Wegmans Cruelty: An Unofficial Blog

2008-05-07T09:21:00.001-07:00

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation takes you behind the closed doors of one of California's largest egg factory farms, exposing the hidden cost of egg production - cruelty to animals.

Hidden camera video recorded in early 2008 at Gemperle Enterprises in Merced County, California, a supplier to NuCal Foods Inc. - the largest distributor of shell eggs in the Western US - reveals:

Rotting carcasses in cages with live hens still laying eggs for human consumption.
Birds suffering from untreated broken bones, open wounds, infections and prolapses.
Workers brutally killing sick hens by grabbing their heads and swinging their bodies around to break their necks, or through neck-twisting, often resulting in a prolonged, torturous death.
Workers roughly and forcefully handling birds, resulting in injuries, such as broken bones and blunt trauma.
Hens covered in excrement, confined five to seven per cage the size of a file drawer, unable to stretch their wings, move freely or exercise.
Crippled hens left to languish in cage aisles without access to food, water, or veterinary care.

The findings of MFA's new investigation are similar to those documented at numerous egg farms across the country in recent years, illustrating that animal neglect and abuse are the egg industry standard, not the exception.

Consumers hold enormous power in ending the exploitation of egg-laying hens. Every time we sit down to eat we can choose kindness over cruelty by adopting a vegan diet.

An Interview with Adam Durand, Director of "Wegmans Cruelty"

2008-05-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

VegTalk Podcast: Adam Durand
March 20, 2008
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Welcome to VegTalk, our new interview-based podcast. Please use the links in the upper right hand corner of this site to subscribe. Our first episode features Adam Durand, the new Campaigns Director of Animal Rights International. This group is going to accomplish tons and this is your chance to get involved: befriend them on Facebook and MySpace. I consider Peter Singer’s book on Henry Spira, the founder of ARI, to be one of the most important books published on animal rights. Here also is the film on Henry that Adam refers to. And finally, here is the film Adam made that exposed egg farm cruelties to a national audience.
Spread the word

2008-02-29T08:27:00.001-08:00

ACQUISITIONS

Area firm buys Wegmans egg farm

By Matt Glynn NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: 11/02/07 6:58 AM

After four decades of ownership, Wegmans has sold its egg farm east of Rochester to a Clarence- based egg producer.

Kreher’s Poultry Farms acquired the farm, in the Town of Wolcott in Wayne County, from the Rochester-based supermarket chain for an undisclosed amount.

Kreher’s will keep the Wayne County location as well as the employees who are working there, said Kurt Kreher, a partner in the business. Several members of the Wadsworth family, which has operated the site since it opened in 1967, will remain with the egg farm, he said.

The Wolcott farm’s 750,000 chickens lay eggs that are sold under Wegmans’ brand name. Wegmans says the farm processes an average of 600,00 0 eggs per day, supplying a network of Wegmans supermarkets that has grown to 71 locations.

The supermarket chain will continue to receive its storebrand eggs from the Wolcott site, Kreher said.

The business already supplies Wegmans with eggs under the Eggland’s Best brand, and that will continue, he said.

Jo Natale, a Wegmans spokeswoman, said Wegmans’ decision to sell the egg farm was driven by consolidation in the egg industry in recent years. Wegmans was faced with having to increase egg production beyond its own needs, she said.

“That was not a direction we wanted to go,” Natale said.

Kreher’s Poultry Farms traces its roots to 1924 and is now run by the family’s third generation. In the Town of Newstead, it operates an egg farm of similar size to the Wolcott operation.

In addition, the company operates what it believes is the state’s largest organic farm, with about 3,000 acres in Alden, Clarence and Newstead, most of which is rented land, Kreher said.

The Wolcott farm is considered the largest egg farm in New York State. It has been the target of a Rochester-based animal rights group, Compassionate Consumers, over the birds’ living conditions. The group’s members have called for Wegmans to stop using “battery cages” to contain the birds.

Wegmans has fought the allegations.

mglynn@buffnews.com

2007-10-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Protest Against Egg Producers Meeting

Dozens of Mercy For Animals members confronted attendees of the United Egg Producers' (UEP) annual board meeting in downtown Chicago on October 17, 2007. Media coverage from the protest raised awareness to the mutilation and intensive confinement of the nation's 250 million egg-laying hens.

The UEP, a trade agency representing more than 80 percent of egg factories, allows its members to cut off the beaks of baby chicks and cram five-to-six hens in tiny, wire cages so small each bird is given less space than a notebook-size piece of paper. The birds are forced to spend their lives in a cramped position, unable to even stretch their wings, let alone engage in other natural behaviors such as walking, dust bathing, or perching.

Click here to learn more about the egg industry.

Click here to become active for animals.

2007-03-01T04:42:00.000-08:00

Former Wegmans Employees Speak Out

2007-02-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

Wegman's Egg Factory Cruelty Case
The Adam Durand Interview

By Claudette Vaughan, The Abolitionist Online

Wegman's crowds up to nine hens into tiny, barren cages and animal activist Adam Durand gets an outrageous six month jail sentence for filming the cruelty.

Will this set a precedent in the US ? Here the president of the organisation Compassionate Consumers talks to the Abolitionist-Online.

Abolitionist: Animal activists from around the world would give anything to receive 6 months in prison to make a political and damning statement on behalf of the battery hen and against factory farming. You were provided with this opportunity. Can you tell us what happened?

Adam Durand: A loosely organised group of friends and myself wanted to make a real impact in our local area with regards to the issues behind factory farming. We were interested in trying to draw people to a connection with what they are buying at the stores and make them realise what they are supporting. We were looking around for who should we make a statement about and what's the most effective way to talk to people so we came up with this idea to make a film about the nearest factory farm.

Most of the largest factory farms in the New York State are run by one of the most well-loved companies in our area called Wegman's Food Markets. We are in Rochester , New York and so are Wegman's. It is a store known as a supporter of local charities and it's considered a family owned business even though they are one of the largest companies in America . We thought it would be great to talk to them and try and get video footage of their facility. After contacting them we had a feeling that they wouldn't allow us to video tape in their facility so we decided to go in without their permission and get video footage then release it to the public in the form of a film.

Abolitionist: So you went in and what were you confronted with?

Adam Durand: We entered the facility and it was mind-burst time inside of a factory farm so large. It was incredibly over-whelming just to feel the animals – walls and walls of animals as far as the eye could see – and it was hard to comprehend the level of suffering that was going on in these places. The number of animals at Wegmans Egg Farm at that time was several hundred thousand and that's well over the number of people who live in the city I live in. The individual cases of suffering in front of us really set in because we couldn't imagine the number of creatures that were suffering so dreadfully.

It's hits you what we as animal activists are up against. How many animals are actually caught up in this system and how serious this situation is to them. How long is it going to take for us to end this kind of abuse?

Abolitionist: Did you rescue any battery hens before you were arrested? In Australia there's a general unspoken rule to get as many sick and injured out as physically possible then go back to the sheds then ring the police to come and investigate the cruelty. Sometimes they charge the activists and sometimes they don't. So far it's a very open, non-violent process in Australia . What is it like for activists in the US ?

Adam Durand: We rescued some hens after returning to the facility three times. At the time we were thinking of going public with it but then decided to go ahead with the film because we were really spooked with what we had witnessed in the sheds.

So we put the film together and released it to the public the following year. We didn't try to press charges against the company. It was much more just a statement and that's the time when the police started ringing us, turning up and visiting our houses to try and talk to us. We had our attorneys contact them as we refused to speak to them directly. They eventually put out a warrant for our arrest, we turned ourselves in and from there we went to pre-trial appearances just to try to avoid a trial. My two codefendants were both given deals where they would plead down to a lesser charge. I went to trial for these trumped up offenses. I was charged with 3 counts of burglary which is a serious felony crime in the US . The charge read, “entering a facility with the intent to commit a crime” and in this case it was rescuing hens. Each count carries 7 years in jail so the stakes were pretty high for me but luckily at the trial I was acquitted of all 3 burglary counts. I was also acquitted of the larceny charges but I was still convicted of the 3 trespassing charges.

Usually for a minor offence like trespass there's no jail time for that but in this case the judge wanted to set an example so he gave me a very strict punishment.

Abolitionist: Were the cops that visited you from any special branch or were they your regular local yokels?

Adam Durand: These police were State police from the area where the egg farm is located so they weren't special police or anything like that.

Abolitionist: In terms of what's going on in the US with reference to the ‘Green Scare' and the Feds setting activists up etc etc, were you surprised with the severity of the judge's order, Adam?

Adam Durand: I was very surprised. The District Attorney, even though he was the prosecutor, was telling us that I didn't have to worry about jail time or anything like that. In sentencing he completely turned around and recommended 6 months of jail. Wegman's themselves made that recommendation and the judge followed the recommendation and the District Attorney on the matter. It was a shock because I wasn't even thinking that such a severe sentence would be possible for a first time offender. The thing that we are taking to the Appeals Court right now is investigating if the judge was correct in giving me such a severe sentence.

Abolitionist: What was jail like?

Adam Durand: The County level prison that I was in wasn't a maximum-security prison, it was a medium security jail. First of all I was surprised even to be in there and completely unprepared to be put into a cell in solitary confinement for the first few days I was there. You're in an empty concrete cell and you have no idea what to do with yourself. Then I was put into an area where there was a bunk instead of in my own cell so I was in with 12-15 other men. That was a lot easier. It was definitely difficult but not impossible. I knew I was in there for reasons that I believed in so it could have been a lot more difficult for me if I didn't feel I had any support on the outside and if I didn't feel I was in there for a just cause.

Abolitionist: Were you treated as something of a novelty from other in-mates and how did you cope with non-vegan food?

Adam Durand: Some of the prisoners had actually been following my case in the newspaper so they were impressed to meet me. I obviously didn't quite fit in. I did feel that I was well respected by my fellow inmates and I did become friends with a few of them. We had similar interests and some of these fellows were in there for simple offenses like drunk driving or a drug charge like possessing an illegal substance etc. There weren't hardened criminals by any stretch of the imagination.

As far as vegan food went, at first it was difficult because I wasn't given any kind of special exemption so I got meat on my tray like everyone else with just a small serving of vegetables. We are talking only 4oz a meal here if that. Sometimes vegetables weren't offered so I'd have to make do with crackers instead. Luckily I was able to exchange my meat for vegetables with other inmates and eventually started working in the kitchen. From there I was able to basically make my own tray with as much vegetables as I wanted.

Abolitionist: Are you going back to Wegman's Egg Factory again for further inspections?

Adam Durand: I have no particular plans to go back to Wegman's. I don't think I could if I wanted to because they have put fencing up around the facility now. They have guards there, security cameras, motion detectors and all that sort of stuff. It's something I certainly have to take some time off doing.

Abolitionist: Well we are happy that you are out, that you are safe and well and thanks so much for taking our call.

For further info see: www.wegmanscruelty.com

2007-01-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

Wegmans may sell egg farm

By JULIE SHERWOOD
Messenger Post Staff
Posted: Jan 9, 01:00 PM EST

The grocery chain is thinking of opting out of what has become a controversial business.

Wegmans Food Markets is in talks with a regional egg producer about selling its egg farm in Wolcott, Wayne County, a company spokeswoman said.

The farm has been a target of animal-rights activists since Adam Durand, director of the consumer and animal-rights group Compassionate Consumers, filmed conditions inside the farm in 2004. Last month, nine people, including Canandaigua Academy students, picketed the Wegmans store at 345 Eastern Boulevard, calling for the farm to "go cage-free."

But a Wegmans' spokeswoman said the possible sale is not connected to the protests. Jo Natale, the company's director of media relations, said Wegmans wasn't looking to sell.

"A regional egg producer has approached us," she said, reading from a statement posted for employees on Friday. "We have begun to negotiate a deal."

Natale wouldn't give details of the potential sale but said Wegmans is considering it for financial reasons. Wegmans is the only supermarket in the nation to own an egg farm, she said. It was started in 1967, and "the egg industry has changed significantly since the 1960s."

Natale said the farm had 700,000 birds on Monday, which is "really small by today's standards. Successful farms are much larger."

Meanwhile, longtime Naples egg farmer Mark Adams said he is also considering getting out of the egg business because it's no longer profitable for small and medium-sized farms.

Adams, whose family has been in the egg business since 1963, had more than 100,000 birds a few years ago. He has dropped that to 90,000, he said, in the face of competition from companies that have 10 million to 12 million birds.

Wegmans has repeatedly denied accusations of mistreating its chickens. In 2004, Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy investigated the egg farm and Wegmans received a clean bill of health. After last month's protest Natale said, "we voluntarily adhere to science-based standards for egg production."

Compassionate Consumers accused Wegmans of mistreating its chickens by cramming them into cages, and activists claimed they had to take dead birds out of the cages and clean feces off living birds.

Julie Sherwood can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 263, or at jsherwood@mpnewspapers.com.

2006-10-30T07:43:00.000-08:00

"Wegmans Cruelty" Preview on Google Video:

"Wegmans Cruelty" on Google Video:

"Wegmans Cruelty" edit on YouTube

2006-10-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

ACTIVISTS BEARING CAKE URGE WEGMANS TO CUT OUT CRUEL CAGES

For Immediate Release:
October 13, 2006

Contacts:
Erin Marcus, (443) 756-7344, einodia@yahoo.com

Warrington, PA – Animal advocates will attempt to find a way to a business’s heart—through its stomach. At the grand opening of the new Wegmans grocery store
Sunday, activists will bring attention to the suffering of hens at Wegmans Egg Farm by delivering a cake to store manager Blaine Forkell. The cake will be decorated with a chicken and read, “Blaine, Birds Don’t Belong in Cages.”

Date: Sunday, 15 October
Time: 12:00 noon
Place: Wegmans Warrington, 1405 Main St., Warrington,
PA

Wegmans-brand eggs are produced by cramming hens into barren, wire “battery cages” so small they can’t even spread a wing. At Wegmans’ 700,000-hen egg facility in Wolcott, NY investigators from Rochester, NY-based Compassionate Consumers found many hens covered with feces and open sores, living on top of their dead and dying cage-mates. Many hens had suffered painful beak mutilations, a result of beak-trimming, done only to prevent birds from pecking each other in this stressful environment.

“Conscientious consumers do not want to support production methods that involve cruelty to animals,” said a Lansdowne, PA activist, “and we are attempting to deliver that message to Wegmans in a way that hits home.”

The activists—some traveling from Virginia and Maryland for the opening of the new store—want Wegmans to develop a plan in agreement with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to eliminate battery cages from its egg farm. Other food retailers have recently stopped selling battery cage eggs, including grocery
giants Whole Foods and Wild Oats. In November, 2005, organic food chain Trader Joe's agreed to make its own brand of eggs cage-free. Battery cages are considered
so cruel that they have been banned in many countries, including those comprising the entire European Union.

A demonstration outside the store is also planned. The cake, the activists assure, does not contain eggs or any other animal products.

For more information or to watch the documentary visit www.WegmansCruelty.com

2006-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is a web version of an information kit mailed to Wegmans store managers from URVEG in August 2006.

Included in the kit:

Video from the DVD:

Use the free QuickTime Player to view. The CC logo shown in the video toggles closed captions.

The brochure:

Dear Store Manager,

Greetings from UR-VEG. We're a volunteer community of faculty, staff, students and alumni at the University of Rochester, where Danny Wegman is a Senior Trustee. We work to reduce unnecessary animal suffering.

As you probably know, Corporate's handling of the public outcry over the film Wegmans Cruelty has left many of your customers feeling angry and betrayed. We know this because we've been collecting signatures from Wegmans shoppers. As of August 2006, over 2,900 of your customers (many of them life-long admirers of Wegmans) have signed so far. They frequently describe themselves as feeling “shocked”, “appalled”, and even “ashamed” of how your company treats its animals.

The Humane Society of the United States is urging Wegmans to phase out “battery” cages — a cruel and outmoded confinement system still used on Wegmans Egg Farm. These cages are so inhumane that many countries have banned them. In the U.S., large markets like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have already phased out battery cages. Wegmans customers are left wondering why their favorite store lags so far behind.

Instead of cleaning up the farm, Corporate is attempting to pass the buck; they want you to dismiss customer concerns with misleading excuses. Your customers aren't buying it, and many are even boycotting your stores. As former Wegmans shoppers ourselves, we know you work hard to give us your best. We believe you take customer concerns very seriously. That's why we think you should know the truth.

This brochure addresses some of the excuses you've been hearing from Corporate. For example, it's frequently claimed that the conditions shown in Wegmans Cruelty were filmed at some other farm. We've included new video footage that supports its authenticity.

Your customers want to feel proud of Wegmans once again; they expect Wegmans to do the right thing. Please, do what you can to convince Corporate to listen to them.

Thank you for your time.

2006-08-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

When Will There Be Stories Like this about Wegmans Egg Farm?

Animal cruelty charges come home to roost

Activists’ focus on Esbenshade Farms might signal more trouble for local egg industry.

