards for laying hens in the industry are horrific. In a book by Eric Marcus, Meat Market, about the industry, he talks of the beak searing, tight confinement of less then an 8 ½-by-11 inch sheet of paper, high rates of injury and mortality, and lack of individual veterinary care. He says, “There is no doubt in my mind that a bite of an egg involves more suffering than a bite of hamburger or bacon.”
Many in the American public do not want to see the animals we eat mistreated, if not for concern of the animals then because of our health. It took mad cow disease to get regulations passed keeping sick animals from being dragged to slaughter. Will it mean the public’s health before we stop marketing eggs that come from stressed and dying birds?
I urge you today to do all you can to change the U.S. Department of Agriculture standards for animal welfare. The battery-cage practice should be illegal. Cases like the one involving Wegmans should not have boiled down to an argument between the company and the public. The website, www.WegmansCruelty.com should not exist because the battery-cage should not exist.
Thank you for your consideration.
Liverpool , NY
posted by a compassionate consumer @ 2:25 PM
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