By Gil Smart, Lancaster Online

Sunday News

Published: Aug 12, 2006 11:34 PM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - The bird in the video is gray and decomposing, having been stepped on and perhaps defecated upon by the other snow-white chickens that mill about inside the wire cage.A gloved hand reaches in and pulls the carcass out, turning it slowly that the camera might see, ultimately, that the world might see.

The footage, shot by John Brothers, an animal-rights advocate with the Washington D.C.-based group Compassion Over Killing, was the key piece of evidence in the cruelty case against officials with Esbenshade Farms in Mount Joy that went before Elizabethtown Magisterial District Judge Jayne F. Duncan last week.

Esbenshade Farms chief executive officer H. Glenn Esbenshade and farm manager Jay Musser each faced 35 counts of animal cruelty; one charge against each was thrown out, and after five hours of testimony Aug. 7, attorneys for both sides appeared to be working on a settlement.

Yet whatever happens, Compassion Over Killing and the Humane Society of the United States, which helped fund the case, are likely to declare victory.

For while their immediate goal was to force Esbenshade to clean up its chicken houses, the case was also part of a broader campaign against what animal-rights activists believe are inhumane conditions in the egg industry as a whole. And on that count, last week’s case was a success. The Associated Press covered the proceedings, and traffic increased on Compassion Over Killing’s Web site, where Brothers’ video is posted.

This means that even once the case is resolved, the local egg industry’s headaches might be only beginning.

To be sure, animal-rights groups have long waged war against the egg industry. But Lancaster County has never been targeted as specifically as it has been the past few years. In part it might have been inevitable, as this is the top egg-producing county in Pennsylvania, itself one of the top egg-producing states.

All of the attention, initially, took industry leaders by surprise. But they’ve begun to push back, waging a campaign against "agricultural terrorism," and considering ways they might educate the public about standard farming practices that might seem strange to consumers who never really have thought about where their eggs come from.

"Advanced agriculture has been one of the key growth factors in Lancaster County’s agricultural economy," said Jim Adams, chief operating officer of Wenger Feed Mill.

"If we had to sprinkle corn on the ground for 200,000 birds, we’d never get the job done."

From dogs to hens

Blame it, maybe, on puppy mills.

The long-running, high-profile campaign against the dog breeding industry has borne some large fruit lately, with Gov. Ed Rendell vowing to toughen the state’s dog laws. The move was prompted, in part, by sustained pressure from animal activists, including a Philadelphia-based group that erected billboards on the Pennsylvania Turnpike urging consumers not to do business in Lancaster County, "home of 100s of puppy mills."

What works for dogs, some think, may work for chickens, too. Animal activists have long been concerned about the plight of chickens used in the egg industry. The New York Times profiled Compassion Over Killing in a lengthy 2002 article: "This is the next anti-oppression movement," one member told the Times after a "raid" on a Maryland farm during which the group entered chicken sheds and stole several sick and dying birds.

There are crucial differences between the way Pennsylvania regulates the treatment of dogs and chickens. The former have a whole series of laws specifically devoted to the manner in which dogs are bred and kept. The treatment of chickens, however, is regulated only by Pennsylvania’s cruelty statute, which states that anyone who "wantonly or cruelly illtreats" or otherwise abuses, neglects or abandons any animal is breaking the law — but even this "shall not apply to activity undertaken in normal agricultural operation."

As a result, said Mike Winters, the Lancaster attorney who defended Esbenshade Farms and has defended dog breeders in the past, "everyone has a different perspective on what abuse is."

Beyond that, animal-rights groups targeting the egg industry, or other animal-intensive agricultural industries, actually have a potent weapon that puppy mill opponents don’t. While foes of dog breeders must rely on the state’s Bureau of Dog Law to police kennels, those targeting the egg industry can bring alleged violations to the attention of local Humane Society police officers, who have the authority to bring charges in court.

That’s exactly what happened in the Esbenshade case, after Brothers showed his footage to Humane Society police Officer Johnna Seeton. Seeton told the Philadelphia Inquirer in January that the conditions shown in Brothers’ video were "very, very bad"; Dr. Ian Duncan, a Canadian professor and renowned expert on animal welfare, said he’d never seen conditions as bad as those shown in the Esbenshade video.

The Humane Society of the United States has called the case groundbreaking, the first time that an American egg producer has been charged with cruelty over hens’ normal living conditions.

Winters said the involvement of the Humane Society itself is unique, in that the group "has essentially bankrolled the prosecution," retaining the attorney who is prosecuting the case because the Lancaster County District Attorney’s office does not handle animal cruelty cases.

When the Humane Society and other national organizations sitting on millions start coming after egg producers, he said, the game is on.

And not just at Esbenshade Farms. Last year, Philadelphia-based Hugs for Puppies began targeting Kreider Farms, a Manheim egg production company that also operates a dairy farm and several restaurants. The group decided to go after Kreider Farms not because conditions for hens were any worse than is normal in the industry, but simply because Kreider Farms is one of Pennsylvania’s largest egg producers — and the group considers those industry norms to be repulsive.

People "have this image in their mind of Farmer Brown raising chickens in his backyard, and that’s just not the case anymore," said Nick Cooney, director of Hugs for Puppies. But this is factory farming, he said, complete with hundreds of thousands of birds jammed into small chicken houses, housed in wire "battery" cages that often don’t even provide enough room for the fowl to turn around.

The European Union has begun to phase out "battery" cages; activists want U.S. producers to do the same.

In November 2004 and September 2005, members of Hugs for Puppies shot videotape inside several Kreider Farms chicken houses; felony charges were brought against two members of the group, but in April, Christopher Price, 25, of Philadelphia pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass, agreeing to pay $582 in fines and court costs.

At the conclusion of his case, Price referenced the Esbenshade case, noting that there is more than one way to skin a cat, or a chicken: "As proven by the Esbenshade case, there are other ways to get the word out without breaking the law," he said.

The clear implication being that there will be more "investigations" to come.

"The industry tries hard to keep hidden what happens inside those facilities," said Erica Meier, Compassion Over Killing’s executive director. The "undercover" video and high-profile court cases ultimately "encourage people to make more humane choices."

What next?

The industry suspects animal-rights groups are more interested in shutting them down entirely.

"Short of getting out of business, we’re never going to be able to satisfy them," said Chris Herr, vice president of PennAg Industries, an agricultural trade association in Harrisburg.

And so the pushback has begun. In April, the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce & Industry hosted a forum on "agricultural terrorism," to warn the industry of "those who engage in criminal acts in the name of animal rights," said FBI agent Joseph Metzinger.

But the egg industry is also beginning to reach out to the public and public officials, in order to explain the normal business practices utilized by large egg producers.

There is, said Wenger Feed Mill’s Jim Adams, a reason for the measures. "They make the food process wholesome, and the eggs can be gathered with a reasonable amount of labor," he said.

"For a lot of people, efficiency and profit are dirty words. But that’s what makes the world go 'round."

At the same time, though, the industry is willing to review its standard practices, tweak them where possible or necessary.

"No responsible people in agriculture will defend animal abuse," said Gary Willier, agriculture services manager for The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "And there’s probably no one more concerned with animal welfare than the farmers who make their living" from animals.

"But at the same time, everyone has a right to choose whatever food they want. ... Our society is at a point where we have the time and money to look at alternative sources of raising food. And if people are willing to pay more for food they know has been raised in a manner they consider humane, that’s an evolution of the food chain.

"It doesn’t mean it's wrong to keep [chickens] in battery cages. It just means it’s wrong for you."

2006-08-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

When will Wegmans be criminally charged for its egg farm? Other farms get charged, so why not them?

In December 2005, a COK investigator worked undercover at Esbenshade Farms, one of Pennsylvania's largest egg factory farms. While there, he documented appalling conditions for hundreds of thousands of hens confined inside decrepit cages. The documentation led to the filing of 35 counts of criminal animal cruelty against both the owner and the manager of the factory farm.

The trial started in April and continued yesterday. Below are several of today's news reports about this case, including two Associated Press articles and local television news coverage. For more information about the investigation, visit http://www.cok.net/feat/paefi.php. To see more of the media coverage, visit http://tinyurl.com/flr6o. The case is still pending.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-08072006-694536.html

Professor: Egg farm had deteriorating cages, neglected birds
By MARTHA RAFFAELE
The Associated Press

08/07/2006

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - A secretly shot videotape showed evidence of deteriorating cages and neglected birds at a Lancaster County egg farm, a prosecution expert testified Monday at the animal-cruelty trial of the farm's manager and chief executive.

There were many birds, "both live and dead, that were trapped on parts of the cages" at Esbenshade Farms last year, said Ian Duncan, a poultry science professor who recently retired from the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Duncan took the stand Monday at the start of a trial for the chief executive and the manager of Esbenshade Farms in Mount Joy, one of Pennsylvania's largest egg producers.

His testimony was entirely based on the 19-minute videotape that was shot by an animal-rights activist who worked undercover at the farm last year. Duncan said the tape showed too many birds trapped in dangerous conditions for it to have been fabricated.

A humane society police officer charged the executive, H. Glenn Esbenshade, and the manager, Jay Musser, with summary offenses after she obtained the video. The defendants' lawyer has said the state's animal-cruelty law cannot be enforced against what he described as a "normal agricultural operation."

John Brothers, who made the video, said he saw as many as nine chickens in a single cage, and that broken cage wires impaled both dead and living birds.

Brothers testified that he reported the conditions to Musser. "His response was that the cages were 25 years old," Brothers said.

The tape reportedly shows chickens impaled by cage wires, unable to reach food or water, kept in areas so small they could not spread their wings and penned along with decomposing dead chickens.

http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/24626

1 charge dropped in egg-farm cruelty case
Summary trial begins on 34 other charges against Esbenshade Farms
By By Robyn Meadows And Tim Mekeel
Lancaster New Era

Aug 07, 2006

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - One animal-cruelty charge against a pair of Mount Joy egg-farm operators was thrown out this morning, because the charge lacked the date of the alleged offense.

Magisterial District Court Judge Jayne Duncan agreed to dismiss the charge against the Esbenshade Farms operators as their summary trial began.

Esbenshade Farms chief executive officer H. Glenn Esbenshade and farm manager Jay Musser still face 34 summary counts of animal cruelty.

If convicted, the defendants face a potential penalty of $50 to $750 in fines and up to 90 days in jail on each count.

The charges were brought by the Humane Society’s police officer for Lancaster County, Johnna Seeton.

Duncan’s small courtroom on South Spruce Street in Elizabethtown was filled with about 35 people, including supporters of each side. The trial was continuing at press time.

At issue are the living conditions faced by the tens of thousands of caged layer hens on the Mount Joy farm.

The allegedly cruel circumstances were captured on a videotape shot by an undercover investigator with Compassion Over Killing, an animal-rights organization based in Washington, D.C.

The prosecution opened its case by calling Ian Duncan, chairman of the animal welfare department at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, to describe what he saw in the 19-minute video.

Duncan said “there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind” that the video showed trapped hens, including many that were dead for a long time, signifying that the bird cages “were not examined regularly.”

Charges against the two officials were filed in January, on the basis of the videotape shot the month before.

Animal rights groups said the case marked the first time animal cruelty charges had been lodged against an egg farm in Pennsylvania.

The case is the first in the nation in which cruelty is alleged to be part of the normal living conditions for hens, an animal rights official has said.

The central piece of evidence is the video made from Dec. 3 to 8.

The tape allegedly shows hens impaled on wires from cages, hens tangled in the wires and unable to reach food or water, and hens caged with decomposing carcasses of other birds.

Defense attorneys failed in April to get the footage excluded from the trial.

They maintained that undercover activist John Brothers, who shot the video while briefly working at the egg farm, violated constitutional search-and-seizure provisions.

Brothers, defense attorneys said, shot the video without permission and lied on his job application.

But the prosecution showed that Brothers took the video on his own, not as a government investigator, so the constitutionality issue was moot.

Brothers, a member of animal rights group Compassion Over Killing, showed the video to Humane Society officer Seeton. Seeton then used her county-sanctioned authority to file the charges.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/15218370.htm

Egg-farm cruelty case ends with lawyers seeking deal

By MARTHA RAFFAELE,

Associated Press

08/07/2006

A hearing into animal cruelty charges at one of the state's largest egg farms ended inconclusively Monday, as lawyers for both sides said they were trying to reach a settlement.

Elizabethtown District Judge Jayne F. Duncan heard about 5 1/2 hours of testimony from two of the four witnesses the prosecution planned to present, and then attorneys for both sides spent more than an hour in private conference with their clients. After the hearing, neither side's lawyers would say why they chose to negotiate a settlement instead of continuing with the trial.

"All attorneys are willing to negotiate," said Chris Patterson, a lawyer for the defense.

Any agreement would have to be approved by Duncan.

Testimony during the trial of Esbenshade Farms' manager and chief executive focused on claims that birds were housed in cruel conditions, with the key evidence being a secretly shot video that prosecutors say shows deteriorating cages and neglected birds at the Mount Joy farm.

A prosecution expert testified that there were many birds, "both live and dead, that were trapped on parts of the cages" at Esbenshade Farms last year.

Ian Duncan, a poultry science professor who recently retired from the University of Guelph in Ontario, described the contents of a 19-minute video that was shot by an animal-rights activist who worked undercover at the farm last year.

Ian Duncan, no relation to the judge, said the video showed too many birds trapped in dangerous conditions for it to have been fabricated.

A humane society police officer charged the executive, H. Glenn Esbenshade, and the manager, Jay Musser, with summary offenses after she obtained the video. The defense said the state's animal-cruelty law cannot be enforced against what it maintains is a "normal agricultural operation."

John Brothers, who made the video, testified he saw as many as nine chickens in a single cage, and that broken cage wires impaled both dead and living birds. Attorneys for the prosecution played the video for the judge and the defense, but the television was turned so that members of the public were unable to see the screen.

Brothers testified that he reported the conditions to Musser. "His response was that the cages were 25 years old," Brothers said.

The video reportedly shows chickens impaled by cage wires, unable to reach food or water, kept in areas so small they could not spread their wings and penned along with decomposing dead chickens.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Michael T. Winters asked Brothers on several occasions if caring for chickens that were injured or stuck on broken parts of the cages was among his responsibilities at the egg farm.

"Did you believe that part of your duties appears to be attending to birds that appeared to be stuck?" Winters asked.

"That was never conveyed to me ... that I was in charge of the health of the birds," Brothers responded.

Asked to comment after the hearing on the testimony presented by the prosecution, Esbenshade read a written statement.

"We always have been and will continue to be dedicated to food quality, safety, animal welfare and environmental standards based on industry science standards," he said.

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=BAA02C24-AD62-4A9C-BFC6-EE1D1E6D2997

Animal Cruelty Trial
WHP CBS-21 in Harrisburg

August 7, 2006

(see video)

http://www.wgal.com/news/9642188/detail.html

Chicken Farm Owner, Manager Face Cruelty Charges

WGAL - Channel 8 in Harrisburg

August 7, 2006

(see video)

2006-08-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

AR 2006 Schedule

Adam Durand is president of Compassionate Consumers, a not-for-profit animal advocacy organization based in Rochester, NY that focuses on the cruelty of animals in agriculture and encourages consumers to adopt a vegetarian diet or seek out more humane animal products. He is well-known for his undercover investigation film, Wegman's Cruelty, which documents the cruel living conditions of the farm's egg-laying hens. He was arrested for trespassing and sentenced to 6 months in jail and has since been released on bail. Adam has received much media attention and was featured on ABC's "Primetime" TV program.

Program:
Conducting Open Rescues (rescuing animals from factory farms and suffering the consequences) - Durand, Pease, Runkle Agriculture

Campaigns (reports on campaigns to reduce the abuse of farmed animals) - Davis, Durand, Moncrief, Ornelas, Runkle

Exhibitors:
Wegman's Cruelty (Compassionate Consumers)

2006-08-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 6: Wegmans Pittsford Demo

Hello all Compassionate Consumers!

The 700,000 hens of Wegmans Egg Farm need your help now more than ever! Please join Compassionate Consumers as we keep the pressure on by coming to Sunday's demonstration!

Date: Sunday, 6 August
Time: 2:45 pm
Place: Wegmans Pittsford, 3195 Monroe Ave.
Contact: john@compassionateconsumers.org, 585-317-4723

Compassionate Consumers was largely successful in our goal of keeping up regular demonstrations while our president, Adam Durand, was in Wayne County Jail for trespassing on Wegmans property to document life on a modern factory egg farm. Now that he has been granted a stay of sentence pending appeal, his hard-fought legal battle continues, and we need to show Wegmans that we will not go away until they end the ongoing, wholesale abuse of animals at their egg farm. Every demonstration educates more Wegmans customers and puts more pressure on the grocery giant to make reforms!

A couple of reminders: First, please park across the street or in adjacent lots, not on Wegmans property. They WILL call the police, and those guys have better things to do than telling people who are peacefully exercising their first amendment rights to move their cars.

Secondly, although this heat wave is supposed to break on Thursday, it is going to be plenty hot and sunny again on Sunday, so wear sun screen and drink plenty of water.

Please come out and help spread the message. Come alone, or bring concerned friends and family members- Compassionate Consumers will provide the signs.

We'll see you there!

John Annechino
Activist Liaison,
Compassionate Consumers

2006-08-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Adam Durand is a graphic designer and noted amateur filmmaker. In 2004, he entered New York State's largest egg farm without permission to document the conditions and produce a film about his experience. His organization, Compassionate Consumers, has since tried to convince the owner of the farm, Wegmans Food Markets, to openly disclose and improve the conditions and practices there. He was convicted of trespass for his open actions and has served one month in jail of a six month sentence. He is currently out on appeal. His story appeared in over 60 newspapers, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he was featured on ABC's "Primetime." He resides in Rochester, New York with his partner, Nicole. (See here also).

2006-08-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

Forceful advertising on Eggs / Animal cruelty: the right to know.

BuyBlue.org just mentioned a new egg-vertising scheme, whereby egg shells will be used as a medium for delivering yet more advertising to the consumers:

On Monday, [CBS,] the U.S. broadcast network was to announce plans for placing laser imprints of its trademark eye insignia, as well as logos for some of its shows, on eggs - 35 million of them in September and October.
Newspapers, magazines and Web sites are so crowded with ads for entertainment programming that CBS was ready to try something different. The best thing about the egg concept was its intrusiveness.
"It's unlike any other ad medium in the world, because you are looking at the medium while you are using it". "You can't avoid it".

Precisely: we cannot avoid it. While you can zap away from television commercials, you must look at the egg shell if you want to break it to do an omelet.

A Buyblue user asks: do we have to become vegan to still have a chance to avoid intrusive advertising alltogether?

At the same time, we are reminded of animal cruelty at factory farms like at Wegmans and all the others:

Wegmans crowds up to nine hens into tiny, barren cages at its company-run egg facility, allowing each hen less than half a square foot of space. These animals are forced to live in their own waste and on top of the corpses of their cage-mates. A team of investigators from Compassionate Consumers found hens at Wegmans Egg Farm with severe infections and suffering from extreme dehydration. Some hens were trapped in the mesh of their cages, and others were drowning in liquid manure.

A documentary made by a small investigative team from the organization Compassionate Consumers features statements from Wegmans representatives, interviews with the investigators, and footage of what life and death is like inside of an "Animal Care Certified" battery cage facility.

The Animal Rights activists wanted to go into the farm to see for themselves the conditions the hens where living. In this video, Jo Natale, Wegmans' Consumer Service Manager says:

No one, including people within our own company, are permitted to ... go into the facility... It is strictly limited to the people who must work in the facility.

I haven't watch the whole video yet (I didn't want to delay writing this blog), but that statement reminded me of an old idea of mine (and probably others): I think the consumers should have a legal, if not constitutional right to know what food they are ingesting, how it was produced and processed. We should push for a new law that would guarantee us access to factory farms, slaughterhouses and maybe other food-processing facilities. With such a legislation, factory would be required to allow representative of animal-rights charities or consumer associations to enter such "facilities" and take pictures/shoot a film AS LONG AS such visitors do not disturb the operation within those "facilities".

This legislation should cover at the very least fishing boats, factory farms and slaughter houses (because those involve not only the right of the consumers but those of the animals!) but could be extended other food-processing facilities.
I have never heard about a drive to push for such legislation.

We have a right to know.

Trackback URL for this post:

http://www.wechange.org/trackback/145

2006-08-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Adam Durand to Speak at Two Events This Month

President of Compassionate Consumers Adam Durand will be speaking at two events this month. Adam will share the stage with some of the world’s most seasoned animal advocates. You can still register for the Farm Sanctuary New York Hoe Down and Animal Rights 2006 at the websites below.

Event: Farm Sanctuary New York Hoe Down
Date: Saturday, August 5 & 6
Place: Farm Sanctuary, Watkins Glen, NY
Event website: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/visit/Newyork_hoedown06.htm

Event: Animal Rights 2006
Date: Saturday, August 10 – Monday, August 14
Place: Hilton Mark Center Alexandria Hotel, Alexandria, VA
Event website: http://www.arconference.org/program.htm

In 2004 Adam Durand and two others entered New York State's largest egg farm to document the egregious animal cruelty. His organization, Compassionate Consumers, has since worked to educate the public about this cruelty and convince Wegmans, the farm's owners, to openly disclose and improve the conditions and practices there. Adam was convicted of trespassing for his open actions and has served one month of a six month jail sentence. His story has appeared in over 80 newspapers and TV news
programs, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, and ABC "Primetime".

2006-08-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Adam Durand Fundraiser a Success!

The Green Party-sponsored fundraiser for Adam Durand was held yesterday at Genesee Valley Park and it was quite a success. There were at least 70 people there, each helping Adam with his legal bills for being charged with burglary (not guilty) and tresspassing (found guilty) in his part in making the "Wegmans Cruelty".

Prominent local Green, Deborah Magone-Fragale performed at the beginning, then hung around to jam with a bunch of local musicians who just happened to be in the park and asked if they could get their gear and play for the group. They weren't even a real band, but they stayed & played (well) for two hours!

The Greens got about 50 petition signatures and a number of people left with copies of the Greens' Platform. Green candidate for Attorney General, Rachel Triechler was also there and she was great in talking to folks throughout the event.

Fellow prominent Greens, Melissa Nicholson & Jack Spula were also present!

Thanks going to Deb Magone-Fragale, whoever those dudes were in the band, the Green Party fo Monroe County, Soy Boy for providing he food, the chefs - Nicole & John from Compassionate Consumers, and of course all of you who came!

If you didn't gett he chance to attend, donations to Adam's Legal defense are still sorely needed as his appeal is forthcoming. Please visit www.WegmansCruelty.com or send a check to:

Compassionate Consumers
PO Box 18552
Rochester, NY 14618

2006-07-31T06:27:00.000-07:00

WEEKLY WEGMANS WEDNESDAY WHAMMY!

Each city working on the campaign for the Wegmans hens (www.WegmansCruelty.com) is assigned a different day of the week to generate calls to Wegmans, and Wednesdays belong to Baltimore!

Wegmans is still keeping hens in tiny battery cages without enough room to spread their wings. The company has refused to set up a meeting with activists, and has not responded to two letters from the Humane Society of the United States offering to help them eliminate battery cages. Wegmans needs to be called on this behavior!!

So if everyone could please take a few minutes each Wednesday to call Wegmans, that would be a huge help. Please use a few minutes of your lunch break or coffee break to call Wegmans and speak out for the hens:

To reach Wegmans call 1-800-WEGMANS. Press 1 to enter an extension. Enter 4760 and the # key for Consumer Affairs. You can give your comments to a Consumer Affairs representative, or ask to speak with CEO Danny Wegman. Consumer Affairs representatives are no longer saying they will take messages for Danny Wegman, however there is still no harm in asking to do so.

Comments can be brief and to the point , for example: "Please follow the lead of several of your competitors and eliminate battery cages from your egg farm. Until Wegmans stops keeping hens in battery cages, I will buy eggs elsewhere[if you buy eggs]." The fact that Wegmans sells some eggs from cage-free farms is no excuse for keeping 750,000 birds cramped in tiny battery cages on its own farm. You may also let Wegmans know that you want them to meet with the Humane Society of the United States about improving conditions on the farm. Thanks!

For anyone who is new to the Wegmans campaign, the effort to eliminate battery cages from Wegmans Egg Farm was initiated by Rochester, NY-based Compassionate Consumers (CC). The Baltimore Animal Rights Coalition (BARC) joined the campaign when a Wegmans grocery store opened in Hunt Valley, Maryland in October 2005. Over the past months we have worked closely with Compassionate Consumers as part of a multi-city effort for the hens on Wegmans Egg Farm. CC Activist and filmmaker Adam Durand was sentenced to a six month jail sentence for his part in filming conditions on Wegmans Egg Farm; he is currently free pending his appeal. Compassionate Consumers' film Wegmans Cruelty can be viewed at www.wegmanscruelty.com. Please visit http://wegmanscruelty.blogspot.com/ for the latest news on the campaign and Adam.

Adam's case continues to garner a great deal of media attention for the factory farm conditions he exposed. Defense funds are sorely needed for his appeal; you can donate via PayPal at www.wegmanscruelty.com or send checks to:

Compassionate Consumers
PO Box 18552
Rochester, NY 14618

UPCOMING EVENTS

THIS WEEKEND: WEGMANS DEMONSTRATION

DEMAND THAT WEGMANS GO CAGE-FREE
WHERE: Intersection in front of Wegmans of Hunt Valley (median strips)
122 Shawan Road, Hunt Valley, MD (Near York and Shawan Road)
WHEN: To be announced. Please contact BARCtivist Stew at stewlyons@aol.com for the details.

Signs and literature provided. BARC events are open to everyone, regardless of whether you've come out before, so new people please feel welcome to attend. Thank you!

2006-07-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Wegmans Cruelty on YouTube

2006-07-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

Wegmans: Food You Can Feel Good About?

2006-07-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Wegmans protest Sunday July 30!

WEGMANS PROTEST Sunday July 30, 3-4 PM.

Corner of Rt. 29 and Monument Dr. in Fairfax.

(This is right down the street from this Sunday's 1:00-2:30 Petland protest, so you can come to both!)

Hey everybody! There is a weekly protest at Wegmans in Fairfax (see wegmanscruelty.com for more info). We are able to hand literature to people who didn't even know about battery cages before. It is normally on Sundays from 2:30 - 3:30 or 4 PM, but it has only been a couple of protesters each week, so if there is another time that works better for you please email Hannah at hshaw709@yahoo.com or Lisa at lisasaction@rcn.com because we could change the time if enough people respond. But until you hear differently please remember you can come any Sunday. If only one person is there the protest will be canceled, so to be sure you could call Hannah to double check, 571-338-9589, before coming.

Thank you.

2006-07-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

Visit the Compassionate Consumers booth and hear Adam Durand speak at AR 2006!
August 10-14, Washington DC

2006-07-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

July 30; FUNDRAISER PICNIC FOR ADAM DURAND

Saturday, 22 July 2006

TELL EVERYONE!

On Sunday, July 30 the Green Party of Monroe County and Compassionate Consumers will be sponsoring a picnic fundraiser to help with the appeal of Adam Durand, who has risked his freedom to reveal the cruel conditions at Wegmans Egg Farm. There will be food, live music, and fun!

Date: Sunday, July 30
Time: 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm
Place: Genesee Valley Park, Rochester, NY – Canalside Pavilion

Click here for more information on Genesee Valley Park.

In 2004 Adam Durand and two others entered New York State's largest egg farm to document the egregious animal cruelty. His organization, Compassionate COnsumers, has since worked to educate the public about this cruelty and convince Wegmans, the farm's owners, to openly disclose and improve the conditions and practices there. Adam was convicted of trespassing for his open actions and has served one month of a six month jail sentence. His story has appeared in over 80 newspapers and TV news programs, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, and ABC "Primetime".

Adam is currently out on appeal and needs your help to win his appeal. Please come to the fundraiser.

Vegetarian BBQ donated by Soy Boy
Music by Deborah Magone at 1:00 pm
Music by Gregory Paul at 4:00 pm

Bring an instrument to play!

ALL THIS FOR $7 PER PERSON AND $3 FOR KIDS UNDER 12!

BRING YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY, AND YOUR CHECKBOOK TO SUPPORT ADAM!

Contact Ryan with any questions: ryan@compassionateconsumers.org

2006-07-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

Barbecue to aid jailed activist

Supporters of a local animal rights activist in jail for trespassing at a Wegmans egg farm have scheduled a vegetarian barbecue to raise funds for his legal campaign.

Adam Durand has served a month in jail on a six-month sentence for trespassing.

Lunch, prepared by Soy Boy, will cost $7 for adults and $3 for children younger than 12. The event is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Canalside Pavilion in Genesee Valley Park.

2006-07-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

The Influence Peddler: Wegmans' Success Makes it a Target

Fortunately, some smart person responded to this guy ...

Kai's Weblog: What's Behind the $6.95 Pants and 3-Cent Eggs?

2006-07-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

Wegmans Cruelty in Israel?

2006-07-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

May 20, 2006

The Honorable Dennis M. Kehoe

Wayne County Court

Wayne County Hall of Justice, Rm. 106

54 Broad St.

Lyons, NY 14489

Re: Sentencing of Adam Durand

Dear Judge Kehoe:

In passing sentence on Adam Durand of Compassionate Consumers, you stated that Mr. Durand, convicted for trespassing on Wegmans' Wolcott, New York egg farm in order to film conditions there, behaved in a manner that indicated he felt he was "above the law." It is difficult not to take this statement ironically: What else, one feels compelled to ask, could Mr. Durand have done in order to expose the truth? He requested to be given a tour of Wegmans' egg-laying facility; that request was denied. And while it's true that officials involved in this case (State Police Investigator Frank D'Aurizio and District Attorney Rick Healy, both of whom were instrumental in bringing charges against Mr. Durand) found no proof of animal cruelty, it is also true that chickens confined on egg-laying farms are excluded from protections offered by the Animal Welfare Act, and that the Animal Care Certified (ACC) program, whose seal Wegmans proudly displayed on its egg cartons, placed no prohibitions on the cruelest of standard industry practices. In fact, there is little to no protection afforded to battery-farmed hens, either under the law or by the egg industry itself; whatever is found to be "standard practice" is considered acceptable. The Better Business Bureau, on the other hand, ruled that the ACC certification program was deceptive to consumers. That a deception was being foisted upon the public by Wegmans, and by other owners of battery farms, is what Adam Durand set out to prove.

The film Mr. Durand made at Wegmans' egg farm offers ample evidence as to the allegation of neglect; indeed, the evidence was so convincing that Investigator D'Aurizio himself was unable to deny it. It validated as well the charge that the "Animal Care Certified" seal used by Wegmans misled the public into believing that hens confined to egg-laying facilities are not subject to what would, were these not farmed animals, be considered abusive treatment. As to the fact that Wegmans has expressed doubt as to whether or not the entirety of Mr. Durand's video footage was taken at their property, charging him with trespassing based on that same footage hardly lends credence to their claim.

Since Mr. Durand was found guilty of trespassing, you had no recourse but to levy punishment. However, the fact that you chose to make that punishment as severe as possible – six months in jail to be followed by a years probation, a $1,500 fine, and 100 hours of community service – indicates a clear moral choice to place property rights above the suffering of living, sentient beings. Indeed, you have done more even than that: for you have given Mr. Durand a more severe punishment than that normally meted out to those convicted of animal cruelty.

I am writing you to protest this decision, and to ask that you consider reducing or commuting Mr. Durand's sentence. He has never before been convicted of a crime, and behaved as he did not because he believes himself to be "above the law," but because the law, in this case, not only condones but actively supports the inhumane treatment of nonhuman animals. Mr. Durand, in my opinion, is to be applauded for his actions, not condemned.

Yours sincerely & etc. . . .

Statement Made by Judge Kehoe Upon Sentencing Adam Durand

For further information, please visit:

http://www.wegmanscruelty.com/

and

http://wegmanscruelty.blogspot.com/

Statement Made by Judge Kehoe Upon Sentencing Adam Durand

(May 16, 2006)

Mr. Durand, we live in a society where the rule of law means something. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways of making one's voice heard on issues that concern them. While the law allows you to picket a store on public sidewalks, it does not allow you to break into a company's hen house.

Breaking into someone else's property - whether it is to further one's own political agenda or not - is not just wrong, it is a crime. If we wish to continue to live in society that values the rule of law, and I do, as opposed to one where people pick and choose which laws they want to follow, there must be consequences from criminal acts.

I have always believed that criminal consequences should be more severe for those who refuse to take responsibility for their actions, and who continue to benefit from their criminal behavior.

In your case, you entered into your victim's hen house without permission or other lawful authority. You did this because you believed you were "above the law". You did not do this once, or even twice. You did this on three separate occasions. You did not make any of these unlawful intrusions on the spur of the moment, nor on a passing whim. You planned your criminal activity well in advance, and carried out a carefully orchestrated scheme.

Although the jury found that you were not proven guilty of the crimes of burglary in the third degree and petit larceny on any of those three occasions, the undisputed proof at trial is that you did knowingly trespass on Wegmans' property and take "personal property" on each of those occasions that did not belong to you, as evidenced by the fact that the first time two hens were removed in pillow cases, the second time two hens were removed in a card board box, and the third time seven hens were removed in a cage.

Your criminal acts were all thought out in advance. That is called, in legal parlance, "premeditation." I believe, from all that I have seen and heard in this case, that you are the "mastermind" behind the criminal activity involved here, and I believe you have a political agenda that results in your suffering from the erroneous delusion that your conviction is a "Red Badge of Courage", instead of "the Scarlet Letter" that it actually is. You now have on your criminal record, three separate criminal convictions. It is your co-defendants, however, who stepped forward and took responsibility for their actions, and as a result, they now have higher level criminal convictions than you.

During the trial, I noted that you testified that after entering the hen house illegally each time, you subsequently failed to contact any appropriate lawful authority about your concerns for the welfare of the hens at the Wegmans farm. Nor did you contact any lawful authority when your movie was produced or shown, or at any other time. Had you truly cared about the hens at the Wegmans' farm, you would have complained to local law enforcement, the District Attorney's Office, or the local affiliations for SPCA. You would have written to your Assemblymen, your State Senators, your U.S. Congressmen and your Federal Senators.

You chose not to do that. Rather, you chose to attack Wegmans by your video, your website, and verbal attacks in the press. Our society values the rule of law and we are a nation of laws. The legitimacy of the video, which you claim was completely filmed at the Wegmans facility, has never been substantiated. Nor has Wegmans had an opportunity to challenge the veracity of the film, because Wegmans was not on trial.

Society rejected vigilantism many years ago, and I believe we should not return there any time soon.

I believe you have a political agenda that clouds your thought process to such an extent that you believe you can violate the law with impunity and that you are justified in doing so. Not only did you violate the law, your conduct and that of your co-defendants demonstrated a total ignorance on your part and theirs of bio-security measures recommended by such government agencies at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and as implemented by Wegmans at their egg facility. I believe your inexcusable conduct placed the very birds you claim to be working to protect at risk for various diseases and death on a mammoth scale. Not only did you place the hens at great risk on three separate occasions, the economic loss to your victim, as well as the surrounding community could have been enormous as a result of bold, blatant, and careless premeditated illegal conduct.

You should not assume that the jury's not guilty verdicts as to the Burglary and Petit Larceny charges were an indication that they condoned illegal conduct. The jury, like I, took a solemn oath to follow the law and render a verdict based on the law and the proof at trial. They did not have the luxury of disregarding the law any more than you or I do, Mr. Durand. There should be no mistake here, in your mind or anybody else's mind.

The victim in this matter is Wegmans, whose reputation you sought to damage, both with the consumers and in the business world.

You have made arrogant and self-righteous statements of justification. You have demonstrated by word and action your obvious disdain for your victim and the laws of the State of New York.

I do have several regrets. I believe you are in possession of, and have disseminated to your followers, what I would best describe as contraband. I would like to be able to order you to recover and destroy all of your illegally obtained and perhaps inaccurate videos, but unlike you, I will follow the law. The Son of Sam law does not appear to apply to this case, and I could find no other authority for such an order. It is my hope that your state legislature will someday pass the necessary legislation to further deter criminal conduct such as yours. My other regret is that I cannot hold you and your companions financially responsible for the massive costs already incurred by Wegmans, and to be incurred by other industries as well, in order to protect themselves and society from your unlawful conduct.

I am concerned that any sentence imposed by me which does not include jail time, might be perceived by you as tacit approval by this Court of your clearly illegal conduct, now and in the future, as long as such conduct can be tied to some value that you, the law breaker, perceives as a higher law. If you believe that to be the case here sir, you are mistaken.

2006-07-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

More demonstrations at Baltimore / DC area Wegmans.

Every week there have been demos at both the Hunt Valley, MD location and the Fairfax, VA location. This Saturday activists from Baltimore, DC, Syracuse and Fairfax met for a conference and held a large demonstration outside of the Hunt Valley Wegmans. There has been an increase in activists helping with the campaign in Fairfax, which has been really great! We're still always looking for people to come out, so if anyone is interested and is free from 2-3:30 on Sundays, please let me know! Thanks!

To help out, email Hannah! See below about more demo's run by her.

2006-07-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Wegmans Protest in Fairfax this Sunday, July 2, from 3-4:30!

Wegmans is a grocery store that gets its signature eggs from its own factory farm. Please visit http://www.wegmanscruelty.com/ for more information, including an important video.

Please join us for a peaceful protest this Sunday from 3-4:30p to help raise awareness about Wegmans’ Cruelty. If you are already attending the Petland protest, www.petstorecruelty.org , the Wegmans protest is 20 minutes away.

Everyone is welcome and appreciated in this effort. We are seeing more and more reports about consumer demand for less cruel farming and we get a lot of positive feedback from passersby. Please come and help spread the word.

The Fairfax Wegmans is at 11620 Monument Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. It is between Lee Hwy and Government Center Pkwy.

If you need directions please contact Hannah at hshaw709@yahoo.com or Lisa at lisasaction@rcn.com

2006-07-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

"Enter the Chicken Shed"

2006-06-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

(June 23, 2006) — Trespasser gets stay of sentence

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

Adam Durand, the Rochester man sentenced to six months in Wayne County Jail for illegally entering Wegmans Food Markets Inc. egg farm in Wolcott, Wayne County, has been released pending an appeal.

Durand was found guilty of three counts of criminal trespassing in May and began serving his jail sentence May 16. He has been granted a stay of his sentence from the state Supreme Court Appellate Division and will be out on bail until his appeal hearing.

The animal activist had illegally entered the egg farm to film the hens' conditions, which Durand and fellow members of the group Compassionate Consumers believe to be inhumane.

Wegmans has said that its animal care standards at the 700,000-hen farm exceed state and federal requirements.

2006-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

Adam Durand Granted a Stay of Sentence

Tuesday, 20 June 2006

This morning the presiding judge of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division Fourth Department granted a stay of sentence pending appeal for Adam Durand. Adam was released on bail today. This release will most likely last months until the Appellate Division makes a decision on his appeal.

This stay of sentence makes everyone more hopeful for Adam's case for appeal. Because of the ongoing appeal Legal Defense Funds are needed now more than ever. Adam's case has garnered media attention that has informed millions about the suffering of hens at Wegmans Egg Farm. The appeal will continue to draw attention to the animals' suffering.

You can donate via PayPal by clicking on the icon on the left side of the page or via mail.

Adam was sentenced on May 16 to six months in jail for revealing the egregious cruelty at Wegmans Egg Farm. Wegmans requested the harsh sentence received by Durand—-a first time offender-—in an obvious attempt to silence critics of the company’s inhumane practices.

You can listen to the “Animal Voices” radio interview about Adam and the campaign with Compassionate Consumers Campaign Coordinator Ryan Merkley here

Read the City Newspaper article "Jailing a cage-free activist".

Listen to the podcast interview with Ryan Merkley on "Erik's Diner". (The interview begins about one-third of the way into the podcast.)

Read the Finger Lakes Times article here.

June 25: El Paso Radio Interview With Ryan Merkley

Monday, 29 May 2006

The Sunday, June 25 Animal Concerns of Texas radio show will carry an interview with Ryan Merkley, Campaign Coordinator for Compassionate Consumers. Ryan will discuss the investigation of Wegmans Egg Farm, the campaign, and Adam's sentencing. The show is broadcast on KTEP National Public Radio in El Paso, Texas. The show can be heard at 7:30 pm Mountain Time (9:30 pm Eastern Time).

You can listen to the show live on KTEP's website. (Click on the link at the left side of the page)

2006-06-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

SUNDAY: Wegmans Chili-Paul Demo

In our ongoing effort to reach people in a variety of locations around the Rochester area with our message about the cruelty at Wegmans Egg Farm, we will be demonstrating this Sunday, June 18th at the Wegmans Chili-Paul. It is a large store located at the intersection of Chili Avenue and Paul Road in the town of Chili, about 15 minutes Southwest of downtown Rochester.

Date: Sunday, 18 June
Time: 1:45 pm
Place: Wegmans Chili-Paul, 3175 Chili Avenue, Rochester

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend! Please make the drive out on Sunday - every single person who comes to the demonstration will help us get the word out to more people about how the egg industry mistreats animals for the sake of making a buck!

There are plenty of plazas to park in on other corners of the intersection, but as a reminder, please do not attempt to park on Wegmans property. The quickest way to get there from Rochester is by taking I-490 West to exit 5, Chili Center, and taking a left onto Chili Center Coldwater Road, and following it south for about a mile to the store location on Chili Ave.

John Annechino
Activist Liaison
Compassionate Consumers
585-317-4723
john@compassionateconsumers.org

2006-06-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wegmans Cruelty and Adam Durand on Rochester Public Radio

Today Bob Smith's 1370 Connection show on WXXI radio in Rochester had Tom Proietti, a very interesting MCC media analyist who is on every few weeks. He said he had seen the film "Wegmans Cruelty," and talked about it in mostly positive terms for a couple of minutes. The show is replayed every night, so if anyone is interested in hearing it, that part should be on sometime tonight (Wednesday) between 9:30 and 10:00 PM on 1370AM.

2006-06-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

El Paso Radio Interview with Ryan Merkley

The Tuesday, June 20 radio show "Animal Concerns of Texas" will feature an interview with Ryan Merkley, Campaign Coordinator for Compassionate Consumers. Ryan will discuss the ongoing campaign urging Wegmans to go cage-free and the current legal situation of Adam Durand. The show will be broadcast at 10:30 am Mountain Time (12:30 pm Eastern Time).

Date: Tuesday 20 June
Time: 12:30 pm EST

"Animal Concerns of Texas" is broadcast in El Paso on KTEP Public Radio.

2006-06-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Wegmans should have egg on its face
From The Rochester DISSIDENT: news, views, and poems from JACK BRADIGAN SPULA

Topic: agriculture, animals
Tuesday, 16 May 2006

Word just came that Adam Durand, one of the brave young folks who went into the Wegmans egg farm in Wolcott to film the industrial-strength abuse of some 700,000 laying hens there, has been sentenced to six months in the Wayne County jail for trespass.

The sentence is way out of line, and hopefully Durand won’t spend the whole time behind bars.

He was very recently found not guilty of several serious charges that the Wayne County DA brought against him – including burglary. These charges were more wildly pumped up than the one of trespass. But the jury apparently understood they were being given bit parts in a corporate show trial, directed by the DA. So they did the right thing and voted to acquit on all but the least serious charge.

Now the Wegmans gang must be crowing; they lost the show trial, but the judge came down hard on Durand, regardless. In the Rochester area, you don’t fool with Mother Unnatural.

Durand and his friends did nothing wrong; they acted morally and affirmatively. When going onto the farm, they didn’t damage property (in fact, they saved some, in the form of ailing hens they rescued). Their purpose was solely to document the horrors of “battery cage” husbandry methods – fowl crammed into tiny spaces, “de-beaked,” exposed to their own feces, kept isolated from earth and sun and prevented from engaging in natural social behavior.

But again, you put at least a chunk of your life and freedom on the line when you embarrass the likes of Wegmans, a company that polishes a squeaky-clean image even as the mountains of manure – chickenshit of the PR variety included – pile up.

My last official dealing with the Wegmans flack-farm occurred a few years ago. I was tracking the company’s plans for expanding the East Avenue store near Winton. It looks like the company is determined to bulldoze some old buildings (one of which is arguably historic) near the present store to make way for a new Big Box (and acres of parking space, too).

Here as elsewhere, the project may take time; even an 800-pound retailer can’t wear down the opposition all at once. But I predict Wegmans will get its way with East Avenue, if it hasn’t already. The corporate voice - a real cockadoodle-doo - sounds as loud in Monroe County as in Wolcott.

2006-06-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

An HSUS Report: Welfare Issues with Cage and Cage-Free Egg Production:
A Review of Mortality

. . . Some proponents of battery cages claim that cage-free housing causes unacceptable mortality rates. For instance, Wegmans Food Markets officials have defended their use of cage systems by claiming, “Free-range chickens, exposed to the outdoors, have a normal mortality rate anywhere from 20 to 40 percent a year.”
. . .
In fact, normal mortality rates in free-range flocks are between 5 to 15 percent—less than the mortality rates in many molted, caged flocks. No scientific evidence exists to support the claim that flocks kept in barn aviaries have any higher mortality than flocks kept in cages, after controlling for breed and beak-trimming. Indeed, according to poultry welfare expert Dr. Joy Mench, a professor in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis, and a specialist who serves on advisory committees for both the United Egg Producers and McDonald’s [and Wegmans], “Mortality and disease rates can be similar under both systems if management is good.”

2006-06-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

Another great demonstration led by Hannah and the Baltimore Animal Rights Coalition (BARC)!

"Here are some photos from yesterday's demos. BARC and I took a trip to NJ for the grand opening of a Wegmans. We're still looking for people to help out with the Northern VA demos, so please - message me if you're interested! Thanks!" -- posted @ WC's MySpace

2006-06-11T15:54:00.000-07:00

'Cage-free' eggs take flight: some shoppers like that birds can roam

Chicago Tribune
Published June 11, 2006

2006-06-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

Flyers by N-J, The Vegan Filmmaker

Download them below! See the links!

UPDATE: ADAM IS OUT OF JAIL! NO NEED FOR THESE FLYERS NOW.

This flyer is still useful though: Wegmans Cruelty film flyer, full page -
http://www.geocities.com/peta2rox/wc-film-flyer.pdf

1. Wegmans Cruelty film flyer, full page -
http://www.geocities.com/peta2rox/wc-film-flyer.pdf

2. Support Adam full, single page flyer -
http://www.geocities.com/peta2rox/finalnew01.pdf

3. Support Adam full page front (1 of 2) -
http://www.geocities.com/peta2rox/finalnew02.pdf

Support Adam full page back (2 of 2)-
http://www.geocities.com/peta2rox/finalnew03.pdf

4. Support Adam half page front (1 of 2)-
http://www.geocities.com/peta2rox/finalflyer_01.pdf

Support Adam half page back (2 of 2)-
http://www.geocities.com/peta2rox/finalflyer_02.pdf

2006-06-08T16:09:00.002-07:00

The Ad that never ran.

Animal Rights International

In 2004, a small group of Rochester animal advocates visited retail chain Wegmans egg-factory in the middle of the night and filmed the horrendous conditions in which they kept their hens. After producing a widely viewed documentary, the film maker, Adam Durand was charged with felony burglary because he removed some critcally sick and dying birds for veterinary care. Shortly before Adam's trial, ARI submitted this ad to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle to show Wegmans and others like them that if they tried to punish animal advocates for exposing abuses like those at Wegmans egg factory there would be consequences. The Democrat and Chronicle declined to run the ad citing the picture and saying it came too soon after the death of Wegmans founder Robert Wegman. The Democrat and Chronicle receives a lot of advertising fron Wegmans. ARI, assisted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) sent out media releases which resulted in coverage by the New York Times and the Associated Press. Adam Durand was acquitted of felony burglary. Click on the ad for a full sized PDF version.

2006-06-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Egg on Wegmans Face

from Jeremy's Journal

Last year, I noticed protesters outside of the showcase Pittsford Wegmans, with signs directing people to wegmanscruelty.com. I dismissed them as a bunch of PETA-brained vegans looking for a big target to bring attention to their radical campaigns. I didn’t pay much attention to them, until I started hearing more on the news. . . .

I’ve always liked Wegmans, but this case bothers me. Wegmans was faced with some free speech that they didn’t like. Rather than simply counter with free speech, they pressured the legal system to give a severe sentence to one of their critics. Wegmans claims that “an intrusion like Durand’s could introduce pathogens — like avian flu — capable of wiping out whole flocks of the company’s birds”. Give me a break. Yes, we’re all scared of avian flu, but the plain fact of the matter is that Wegmans’ primary concern is with their corporate image. That’s what Durand attacked and that’s what Wegmans was lashing back against.

Because Wegmans took vindictive legal action instead of public relations action, I personally will not set foot in a Wegmans store until Adam is out of jail.

2006-06-08T15:50:00.001-07:00

Commentary from the "Out of my Vegan Mind" blog.

Written by a 'a vegan who is a cardiologist-in-training.'

2006-06-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Eric's Diner Podcast

Judge Kehoe, Adam Durand, and Mister Rogers
(May 26, 12:25 AM ET SORRY, THIS IS OLD, BUT IT WASN'T POSTED EARLIER)
This rare early morning podcast features my thoughts on anger and on Judge Kehoe's sentence of Adam Durand. For more on the Wegmans cruelty case, visit WegmansCruelty.com.

2006-06-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

Compassion no crime

Contra Costa Times, CA
June 7, 2006

It's a sad commentary on our society's values when animal rescuer Adam Durand is thrown in jail for his "crime" of compassion, while those responsible for the abuse at Wegman's Egg Farm get off scot-free. ("Activist who filmed egg farm gets jail," May 16).

Durand is to be commended, not punished, for risking his freedom to protest institutionalized abuses. In doing so, he has joined a long list of social activists (think Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King) who have used civil disobedience to affect social change.

The unfortunate fact is that the cruel battery-cage conditions Durand documented at Wegman's egg farm -- hens packed so tightly into wire cages that they are unable to even lift a wing, much less walk -- are standard on most U.S. egg farms. Although the factory farming industry has sought for years to shield consumers from the reality of factory egg farming, the public has a right to make informed decisions about their supermarket purchases.

Compassion is not a crime, and profits should not precede basic, humane principles. Instead of pushing to punish Durand, Wegman's should be gearing its energies toward instituting humane, cage-free conditions for their millions of miserable egg-laying hens.

Ariana Huemer

Oakland

2006-06-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

SATURDAY: Wegmans Greece Demo

On Saturday evening Compassionate Consumers will continue its weekly demonstrations while Adam is in jail; this time we're moving to a new location. Please join us to let Wegmans know that their attempts to silence Adam won't make the issue of animal cruelty go away!

Date: Saturday, 10 June
Time: 1:45 pm
Place: Wegmans Britton Rd., 3660 Dewey Ave., Greece, NY
Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=3660+dewey+ave,+rochester+ny

Directions from the south:
* Take 390 North to exit 25
* Turn right onto Vintage Ln, then left (north) onto Dewey Ave
* 3660 Dewey Ave is just past Britton Rd.
* Please don't park in the Wegmans lot; there's a large plaza one block north, past English Rd.

2006-06-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

Trespasser due back in court

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
(June 1, 2006)

Adam Durand, the Rochester man who was convicted last month of trespassing at Wegmans Wayne County egg farm in 2004 while filming conditions at the farm, will be back in court next week.

Durand is in the Wayne County Jail, serving a six-month sentence imposed May 16. He also was sentenced to $1,500 in fines, community service and a year of probation.

However, under state law, Durand cannot be required to serve both jail time and probation for his crimes.

The sentence received national attention, particularly among animal rights groups.

Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy said Wednesday that he does not plan to make any sentencing recommendations when Durand returns to court Tuesday. Judge Dennis Kehoe will likely either vacate the jail time or the probation, Healy said.

2006-05-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

Rochester's City Newspaper

(Did anyone, anywhere write any letters 'in defense of' Wegmans or against Adam Durand??! Why weren't any of them printed anywhere?!)

MAY 31, 2006

Reader feedback - 5.31.06

ANIMAL RIGHTS

In a world filled with pain and suffering --- the war in Iraq, genocide in Darfur, poverty in the City of Rochester --- we seem unable or unwilling to stop any of the misery. There is pain and suffering on a massive scale that we all have a part in, however. We Americans turn our heads away and are afraid to look at where our animal food comes from.

We know deep down that it is not a pretty picture. It is brutal, violent, ugly, bloody. What happens to the chickens, cows, pigs in our nation's factory farms is pure evil. The only people who do know what happens at these farms are the corporations who make millions off of these animals --- and the animal-rights advocates who have chosen not to look away.

Ninety-eight percent of our animal food comes from factory farming. More than nine billion animals are slaughtered each year in this country. A corporation can do anything it wants to a factory-farm animal; in some states, these animals are exempt from virtually all cruelty laws.

When someone like Adam Durand of Compassionate Consumers decides to commit civil disobedience --- sneaking into Wegman's egg factory farm --- to document and bring to light the pain and suffering of 750,000 chickens --- he should be applauded, not vindictively sentenced to six months in the Wayne County jail for the low-level misdemeanor of trespassing.

When the plight of animals has been brought to a whole new level --- when we acknowledge that they feel pain and fear --- we will all benefit. Think how inconceivable it will be to wage war, to let someone needlessly die of starvation in Africa, or have homeless people wandering the streets of Rochester, if we aren't even harming animals anymore. Then the selfless acts of people like Adam Durand will be viewed in the proper context.

Andrew Dunning, Rosedale Street, Rochester

PUNISHMENT WAS SEVERE

Thank you for your May 10 article, "Of Food and Felonies." Adam Durand, who sneaked into one of the state's largest egg-producing operations, received a six-month jail sentence. This punishment seems very severe; the district attorney does not seem interested in real justice.

Mr. Durand deserves to be recognized for his courage to record numerous animal-cruelty violations at the plant. Consumers have a right to know about how the eggs they buy are produced. This egg farm supplies eggs to Wegmans.

William McMullin, Mt. Morris, Michigan

2006-05-31T09:08:00.000-07:00

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Letters to the editor

(May 31, 2006)

Treat all animals with dignity, care

I have followed the activities of the group Compassionate Consumers for more than a year. I have viewed the Wegmans Cruelty video. The laws of this nation must be changed to protect the animals that we "pet" and also the animals that are consumed for food.

Any important change in this country seems to come only after some group or another "breaks the law." Why does it have to come to that?

The sentencing of Adam Durand to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service, $1,500 fine and six months jail time is absolutely a travesty of justice.

There are no words to describe how outraged I am at our justice system, a system that lets murderers and rapists walk the streets over and over again, forgives the CEOs of large corporations after they have ruined tens of thousands of lives, a system that put a young man who committed a misdemeanor, for the first time in his life, in jail.

The powers that be at Wegmans, Judge Dennis Kehoe and Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy should rethink this sentencing.

FREYDA CHEMES
FAIRPORT

2006-05-31T05:53:00.000-07:00

SATURDAY: Wegmans Pittsford Demo

This Saturday evening Compassionate Consumers will continue its weekly demonstrations while Adam is in jail! If you are going to the Helping Animal 101 conference in Rochester take that energy and join us at Wegmans Pittsford.

Date: Saturday, 3 June
Time: 6:45 pm
Place: Wegmans Pittsford, 3195 Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY

2006-05-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 29, 2006
The Times of Wayne County

Judge Kehoe sentences Wegman's Egg Farm trespasser to 6 months in jail

Following a tersely worded statement by Wayne County Judge Dennis Kehoe, the proclaimed animal rights activist, Adam Durand, was sentenced on Tuesday to six months in the Wayne County Jail, one year probation, 100 hours of community service and fined $1500.

The tough sentence was not expected by the Durand, or his defense lawyers. District Attorney Rick Healy, himself an animal lover, opted not to suggest a sentence for Durand, rather referred the Court to letters submitted by the Wegman's organization, asking that Durand serve jail time.

Durand, along with fellow animal rights activists Melanie Ippolito, and Megan Cosgrove, admit they broke into the Wegman's Egg farm in the Town of Wolcott. The group bemoaned the poultry industry and called for an investigation into conditions at the farm. Durand started and was president of a Rochester based group called Compassionate Consumers.

The group's goal was to show what they considered as the poor treatment and exploitation of chickens on the massive scale. They videotaped their break-ins and put the video on the Internet.

Arrested last August, both Ippolito and Cosgrove eventually pled guilty to trespass, but Durand decided to take the charges of Petit Larceny and Burglary.

During a jury trial earlier this month, Durand, age 26, of Rochester, was acquitted of the Burglary and Petit larceny charges, but found guilty of three counts of trespass in the 3rd Degree. He, Ippolito and Cosgrove broke into the farm [on] three different occasions[s] and admitted removing 11 sick birds during their trips.

Following his acquittal on the more serious charges, Durand, in a newspaper interview, said his group would continue pressure on the Rochester based grocery chain and stated the move by the jury would "embolden our efforts".

In his statement before sentencing Kehoe stated:

Mr. Durand, we live in a society where the rule of law means something. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways of making one's voice heard on issues that concern them. While the law allows you to picket a store on public sidewalks, it does not allow you to break into a company's hen house.

Breaking into someone else's property - whether it is to further one's own political agenda or not - is not just wrong, it is a crime. If we wish to continue to live in society that values the rule of law, and I do, as opposed to one where people pick and choose which laws they want to follow, there must be consequences from criminal acts.

I have always believed that criminal consequences should be more severe for those who refuse to take responsibility for their actions, and who continue to benefit from their criminal behavior.

In your case, you entered into your victim's hen house without permission or other lawful authority. You did this because you believed you were "above the law". You did not do this once, or even twice. You did this on three separate occasions. You did not make any of these unlawful intrusions on the spur of the moment, nor on a passing whim.

You planned your criminal activity well in advance, and carried out a carefully orchestrated scheme.

Although the jury found that you were not proven guilty of the crimes of burglary in the third degree and petit larceny on any of those three occasions, the undisputed proof at trial is that you did knowingly trespass on Wegman's property and take "personal property" on each of those occasions that did not belong to you, as evidenced by the fact that the first time two hens were removed in pillow cases, the second time two hens were removed in a card board box, and the third time seven hens were removed in a cage.

Your criminal acts were all thought out in advance. That is called, in legal parlance, "premeditation". I believe, from all that I have seen and heard in this case, that you are the "mastermind" behind the criminal activity involved here, and I believe you have a political agenda that results in your suffering from the erroneous delusion that your conviction is a "Red Badge of Courage", instead of "the Scarlet Letter" that it actually is. You now have on your criminal record, three separate criminal convictions. It is your co-defendants, however, who stepped forward and took responsibility for their actions, and as a result, they now have higher level criminal convictions than you.

During the trial, I noted that you testified that after entering the hen house illegally each time, you subsequently failed to contact any appropriate lawful authority about your concerns for the welfare of the hens at the Wegman's farm. Nor did you contact any lawful authority when your movie was produced or shown, or at any other time.

Had you truly cared about the hens at the Wegman's farm, you would have complained to local law enforcement, the District Attorney's Office, or the local affiliations for SPCA. You would have written to your Assemblymen, your State Senators, your U.S. Congressmen and your Federal Senators .

You chose not to do that. Rather, you chose to attack Wegman's by your video, your website, and verbal attacks in the press. Our society values the rule of law and we are a nation of laws. The legitimacy of the video, which you claim was completely filmed at the Wegmans facility, has never been substantiated. Nor has Wegmans had an opportunity to challenge the veracity of the film, because Wegman's was not on trial.

Society rejected vigilantism many years ago, and I believe we should not return there any time soon.

I believe you have a political agenda that clouds your thought process to such an extent that you believe you can violate the law with impunity and that you are justified in doing so. Not only did you violate the law, your conduct and that of your co-defendants demonstrated a total ignorance on your part and theirs of bio-security measures recommended by such government agencies at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and as implemented by Wegman's at their egg facility. I believe your inexcusable conduct placed the very birds you claim to be working to protect at risk for various diseases and death on a mammoth scale. Not only did you place the hens at great risk on three separate occasions, the economic loss to your victim, as well as the surrounding community could have been enormous as a result of bold, blatant, and careless premeditated illegal conduct.

You should not assume that the jury's not guilty verdicts as to the Burglary and Petit Larceny charges were an indication that they condoned illegal conduct. The jury, like I, took a solemn oath to follow the law and render a verdict based on the law and the proof at trial. They did not have the luxury of disregarding the law any more than you or I do, Mr. Durand. There should be no mistake here, in your mind or anybody else's mind.

The victim in this matter is Wegman's, whose reputation you sought to damage, both with the consumers and in the business world.

You have made arrogant and self-righteous statements of justification. You have demonstrated by word and action your obvious disdain for your victim and the laws of the State of New York.

I do have several regrets. I believe you are in possession of, and have disseminated to your followers, what I would best describe as contraband. I would like to be able to order you to recover and destroy all of your illegally obtained and perhaps inaccurate videos, but unlike you, I will follow the law. The Son of Sam law does not appear to apply to this case, and I could find no other authority for such an order. It is my hope that your state legislature will someday pass the necessary legislation to further deter criminal conduct such as yours. My other regret is that I cannot hold you and your companions financially responsible for the massive costs already incurred by Wegman's, and to be incurred by other industries as well, in order to protect themselves and society from your unlawful conduct.

I am concerned that any sentence imposed by me which does not include jail time, might be perceived by you as tacit approval by this Court of your clearly illegal conduct, now and in the future, as long as such conduct can be tied to some value that you, the law breaker, perceives as a higher law. If you believe that to be the case here sir, you are mistaken.

Following his sentencing, his attorney said they may appeal.

Since the sentencing, Healy has received a number of letters, faxes and phone calls from Durand supporters from around the world, bemoaning the sentencing and actions of the court.

Durand received 60 days for each of his convictions. He would be eligible for release in four months with good behavior.

2006-05-31T05:20:00.000-07:00

Industry Front Groups' Reactions to Adam Durand's Sentence and Wegmans' Cruelty:

Animal Agriculture Alliance, May 19, 2006, "Animal rights extremist convicted of three counts of criminal trespass two colleagues pleaded guilty to criminal trespass and petit larceny"

Center for Consumer Freedom (AKA the Center for Consumer Deception, a front group for the tobacco, alcohol, animal agriculture and fast food industry), "Putting People Over Poultry"

2006-05-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

May 30: Animal Voices Radio Interview With Ryan Merkley

ARCHIVED HERE: http://www.animalvoices.ca/shows/ryan_merkley

This Tuesday, May 30 the Toronto-based Animal Voices radio show will feature a live interview with Ryan Merkley, Campaign Coordinator for Compassionate Consumers. Ryan will discuss the investigation of Wegmans Egg Farm, the campaign, and Adam's sentencing.

The show will air at 11:00 am Tuesday.

You can listen live online here:
http://www.ciut.fm/events.html
(Click the "LISTEN" icon in the upper right corner.)

If you miss the show, it will be archived on the Animal Voices website:
http://www.animalvoices.ca/

Animal Voices Radio, live every Tuesday at 11 am-12 pm EST. Listen worldwide at http://www.ciut.fm, Canada-wide on Star Choice 826, or in the local Toronto area at CIUT 89.5 FM. Archived shows and additional info are available at http://www.animalvoices.ca. Also available for podcasting.

On Tuesday, May 30th Animal Voices:

Scrambled, over-easy, fried, and mixed into baking, eggs are classic comfort foods. The industry claim that "only content animals are productive animals" seems logical enough, and with heavy security restrictions for battery cage facilities, few consumers understand how such staples materialize.

Starting from the premise that consumers have a right to know how their food is produced, animal advocates document what is hidden from view. Between the rows of stacked hens and over the piles of manure, they bear witness to what happens when economics intersect with animal welfare. Today, join us for a conversation with Ryan Merkley, Campaign Coordinator for Compassionate Consumers. He'll tell us about the Wegmans' Egg Farm investigation, including what they saw, what the industry reps say, and how the rescued hens recovered. Also, learn why one of the members was sentenced to six months in jail for his role in bringing a cruelty of unfathomable magnitude to light.

Wegmans Egg Farm facility, located in New York State, houses 750,000 egg-laying hens. According to Compassionate Consumers, the conditions there are representative of egg production throughout the United States.

But are these conditions similar to the Canadian egg industry? Bruce Passmore, the Farm Animal Welfare Project Coordinator with the Vancouver Humane Society, will provide an overview of Canadian egg production and share some insights on chicken sentience and consciousness.

Curious about the investigation? Watch the complete video "Wegmans
Cruelty' here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6598954012979330894

Compassionate Consumers:
http://www.compassionateconsumers.org/

Wegmans Cruelty site:
http://www.wegmanscruelty.com/

Vancouver Humane Society:
http://www.vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/

2006-05-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Wegmans Cruelty Demonstrations in Northern Virginia

A note from Hannah (email her here)!

Hello everyone! I will be organizing weekly demos at the Fairfax, VA Wegman's beginning next week. Anyone interested in helping out is invited - please send me a message! Here are some photos from today:

2006-05-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Animal Rights Activist to be Resentenced
13 WHAM NEWS, Watch Video
Last Update: 5/26/2006 7:11:34 PM

(Lyons, N.Y.) – The animal rights activist convicted of trespassing on Wegman’s egg farm will be resentenced next month. Adam Durand will go to jail for six months. However, a judge decided he won’t have to serve probation in addition to the jail time. Durand sneaked into the Wayne County farm to film a documentary about animal abuse.

Durand admitted going to the egg farm to take pictures that were used in a documentary called “Wegmans Cruelty.”

2006-05-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Demonstrations: Rochester, Ithaca, Syracuse and Hunt Valley

Friday, 26 May 2006

Celebrate freedom this Memorial Day by standing up for someone who isn't free and by speaking up for 700,000 animals confined to barren, wire cages at Wegmans Egg Farm. Adam Durand will spend this weekend in jail for giving voice to the suffering of those animals. Please join one of these three demonstrations Sunday in following his example.

Date: Sunday, 28 May
Time: 1:45 pm
Place: Wegmans Ridgemont, 2833 Ridge Road West, Rochester, NY
For more info: ryan@compassionateconsumers.org

Date: Sunday, 28 May
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Place: Wegmans Hunt Valley, 122 Shawan Road, Hunt Valley, MD
For more info: info@BaltimoreAnimalRights.com or 443-756-7344

Date: Sunday, 28 May
Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Place: Wegmans Ithaca, 500 South Meadow St., Ithaca, NY
Please RSVP: Campaign@FarmSanctuary.org

NEW: Another Wegmans demonstration will be held this Memorial Day weekend; this one in the Syracuse area.

Date: Monday, 29 May
Time: 12:00 noon
Place: Wegmans Dewitt, 6789 East Genesee St.,
Fayetteville, NY

Please do not park in Wegmans parking lots.

2006-05-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

The City Newspaper, Rochester NY

MAY 24, 2006
Reader feedback - 5.24.06

THE DURAND TRIAL

I was both shocked and appalled when I learned of Adam Durand's sentence last week. The overzealous aggression surrounding this case by Wegmans, WayneCounty, and Judge Kehoe reek of collusion to make sure the truth is suppressed, and Wegmans makes an example of anyone who would interfere with their bottom line. The squashing of evidence by the judge adds even more credibility to the premise that Mr. Durand is being made an example of by corporate America, and certainly does not hold true to the notion of pursuit of justice.

Since being enlightened on this subject, I have not purchased non-cage free eggs. Like most Americans, being ignorant about where consumables come from had been much easier for me than doing the right thing.

The people responsible for torturing these hens should be spending half a year in jail, not Mr. Durand. He should not be punished for making a morally and ethically, albeit illegal, choice. Adam Durand's trial and sentencing represents a gross miscarriage of justice, and all involved should be exposed and punished.

Matthew Metras, Vermont Street, Rochester

'EXPOSING CRUELTY'

Thank you for carrying the article about the trial of Adam Durand, who was acquitted of burglary and larceny after filming the egregious animal cruelty at Wegmans Egg Farm ("Of Food and Felonies," May 10).

Durand's goal all along has been to bring to light the cruelty behind the egg carton. For doing this, Wegmans tried to silence Durand by pressing charges. City's article proves that those who expose the cruelty of modern egg factories like Wegmans' deserve our admiration. Wegmans should be spending its time and money to phase out the cruel use of battery cages instead of attacking the people who are working to inform consumers.

Ryan Merkley, Edmonds Street, Rochester

(Merkley is a spokesperson for the Compassionate Consumers activist group.)

IN ADDITION...

"Of Food and Felonies" (May 10) about the court case involving activist Adam Durand and Wegmans did a nice job of highlighting our society's changing understanding of food. It's not just egg producers who we've allowed to adopt cruel farming practices in the name of profit. To maximize the amount of calories turned into flesh, pigs kept in gestation crates don't get to walk or even turn around.

Thankfully, there's been a shift toward returning decency to animal husbandry. Recently, the city of Chicago banned the sale of foiegras, unnaturally enlarged duck or goose liver produced by forced overfeeding.

A ballot initiative in Arizona seeks to ban the use of gestation crates in that state. And the increased number of vegetarian foods at local grocers is another promising sign. Despite the fact that it has a long way to go, it seems humanity is returning to our understanding and treatment of farm animals.

Jason Ketola, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2006-05-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

Jailing a cage-free activist:

Adam Durand: the Rochesterian got an unusual sentence.

Krestia DeGeorge
City Newspaper, Rochester, NY
POSTED ON MAY 24, 2006:

Six months.

That's 180 days, and it's how long Adam Durand will have to mull over his decision to enter Wegmans' hen house while he sits in the WayneCounty jail.

Durand is an activist with the group Compassionate Consumers. In 2004, he, along with several other activists, went to Wegmans' egg farm in Wolcott on three occasions, shot video, and removed 11 hens they believed were ill or dying. Last year they released a DVD documentary titled "Wegmans Cruelty" based on the footage they gathered. The group contends that the conditions and practices they filmed on the company's egg farm amount to animal cruelty. (See "Of Food and Felonies," May 10).

Their efforts netted criminal charges for three of the activists. Two were offered plea bargains, which they took. But Durand, at the grocery chain's insistence, was put on trial earlier this month for 10 charges, including three for felony burglary. A jury acquitted him of all but three charges of criminal trespassing --- less than his co-defendants pled to. Last week, those convictions earned him 180 days in jail, plus $1,500 in fines, a year of probation, and 100 hours of community service.

The sentence wasn't the harshest that Judge Dennis Kehoe could've meted out --- the maximum for each count was 90 days, so Durand could have received up to nine months in jail --- but it was stiffer than some expected. "We don't expect any jail time," one of Durand's own lawyers, Len Egert, told the Associated Press after the jury's verdict. "It's just usually not given for a low-level offense like this."

But Judge Kehoe seems to have viewed the offense as anything but low-level. He took the step --- unusual in misdemeanor cases, but not in high-profile ones --- of writing a five-page statement, which he read aloud to Durand in the courtroom before sentencing him. The statement, provided to City Newspaper and other media outlets by District Attorney Rick Healy's office, outlines in detail the reasoning behind Kehoe's sentence.

"From the tone of it, it's very severe, and he gave it that way," says Healy. "It's unusual" for a judge to give a statement at sentencing, especially for such a relatively minor offense, Healy says.

If the tone of the statement is any indication, the judge felt strongly on the issue.

"I have always believed that criminal consequences should be more severe for those who refuse to take responsibility for their actions, and who continue to benefit from their criminal behavior," wrote Kehoe.

Durand, Kehoe said, believed he was "above the law," and Kehoe berated him for not contacting authorities if he had felt Wegmans practices were abusive.

"Society rejected vigilantism many years ago," wrote Kehoe, "and I believe we should not return there any time soon."

The judge seemed particularly upset by the video, which he said "has never been substantiated." Calling it "contraband," the judge expressed his desire to order the video destroyed, but said he could find no legal justification to do so. He also said he wished he could hold Durand and the other activists responsible for the cost of the security upgrades Wegmans has made since the break-ins. Wegmans spokesperson Jeanne Colleluori says that the company has spent $1 million securing the egg farm in the wake of the incidents.

Among other things, the company said it is worried that an intrusion like Durand's could introduce pathogens --- like avian flu --- capable of wiping out whole flocks of the company's birds. The judge specifically mentioned that concern in his statement.

It's not until his closing two sentences, however, that Kehoe directly addresses what to some is the most surprising part of his sentence: jail time.

"I am concerned that any sentence imposed by me which does not include jail time," Kehoe wrote, "might be perceived by you as tacit approval by this Court of your clearly illegal conduct, now and in the future, as long as such conduct can be tied to some value that you, the law breaker, perceives as a higher law."

But what's most interesting about Kehoe's statement is how closely it matches a victim-impact statement submitted to the court by Nixon Peabody attorney Christopher Thomas on behalf of Wegmans.

The statement prepared by Thomas "respectfully suggests" a 180-day jail sentence and a year of probation. And along with the fines and community service, that's what he got. According to Durand's attorneys, Wayne County's probation department had recommended a significantly milder sentence.

In addition to the sentence, plenty of Kehoe's points are similar to Thomas's. The Wegmans lawyer writes about the appropriateness of punishment "in cases where a defendant carefully plans how he will violate the law and the rights of others." Judge Kehoe told Durand: "You carefully planned your criminal activity well in advance, and carried out a carefully orchestrated scheme."

At times the match is almost word for word.

Thomas references Durand's "arrogant and self-righteous statements of justification and his obvious disdain for his victims." The judge has this to say: "You have made arrogant and self-righteous statements of justification. You have demonstrated by word and action your obvious disdain for your victim and the laws of the state of New York."

The judge even borrowed the Wegmans attorney's dubious literary analogy.

Durand "believes his conviction is a Red Badge of Courage instead of The Scarlet Letter that it actually is," wrote Thomas in a footnote.

Kehoe wrote that Durand's "political agenda" causes his "suffering from the erroneous delusion that your conviction is a 'Red Badge of Courage,' instead of 'the Scarlet Letter' that it actually is."

In a statement, Wegmans appeared to be satisfied with the sentence.

"We are relieved this is behind us," said the statement, "but we are also glad that a strong message has been sent that illegal entry onto private property will not be tolerated. We will continue to focus on the safety and security of our egg farm and its employees and protecting our birds."

Durand's lawyers seemed shocked.

"We were really surprised," says Len Egert, adding he'd never seen a sentence this harsh for a first-time offender.

Referring to the probation department's recommendations, he said: "To have the court completely reject that and go to the opposite extreme was very surprising and we think excessive."

Further, casting the episode as a matter of free speech, Egert hints that Durand's remarks to the media are what made his sentence as stiff as it was. To make that case, he points to the similarities between Kehoe's remarks and Wegmans' statement.

Although the judge steered clear of specifics in his mention of "arrogant and self-righteous statements of justification," the victim impact statement submitted by Wegmans' attorney repeatedly references Durand's remarks to the media. Exhibit A is a copy of the New York Times article on his verdict. The statement cites Durand's remarks to the Times after the verdict --- "We'll embolden our efforts," he told the paper --- in arguing for a jail sentence.

Did the judge take that argument into account? It's impossible to say, but the question worries Egert.

"That's very troubling to the extent that he bases his sentence on Adam's words or speech."

2006-05-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

Letters to the Editor regarding Wegmans Cruelty
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Phase out cruelty at Wegmans farm
Saturday, May 27, 2006

Thank you for your article on Adam Durand, the investigator who exposed the egregious animal cruelty at Wegmans Egg Farm, and was sentenced to six months in jail. Durand should be celebrated, not sentenced, for his courageous efforts to bring to light the suffering of animals caused by Wegmans.

Wegmans requested the harsh sentence received by Durand — a first-time offender — in an obvious attempt to silence critics of the company's inhumane practices. Wegmans should be spending company time and money to phase out the cruel use of battery cages instead of attacking well-meaning individuals like Durand.

RYAN MERKLEY
ROCHESTER
The writer is campaign coordinator, Compassionate Consumers.

Heroic Durand unfairly punished
Monday, May 22, 2006

Adam Durand, who exposed the cruelty of the Wegmans Egg Farm, has been sentenced to six months in prison. Clearly, the punishment does not fit the crime.

Durand sought to educate the public and encourage Wegmans, a company that many consider progressive, to adopt more humane ways of raising its egg-laying hens. No damage was done to the farm, and the few hens that were removed were all gravely ill and certainly not of any value to Wegmans.

While he did trespass on the farm property, a low-level misdemeanor offense, it is absurd that as a first-time offender that he serve time in jail. Instead, he should be commended for his efforts to inform the public about the suffering of animals perpetrated by Wegmans.

HEATHER SHENKMAN
PENFIELD, NY

2006-05-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Erik's Diner Podcast

Ryan Merkley on Adam Durand Jailing
(May 18, 5:40 PM ET)

Today's podcast features an interview with Ryan Merkley, of WegmansCruelty.com, on this week's incarceration of Adam Durand. Adam directed the marvelous documentary Wegmans Cruelty.

2006-05-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

A new film:
"Wegmans Demonstrations: Year One"!

2006-05-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

Hounded, Cowed, & Badgered:
A blog on U.S. law and nonhuman animals

Wegmans activist gets six months jail

Contrary to defense counsel's earlier predictions, animal activist Adam Durand has been sentenced to six months in jail for entering an egg facility run by Wegmans. (Hat tip: AAFL.) An account by Jim Miller of the Finger Lakes Times sketches out the sentencing pronouncement, which is replete with the sort of intemperate language appellate criminal defense like to see when reading records, but which rarely win relief. The court specifically mentions Durand's "political agenda" and likens him to Hester Prynne. (She'd face a max of 3 months. N.Y. Penal Law 255.17, 70.15.) The judge obviously didn't like the justification defense at trial and cited Durand's "arrogant and self-righteous statements" as an aggravating factor.

The court further stated that Durand should have gone to the authorities if he suspected chickens were being mistreated. Journalist Miller supplies that the D.A.'s office investigated and found no cruelty. Surprise! The text of New York's cruelty law does not appear to prohibit factory farm conditions. Unlike many states, which explicitly exclude common agricultural practices, New York does not seem to do so. Nonetheless, confining an animal's movement and failing to take care of injured or dying animals are not within either the active prohibited conduct (overdrives, maims, etc.) or passive conduct (neglect of food or drink). Arguably, the broad equation of "torture" with suffering in the definitions section could allow a prosecution, but name the prosecutor's office that will pursue that case and we'll send them a package of Tofutti Cuties on us. No, the law does zero (or nearly zero) to protect farm animals. A call to the authorities would have been worthless.

Trial judge Kehoe also plays the hypocrisy card (or is it the terrorism one?), speculating about how Durand's entry--and the human germs he carries--could've caused "death [of hens] on a mammoth scale." The hens will be killed soon enough. We suppose this notion could be part of an "evils of the crime" analysis, but it reads more like a message from someone with a "political agenda" of his own.

2006-05-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

An Open Letter Regarding Adam Durand

From: Matt Metras

Date: May 17, 2006 5:02 PM

5/17/06

I was both shocked and appalled when I learned of Mr. Durand's sentence today. The thought of being punished for doing the morally and ethically correct thing was very disturbing to me. Though there is no argument that what Mr. Durand did was legally wrong, his misdeeds are grossly outweighed by the good he has done for our community.

Before I saw the Wegmans Cruelty film, I never gave much thought to where my eggs came from. The footage I saw in the film made me physically ill. No animal, pet or potential food, should be kept in the conditions shown at the Wegmans egg farm. I frequently wonder how the persons responsible for the treatment of these chickens can sleep at night.

Wegmans has repeatedly gone on the record saying the footage was not of their farm, at the same time as they were pressing charges for trespassing and burglary. A logical person would ask how Wegmans could press charges for a person being on their property, while simultaneously insisting publicly the same person was never there.
The overzealous aggression surrounding this case by Wegmans, Wayne County and Judge Kehoe reek of collusion to make sure the truth is suppressed, and Wegmans makes an example of anyone who would interfere with their bottom line. The squashing of testimony and evidence by the judge adds even more credibility to the premise that Mr. Durand is being made an example of by corporate America, and certainly does not hold true to the notion of pursuit of justice.

Since being enlightened on this subject, I have not purchased non-cage free eggs. Like most Americans, being ignorant about where consumables come from was much easier than doing the right thing. I have never met Mr. Durand, but I can sympathize with him. The people responsible for torturing these hens should be spending half a year in jail, not Mr. Durand. He should not be punished for making a morally and ethically, albeit illegal, choice. Adam Durand's trial and sentencing represents a gross miscarriage of justice, and all involved should be exposed and punished.

Sincerely,

Matthew Metras
Rochester, NY

2006-05-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Bullied and Now Behind Bars
A Farm Sanctuary Alert

Adam Durand, the Compassionate Consumers investigator who revealed egregious animal cruelty at Wegmans egg farm, was sentenced on Tuesday, May 16 to six months in jail for trespassing. This stiff sentence, and the failure of authorities to address the animal suffering documented at Wegmans' egg farm, represents an extreme miscarriage of justice. Adam Durand brought to light the suffering of animals at Wegmans egg farm, despite the company's erroneous claim that no evidence of animal abuse exists.

Wegmans asked for jail time and "Essentially, the judge gave [Durand] the exact sentence that Wegmans requested," according to attorney Len Egert. A jury acquitted Durand of burglary and larceny charges, but convicted him of trespassing. The Wayne County Probation office recommended only community service - yet Adam received six months in jail. "I think it's excessive, given the circumstances," Egert told the Associated Press. "This is a low-level misdemeanor offense and Adam has no prior criminal record. For Wegmans to come in and ask for the maximum and get it is disturbing."

The Finger Lakes Times reported that Judge Dennis Kehoe harshly called Adam "arrogant and self-righteous" and stated during sentencing that if the activists had truly cared about the hens, they would have contacted the authorities. In fact, the authorities were contacted! Farm Sanctuary first contacted Wayne County humane officer, Richard Gerbasi, on October 15, 2004 with evidence that we received on this case, including a letter describing the hens' conditions, a videotape showing the horrendous conditions of Wegmans egg farm in Wolcott, New York, and veterinarian necropsy reports. This officer then sent the evidence to District Attorney Richard Healy. Richard Gerbasi reported back to Farm Sanctuary in November that the D.A. was reluctant to prosecute Wegmans since he felt the conditions depicted on the evidence sent to him represented an isolated case. Farm Sanctuary then urged the D.A. on 11/24/04 to obtain a search warrant to make an unannounced visit to the facility. We never received a reply from him, but Farm Sanctuary was 'interviewed' by a criminal investigator with the New York State police.

Wegmans prides itself on good customer relations and satisfaction. However, unbeknownst to many of its shoppers, Wegmans has not only consistently denied the abuse and neglect of the hens at its private egg farm, it has attempted to bully Adam Durand by encouraging a judge to throw him behind bars.

You Can Help!

Please write polite letters to the prosecuting District Attorney and the presiding County Court Judge, expressing your concern for the injustice of not only failing to prosecute Wegmans for denying birds basic humane consideration, but for putting their rescuer behind bars!

District Attorney Richard Healy
Hall of Justice
Suite 202
Lyons, NY 14489
phone: 315-946-5905
fax: 315-946-5911

Hon. Dennis M. Kehoe
Wayne County Court
Wayne County Hall of Justice
Room 106
54 Broad Street
Lyons, NY 14489

Click Here to read history on this case.

For more information and to get involved, please contact: campaign@farmsanctuary.org

2006-05-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

Animal activist gets 6-month sentence

Misty Edgecomb
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Staff writer

(May 17, 2006) — Adam Durand, the Rochester man who broke into the Wegmans egg farm in Wayne County in 2004, is in jail.

Found guilty of three counts of misdemeanor trespassing earlier this month, Durand was sentenced Tuesday to six months in Wayne County Jail.

The sentence also included a year of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.

Durand is a member of Compassionate Consumers, a Rochester animal advocacy group that has accused Wegmans Food Markets Inc. of not treating its chickens humanely.

He and two other members of the group trespassed at the Wolcott farm three times to videotape conditions.

"It's outrageous that they would give him six months. Adam should be applauded, not sent to jail for this," said Ryan Merkley, spokesman for the group.

But Judge Dennis Kehoe rebuked Durand in court, calling his acts "vigilantism" and expressing a desire to destroy Durand's videotapes.

"We are relieved this is behind us, but we are also glad a strong message was sent that illegal entry onto private property will not be tolerated," said Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale, reading from a prepared statement.

2006-05-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Animal Rights Activist Sentenced
Last Update: 5/16/2006 8:43:36 PM

Video

(Rochester, NY) - Animal rights activist Adam Durand was sentenced Tuesday for trespassing on Wegmans egg farm in Wayne County.

He’ll go to jail for six months and pay a $1500 fine.

He went into the farm to film a documentary, claiming hens were kept in horrible conditions.

At sentencing, Judge Dennis Kehoe told Durand that Wegmans is the true victim and he wishes he could seize the documentary to keep Durand from benefiting from his crimes.

2006-05-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

Animal-rights activist
who filmed egg farm
draws 6-month sentence

By BEN DOBBIN
Associated Press Writer

STORY REPRINTED HERE

May 16, 2006

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- An animal-rights activist drew a maximum six-month jail sentence Tuesday for sneaking onto New York state's largest egg farm to videotape thousands of chickens confined to small wire cages.

Adam Durand, 26, was convicted earlier this month on three counts of criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 90 days, fined $1,500, ordered to serve 100 hours of community service and placed on probation for a year.

Durand denied breaking into a shed during three nighttime visits in 2004, saying he climbed in through a hole in a wall. He also said he had no intention of removing birds from the farm operated by Rochester-based supermarket chain Wegmans where 700,000 hens produce more than a half-million eggs a day.

Two women who accompanied him took away 11 hens "because in every case they were sick or dying and there was just this feeling that they needed veterinary care," Durand testified during his three-day trial in Lyons, 40 miles east of Rochester.

Durand's lawyer, Len Egert, said he hadn't expected him to receive any jail time.

"I think it's excessive, given the circumstances," Egert said. "This is a low-level misdemeanor offense and Adam has no prior criminal record. For Wegmans to come in and ask for the maximum and get it is disturbing."

"This is a sentence that doesn't really fit the crime," echoed Ryan Merkley, campaign coordinator for an animal-rights group led by Durand called Compassionate Consumers. "He shouldn't be sentenced to jail, he should be applauded for his efforts to bring to light the kind of cruelty that's committed by Wegmans."

Two friends who accompanied Durand to the farm in Wolcott pleaded guilty to trespassing and petit larceny, both misdemeanors, and were placed on probation.

The trio were arrested last summer when Durand produced a short documentary titled "Wegmans Cruelty" that was screened at a Rochester movie house.

The film contained footage of hen corpses lying in cages with live hens, a few that had fallen into deep manure pits and others with their heads apparently caught in wire cages.

About 95 percent of the nation's eggs are produced at caged-hen egg farms. The poultry industry says the system cuts production costs and limits the animals' exposure to diseases.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.

Egg farm trespasser gets 6 months in jail
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
By JIM MILLER

Finger Lakes Times, jmiller@fltimes.com

LYONS — Adam Durand was sentenced yesterday to six months in jail for trespassing on Wegmans’ Wolcott egg farm while he and other animal rights activists filmed conditions there in 2004.

Durand was immediately taken to the Wayne County Jail, but his attorney, who called the sentence excessive, said he may appeal.

Judge Dennis Kehoe, who called Durand the mastermind of a blatant and carefully orchestrated crime, fined him $1,500 yesterday and also sentenced him to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service.

“You entered your victim’s hen house without permission,” Kehoe told Durand. “You did this because you believed you were above the law.”

Durand, president of the Rochester-based group Compassionate Consumers, en-tered the egg farm three times. He and the other activists took 11 hens that they believed were sick or dying and later released a movie titled “Wegmans Cruelty.”

But Wegmans representatives have said they’re proud of their farm, and District Attorney Richard Healy found no evidence of animal cruelty there.

A jury acquitted Durand of felony burglary and petty larceny charges but convicted him on three counts of trespassing, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of 90 days per count.

“I believe you have a political agenda that results in your suffering from the erroneous delusion that your conviction is a ‘Red Badge of Courage’ instead of ‘The Scarlet Letter’ that it actually is,” Kehoe said. “You have made arrogant and self-righteous statements of justification. You have demonstrated by word and action your obvious disdain for your victim and the laws of the state of New York.”

Durand’s attorney, Leonard Egert, said he’d never seen a first offender get the maximum sentence on a misdemeanor, as Durand did on two of the trespassing counts. Wayne County Probation had recommended only community service for Durand, but Wegmans asked for jail time, Egert said.

“Essentially, the judge gave [Durand] the exact sentence that Wegmans requested,” Egert said.

Testifying during his trial, Durand said the activists removed the hens because they wanted to help them. He described hens covered in flies, trapped in manure pits and hens with their necks stuck in cages.

But by entering the farm, the activists risked infecting the hens with diseases, Kehoe said yesterday, noting they could have caused “death [of hens] on a mammoth scale” and enormous economic damage to both Wegmans and the community.

If the activists had truly cared about the hens, Kehoe said, they would have contacted the authorities. Instead, they chose to attack Wegmans through their film, he said.

“I would like to be able to order you to recover and destroy all of your illegally obtained and perhaps inaccurate videos, but, unlike you, I will follow the law,” Kehoe said.

Egert said he believes Kehoe was trying to make a point with his sentence.

“It seemed like he took into account a lot of other things surrounding this case [such as the film distribution] rather than the actual circumstances of it,” Egert said.

Kehoe said any sentence he imposed that did not include jail time might be perceived as tacit approval of Durand’s actions.

And that perception would be a mistake, he said.

Durand could be out of jail in four months with good behavior, Egert said. He asked Kehoe to give Durand time to make arrangements for his pets before beginning his sentence, but the judge declined, he said.

Content © 2006 The Finger Lakes Times
Software © 1998-2006 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved

2006-05-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Chicken Coop Film Used Against Director

An Animal Rights Activist Hoped to Shed Light on Conditions at Egg Farm but Got Burned by His Own Tape

ABC NEWS PRIMETIME

May 10, 2006 — Adam Durand is a graphic designer and animal rights activist who is now best known as the unlikely director of the most controversial video around Rochester, N.Y.

Durand and two women planned to sneak into a gigantic egg farm, owned by Wegman's, a Rochester grocery chain, to document what they believed to be the poor conditions inside.

Durand said it was a cold, rainy night when they crawled through a hole in a wire fence. Durand said they knew that what they were doing was illegal.

"At the time, we weren't thinking about the legal consequences. We were just concerned about getting the best footage we could … there's no other way to show people what happens," he said.

That night and two other nights later, Durand taped the conditions while the women described what they saw.

"We had no idea what to expect," Durand said. "We were blown away."

The disturbing images Durand shot include a chicken with its head caught between bars and another trapped in a pile of manure.

Durand said their intention was only to document, not to destroy property. They ended up finding what they thought were sickly hens trapped in manure pits below the egg-laying house.

"We just couldn't leave them behind, so yes, we brought hens out of the facility," Durand said.

Durand made the tape into a film, convinced that when the world saw what he shot, there would be action and that the supermarket chain would be punished for the way it raised its hens. He was thrilled when his work, called "Wegman's Cruelty," was shown at a local theater.

Does Punishment Fit the Crime?

The footage did indeed lead to a prosecution — not of Wegman's but of Durand.

Wayne County District Attorney Richard Healy said that while the images Durand shot may be distasteful, a few injured hens out of close to a million at the farm did not prove negligence or provide any reason to charge Wegman's with a crime.

"The tape pretty much told us most of what we needed to know," Healy said.

When Durand and his cohorts publicly identified themselves in the film as the ones who snuck into the egg farm, Healy said Wegman's wanted them to pay.

Wegman's, which questions if all the footage was actually shot on its farm, would not talk to "Primetime" on camera. But in a statement on its Web site, the company said its farm is considered "one of the best in the country" and that when Durand broke in, he "put our hens at risk" by possibly tracking in disease.

Durand figured he might face trespassing charges — a misdemeanor crime. But when the grand jury heard the case, it came back with much more serious charges: felony burglary for breaking in and taking chickens out of the egg farm. Durand would face up to seven years behind bars if convicted of those charges.

Eric Schneider, Durand's original lawyer, said the punishment was way out of proportion to the crime.

"It seems thus far that the prosecution in this case is deferential to this corporation," Schneider said.

And the lawyer said he was confident the judge would let the jury see Durand's tape, which Schneider thought would ultimately work in his client's favor.

Durand said that he, too, hoped that a jury would see things his way. "That they say, you know, it's obvious that they're on the wrong side of the law here, but that they did it for the right reasons, and we can't hold them accountable for all of this stuff," Durand said.

And that's about what happened — just last week, with a new team of lawyers representing him in court, a jury saw some of Durand's footage and acquitted him on all but the criminal trespassing charges.

Durand still wants to change the way those hens are raised, but thanks to his video, he won't be locked in a cage of his own for his efforts.

2006-05-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

Wegmans Egg Petition: first delivery!

Greetings from UR-VEG at the University of Rochester. Sometime during the past eight months you signed our petition asking Danny Wegman to phase out the cruel "battery" cages used on his 700,000-hen egg farm in Wolcott, New York.

We'd like to thank you for adding your voice. Over 2,100 other customers have let Wegmans know that unnecessary animal cruelty is simply unacceptable, and the number keeps rising.

We're also happy to announce that we recently delivered the first batch of petitions! Hoping to get Danny's attention, we printed out your signatures and placed each one inside a colorful plastic egg. These 2,100 eggs filled over three shopping carts, which we brought to Wegmans corporate headquarters in Rochester, New York.

As you might imagine, all those eggs made for quite a sight! The media was there to cover the event, and you can see excerpts on our website, here:

http://urveg.org/campaigns/wegmans/media/

You may have received Wegmans' email response to the petition. Instead of following the lead of other grocery chains that have already phased out battery-cage eggs,
Wegmans continues to make excuses. We think their claims are misleading at best, or simply false. If you're interested, we address their excuses here:

http://urveg.org/campaigns/wegmans/responses/

Finally, we encourage you to contact Wegmans directly: let Danny Wegman know that this issue won't go away until he cleans up his act! You can send feedback to the company in a variety of ways:

* Post:
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
1500 Brooks Avenue
PO Box 30844
Rochester, NY 14603-0844

* Phone: 1-800-WEGMANS, ext. 4760

* Web: http://www.wegmans.com/guest/

* Email:
General comments: <comments@wegmans.com>
Jo Natale, Consumer Affairs <jo.natale@wegmans.com>
Jeanne Colleluori, Consumer Affairs <jeanne.colleluori@wegmans.com>
Danny Wegman, CEO <danny.wegman@wegmans.com>

Thank you for caring!

2006-05-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

Chicken Scratch

Syracuse New Times, 5/10/06

Eighteen months after first sneaking onto Wegmans Egg Farm in Wolcott, capturing video footage of the farm and rescuing several hens, animal rights activist Adam Durand has been convicted of trespassing but acquitted of eight other counts of petit larceny and burglary. Wegmans' response to the verdict, in a statement forwarded to The New Times, is that "they are very glad this chapter in a nearly two-year saga has ended." Still, Durand said the campaign to get Wegmans to change practices on their egg farm is far from over.

The statement, forwarded by Wegmans representative Jo Natale, also said, "We're pleased with the conviction on the trespassing charges, and although we're disappointed in the other decisions, we do respect the finding of the jury."

Durand said the most surprising of the findings is the jury's acquittal on the petit larceny charge. "In order to acquit on those {three charges of petit larceny}, the jury had to determine that {the chickens} were completely worthless to the company. Basically that they were completely neglected by Wegmans. If you follow the letter of the law, this looks like pretty straightforward petit larceny."

According to Durand, during his lawyer Len Egert's closing arguments, Egert showed still images from Durand's video Wegmans Cruelty and asked, "Does this look like valuable property to you?" During the trial, Wegmans Egg Farm manager Jason Wadsworth estimated the value of a hen to the company to be $2.80.

Durand and the other activists involved in the incursions into Wegmans Egg Farm are the main members of a Rochester animal rights group Compassionate Consumers, which produced the film and raised money to pay legal fees for the group as well as continued to organize against Wegmans while the trial was pending. The group asserts that Wegmans Egg Farm practices, while not legally considered animal abuse, are inhumane. They are asking Wegmans to switch to "cage-free" eggs that are farmed in more hospitable conditions than the minimum 67 cubic inches allotted to each hen in the battery cage system Wegmans employs.

Durand said his lawyers Egert and Amy Trakinski, of New York City, tried to mount a "justification defense," that Durand's actions of taking hens out of the facility for medical treatment were justified by the crippled and dying state they were in. But the judge refused to allow it. Instead they successfully argued that the charges of theft were moot because the property--in this case, chickens--was of such little value to Wegmans.

While the campaign against Wegmans Egg Farm has been on hold awaiting the verdict in Durand's case, Syracuse-based Community Animal Project organizer Shawn DeLeo said CAP, Compassionate Consumers and organizations in other cities where Wegmans has stores will be stepping up pressure to force the company to abandon the battery cage system. "Because they own their own egg farm they have the power to change," DeLeo said. "We're asking them to adopt certified humane standards and because they're normally such a progressive company, there's no excuse not to."

DeLeo, along with Compassionate Consumers and local animal rights groups, has organized screenings of Wegmans Cruelty in Syracuse and other cities, weekly demonstrations at Central New York stores and an East Coast tour of demonstrations at Wegmans locations. Durand said plans for how his group will continue to pressure Wegmans are up in the air. "The question we're asking right now is 'How can you top a trial?' I'm not interested in another trial but we're making plans. We're trying to build our base of activists on this issue in other cities where there are Wegmans stores," he said.

Durand was pleased with the media coverage of his trial, with The New York Times sending a reporter and many papers picking up an Associated Press article about his case last week. He was somewhat surprised that Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle didn't send their own reporter, however, and noted that the Gannett publication refused to run an ad purchased by Animal Rights International showing a decomposed chicken and text that read, "Did Your Wegmans Egg Share a Cage With a Corpse?" The Post-Standard didn't pick up the AP item or run their own story about the trial, either.

Durand also noted that ABC News has prepared a piece about him for the "Caught on Tape" portion of their Prime Time broadcast that is tentatively scheduled to run Thursday, May 11, 10 p.m., on WSYR-Channel 9, although it was bumped once before, by an interview with Tom Cruise. Despite being pre-empted by celebrity news, Durand is hopeful the attention will force Wegmans to reconsider their practices.

"People who see the movie really feel like they've been in the dark and they want to do something about it," he said. "People seem to be caring more about the welfare of chickens these days."

--Justin Park

2006-05-11T04:54:00.001-07:00

TV show features Wegmans intruder

Misty Edgecomb
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Staff Writer

(May 11, 2006) — When Adam Durand sneaked into a Wegmans egg farm in Wolcott, Wayne County, to film the hens' living conditions, he didn't expect it to get him on national television.

But that's what will happen tonight. The 26-year-old Rochester graphics designer is one of three people from around the country who will be featured on the ABC-TV show Primetime.

The news magazine segment will look at the ubiquity of cameras today and how the footage isn't always used as the filmmaker intends, said Primetime publicist Paige Capossela.

The Rochester activist was chosen because his footage from a series of 2004 break-ins at the chicken farm was used by prosecutors in the recent case charging him with felony burglary and other crimes.

Durand and two other activists — all members of the group Compassionate Consumers — entered the farm illegally, shot video that they say depicts cruel living conditions, and removed 11 injured hens.

Last week, a jury acquitted Durand of all felony charges, and convicted him of three misdemeanor counts of criminal trespassing.

The show's co-anchor Chris Cuomo and a producer traveled to Rochester in late March to interview Durand.

The activist also provided Primetime with his raw footage of the farm and with excerpts from his film, titled Wegmans Cruelty.

Wegmans Food Markets Inc. officials were asked to respond to the Primetime piece, either in writing or on camera, but declined, referring the network to animal care inspectors who have visited the farm.

"We were not convinced that our story would be told accurately and completely," spokeswoman Jo Natale said in a written statement.

On Wednesday, Durand called the show a great opportunity to get his message out to a larger audience, saying that appearing on the show exceeded his hopes when he set out to make the documentary.

Primetime averages 7.5 million viewers each week, Capossela said.

MEDGECOM@DemocratandChronicle.com

To learn more
For Compassionate Consumers' view on the issue, visit www.wegmanscruelty.com.

For the Wegmans perspective, visit www.wegmans.com.

If you watch
The Primetime episode featuring Adam Durand will air from 10 to 11 p.m. today on ABC-TV stations, including local affiliate WHAM-TV (Channel 13).

2006-05-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Rochester City News
MAY 10, 2006

Of food and felonies
Wegmans vs. the activist: who was really on trial?

Activist and filmmaker Adam Durand: "We knew we'd be not only questioning a powerful company, but also the eating habits of lots of people."

Wegmans egg farm production manager Jason Wadsworth: "It felt like I was the one on trial."

Adam Durand's palms were sweating.

A few minutes before 2 p.m. last Thursday, a Wayne County court clerk addressed the 26-year-old packaging designer from Rochester as "the defendant" and asked him to rise.

"When I was asked to stand to hear the verdict, it was an incredible moment," he recalls. "My heart was racing."

Durand was facing nine different counts, three each of criminal trespassing, petit larceny, and felony burglary. Each burglary charged carried the possibility of a jail sentence of up to seven years.

The charges stemmed from his role in sneaking onto Wegmans egg farm in Wolcott to make a film and taking hens out with him on each of the three trips --- 11 hens in all. (Durand and his fellow activists said they took only hens that were sick or dying --- he and his supporters used the word "rescue"; the district attorney and Wegmans prefer "stole.")

A year later, in 2005, the fruit of his efforts --- a 27-minute documentary titled "Wegmans Cruelty" --- was released. (It was screened at the Little Theatre as part of its Emerging Filmmakers Series.) But Durand's story and the story of the grocery company had been working their way toward this conclusion for a long time.

In 1967, Wegmans opened the egg farm just outside the little village of Wolcott, nearly 50 miles east of Rochester. Since then, it's been run by the same family for three generations. But times and attitudes toward food production have changed. In a prescient address to a 2001 conference of fellow poultry producers in California, one of the farm's employees, John Gingerich, recognized the looming concerns.

"I believe our industry is at a crossroads on the animal-welfare issue," he said.

Gingerich went on to mostly dismiss the beliefs of animal-rights activists, but he made this trenchant observation that Wegmans executives may wish they'd paid closer attention to now:

"I have found in the many tours that I have given to persons without poultry backgrounds that the single most common comment involving negative perceptions that they have is the small amount of space that we give the chickens. The reality is that we also deal in perceptions, and those perceptions affect our futures."

We don't know what Wegmans officials made of those remarks at the time, or if they prompted any internal discussions about animal rights issues at the company. As other parts of Gingerich's address suggest, Wegmans was providing what it believed to be adequate care for its hens. (Perhaps that early awareness is one of the reasons Wegmans wasn't on trial, as other farms are; before charging Durand, the district attorney and state police conducted a two-week cruelty investigation of the farm and ultimately declined to press charges.)

Still, a few years later, that address, reprinted in Cornell Cooperative Extension's newsletter Cornell Poultry Pointers, would become inspiration for Adam Durand's crusade.

Durand's journey toward becoming a guerrilla filmmaker and running afoul of the law in the process began nearly a year after Gingerich's remarks were published. For Christmas of 2002 Durand cooked dinner for two vegan friends. He was not a vegan himself, but he enjoyed the experience, and his friends urged him to join them in abstaining not only from meat but all animal-based foods. Durand says he tried the diet on a whim, as more of a challenge to himself than a political or social decision.

But his connections with other vegans and vegetarians inevitably exposed him to the very different reasons why others had made a similar choice.

In the summer of 2003 he first saw a video of an egg farm that employed battery cages: a type of cage where several laying hens essentially live out their lives in tight quarters, along with several other birds. Ninety-five percent of the nation's egg supply comes from hens living in such cages.

"I wasn't really interested in farm-animal issues at that point," he says, but "I knew this had to be stopped."

At first Wegmans, didn't seem an obvious choice for such a campaign. Durand, who'd grown up in Webster, had, like many Rochesterians, a certain regard for the hometown grocery chain.

"I had always looked up to Wegmans since childhood, and I'd always thought of them as a stellar company," he says.

But a few factors made the chain the logical target. First, they own their own egg farm, a rarity in the industry. Wegmans spokesperson Jeanne Colleluori says the company made the unusual decision because it "allowed us to be consistent with what we offered our customers."

And Wegmans is rare in the industry in another way: It's a full-service grocery store that also competes to fill the niche occupied by natural-food chains like Whole Foods and Wild Oats elsewhere. A small sign on the entrance of the chain's store in Pittsford boasts the number of organic products offered on a given day. Those two factors, taken together with Wegmans' reputation as a progressive and responsive company, made the grocery chain a logical bridge between niche markets (which have switched to selling only cage-free eggs) and the rest of the grocery industry.

So Durand and his organization, Compassionate Consumers, wrote to Wegmans asking for a tour of the egg-laying facility. Their request was rejected. Talking to Wegmans' representatives almost won them over --- "The company had almost convinced us, but not quite, that they were better than the rest," Durand says --- but then the rejection letter referenced Wegmans' participation in the United Egg producers Animal Care certified program.

Compassionate Consumers knew that that program was under assault from the Better Business Bureau, which alleged that it was misleading advertising. When Wegmans invoked the program, it backfired on the company. Looking back, Durand says that was the turning point that convinced him he needed to get video footage of the inside of the farm.

"We toyed around with maybe getting a job there" or repeating the request, says Durand, but eventually the group decided to take matters into their own hands and visit the farm at night.

Everyone in the group with whom City Newspaper spoke says they decided early on that they wouldn't damage property to gain access to farm.

"We didn't want to give them a reason to call us terrorists or something," says Megan Cosgrove, a Compassionate Consumers member who accompanied Durand on the final trip and is serving probation for her role, as part of a plea bargain.

"We're even avoiding the term 'activists,' because we really just wanted to be filmmakers," Durand adds.

They also thought that breaking in would blunt the impact of their message when they took it to the public.

"We thought the better we did it, the better it'd be received," Cosgrove says.

"We knew we'd be not only questioning a powerful company, but also the eating habits of lots of people," says Durand.

For all that, Durand doesn't seem to have ever felt very nervous about going into the farm.

"We had put so much effort into it, we knew there was no turning back," he says. "I'm sure I thought to myself 'I'm not the kind of person who does this thing,'" he admits, but then if he didn't, who would, he thought.

The way Americans think about food has been in a state of more or less constant flux for at least the past several decades. There was a time when a majority of the people in the US lived on a farm. Those days are long gone, and few people can tell you exactly where their food comes from or how it's made. Since the middle of the past century, food and food production has become increasingly mechanized and globalized, but also increasingly tinged with political and social meaning.

Our ancestors of a century ago would have been equally mystified by Kraft Singles and by organic, fair-trade, shade-grown coffee.

When Durand and his fellow activists went into the egg farm on May 1, May 15, and August 1, the footage they captured and the film they subsequently created is one small contribution to the burgeoning national conversation about food.

The film is not for the faint of heart. Jason Wadsworth, the production manager at Wegmans egg farm, appeared uncomfortable with the images he was shown while on the witness stand during Durand's trial. And when state police investigator Frank D'Aurizio --- who, along with Wayne County DA Rick Healy, brought the charges against Durand and two others --- was confronted on the stand by a video still, he admitted he considered what was depicted to be neglect.

The video shows the corpses of hens (sometimes decaying), hens with injuries or with their heads stuck in the cage wires. The most stomach-turning shots come from below the cages in the manure pits, where the activists videotaped one hen nearly submerged in manure and another crawling with flies. (Wegmans says there's no way to confirm or deny whether most of the footage was shot at its facility.)

Partially lost in the shuffle was who was actually on trial.

"Wegmans is not on trial here," the DA told prospective jurors during jury selection. He repeated that line again at the beginning of his closing arguments in the trial. You might not have known it, though, from the courtroom proceedings, he said. (In a way, that's a backhanded compliment to his opponents, Len Egert and Amy Trakinski, Durand's lawyers.)

He repeated the line a third time, at the end of his summations: "This is not about Wegmans, ladies and gentlemen," he said. "This is about Wegmans' right to equal protection under law."

After the trial, City Newspaper asked Healy whether he felt he'd been able to effectively communicate that point to the jury. Laughing, he responded: "That's a good question." Instead of answering it directly he offered this: "That's why this case was so unusual. This obviously wasn't a larceny in the normal sense."

Healy was acknowledging what Durand's defense team made effective use of: the disparity of the hens' condition and their supposed value to Wegmans.

In his closing argument, Egert played up that disconnect by showing the jury video clips, stills, and a few photos: "When you look at this, you have to ask yourself: is that property that has any value? Is that property that Wegmans cares about? The truth is, they don't care."

"Should they have walked away from this?" he asked a few moments later, this time while showing a video of a hen covered with flies.

Wegmans, recognizing that the trial could become about them, strove mightily to keep that from happening. But the company was in a difficult position. In order to convict Durand, they had to admit that at least some of the video footage came from their facility.

A plea bargain (such as those offered to Cosgrove and a third activist, Melanie Ippolito) might have spared the company the painful spotlight of the trial. But Healy (who says he doesn't plea bargain burglaries without the consent of the victim) says Wegmans wasn't interested in letting Durand bargain.

As part of their public relations outreach, Wegmans offered media covering the trial, including City Newspaper, a tour of the Wolcott facility.

"We wanted to get the record straight," said Jeanne Colleluori. "We have nothing to hide. We felt the visuals shown in the courtroom were very slanted in a negative way."

Conditions in the facility appeared to be different from those in the "Wegmans Cruelty" film, but not drastically. The most obvious difference was that it was much cleaner. (Colleluori says the decision to offer the tour was made earlier that day, so no special preparations were made.) Manure piles were a foot or two high, rather than the four to six-feet-high mounds activists say they observed during their visit.

Media weren't allowed down the 400-foot-long corridors lined by cages, for fear of agitating the hens, so it's impossible to compare the situation with that in much of the activists' video.

But in a sense, all that's superficial. What was the same in both the video and the media visit were the cages themselves. Neither side disputes that hens are kept in tight quarters. (At the Wegmans farm that means four or seven birds per cage, depending on layout, according to the company.) The cages are stacked four high and run the full length of the building, about 400 feet (that's the length of a football field, plus 100 feet).

Jason Wadsworth, the farm's manager, says each bird is allotted 75 square inches. Paul Shapiro, who advocates on this issue full time for the Humane Society of the United States, points out that a standard letter-size sheet of paper, at 8.5 by 11 inches, is 93.5 square inches.

A Q-and-A on Wegmans' website addresses this question, saying people aren't "instinctively" a good judge of how much space the birds need: "The UEP [United Egg Producers, an industry association] scientific committee determined this was the right size to provide adequate space to allow hens to eat, drink, and sleep when they wish."

At the time Durand broke into the facility in 2004, there were 750,000 hens living in these conditions. Today there are about 650,000 according to Wadsworth. To get a sense of how big that number is, there were about 700,000 people living in Monroe County in 2004 (down from 735,000 in 2000) according to US Census Bureau estimates.

The debate ultimately boils down to the use of the battery cages, and there's a wide gulf between the opposing sides. Producers like Wegmans judge themselves on how well they adhere to industry standards in using the battery-cage system. In Wegmans' case, that's pretty well. The farm already complies with the UEP's 2012 standards.

But activists like Durand and Shapiro want to see the cages banned completely. Some European nations --- Switzerland, Austria, and Germany are examples, according to Shapiro --- have phased out the cages entirely, while the entire European Union is going to a softer form of battery cages that are "furnished" with perches, nesting boxes, and other fowl amenities. But "here in the US," says Amy Trakinski, one of Durand's attorneys, "there really has been a trend for states to amend their animal-cruelty statutes" to make it easier for large-scale farms to continue using existing battery cages.

In other cases, including one slated to be tried in Pennsylvania this summer, the tables have been turned and the egg suppliers are going on trial for animal cruelty. But getting people to pay attention is difficult, says Trakinski.

"I think people don't want to look at it," she says. "Even some well-intentioned people who would take seriously a case involving a companion animal will look away when it involves a farm animal."

When they're compelled to look, though, the results might be an unwelcome surprise to the egg producers.

After deliberating for just over an hour (and that includes time to eat their free lunch), the jury found Adam Durand not guilty of all three counts of felony burglary, as well as all three counts of petit larceny. They convicted him of criminal trespassing. Though he could still spend up to 9 months in jail if sentenced consecutively, that was clearly a victory for Durand.

"When this case was given to a jury, they found that Adam was guilty of less than Mel and I pled to," says Megan Cosgrove. (She and Ippolito pled guilty to both the trespassing and petit larceny counts.)

"They didn't find it a crime to rescue sick and dying animals." That's how Len Egert interpreted the verdict. Yet despite statements like that and the implications they portend, he and Trakinski say they weren't seeking a test case, and Durand wasn't looking to become a martyr for the animal-rights cause.

"We weren't pushing for a trial," he says. "We weren't trying to put Wegmans on trial."

Wegmans released a statement on the verdict that sidestepped that question altogether, saying, in part: "We are very glad this chapter in a nearly two-year saga has ended. We're pleased with the conviction on the trespassing charges, and although we're disappointed in the other decisions, we do respect the finding of the jury."

But the most telling reaction came from the farm manager Wadsworth, as he wound up his tour for the media.

"Actually it felt like I was the one on trial," he said.

To learn more

You can get information related to this story at the following links.

Wegmans statement (plus an FAQ)

"Wegmans Cruelty" video

The Humane Society of the United States Farm Campaigns

"Changing concepts for housing and equipment" John Gingerich

2006-05-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

ABC "Primetime" this week will feature the investigation of Wegmans Egg Farm by Compassionate Consumers. The show will air Thursday at 10:00 pm Eastern, 9:00 PM Central.

After the show airs please contact "Primetime" and thank them for their coverage of this issue.

2006-05-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Hen Activist Says the War on Cages Will Go On

The New York Times
By MICHELLE YORK

Published: May 7, 2006

ROCHESTER, May 5 — An animal-rights activist acquitted of burglary and other charges after admittedly sneaking onto a large commercial egg farm to film conditions there said his group would continue to pressure the company to stop caging hens.

"We'll embolden our efforts," said the activist, Adam C. Durand, of Rochester, who has lead a two-year protest against the egg-farming practices of the popular regional supermarket chain Wegmans.

Some 750,000 hens at the Wegmans farm in Wolcott, N.Y., are kept in wire cages, as are the vast majority of the nation's hens used for commercial egg production. The practice has an economic benefit, since farmers can house far more hens by stacking cages. Also, caged flocks tend to have a lower mortality rate, since they are less vulnerable to disease and predators.

But at some commercial farms, hens are sometimes packed so tightly into cages that they cannot lie down or flap their wings. "It's among the most abusive factory-farming practices used today," said Paul Shapiro, a director of the Humane Society of the United States, who leads a campaign to ban the practice.

A Wegmans spokeswoman, Jeanne Colleluori, said the film was not representative of the farm. "The film was slanted in a very negative way," she said.

The Rochester group intended to dissuade consumers from buying eggs from farms that use cages by producing a film to show conditions at the Wegmans farm, one of the largest in the Northeast.

Mr. Durand, 26, admitted that he and several others crept onto the Wegmans property three times in 2004, hoping to capture the scene on video. He took video of some hens stuck in the wires and others wandering in the manure pits.

His film, released last year, caught the attention of national animal-activist groups, who supported his efforts. But it also came to the attention of the Wayne County district attorney, Richard Healy, who charged Mr. Durand with burglary, petty larceny and criminal trespass.

Last week, as Mr. Durand was about to go on trial, the group Animal Rights International said it tried to place a $13,000 full-page advertisement in The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. It included a photo of a decomposed hen still in its cage with several live hens, with the headline, "Did Your Wegmans Egg Share a Cage With a Corpse?"

The paper's publisher, Michael G. Kane, said it asked the group to remove the picture and to delay publication, considering that the Wegmans family patriarch, Robert Wegman, had recently died. "It was a disgusting photo," Mr. Kane said.

The group declined, and the ad never ran.

At Mr. Durand's three-day trial, the farm production manager, Andrew Wadsworth, testified that that about eight of the farm's 80 employees are in charge of caring for the flock and regularly check the birds.

Mr. Durand testified in his defense and showed video images, for example, of a hen submerged up to its neck in manure. After 90 minutes of deliberations, the jury convicted Mr. Durand only of misdemeanor trespass charges.

Later, he said he planned to eventually distribute a second film, one that includes information about his legal battles. "The whole trial has strengthened our resolve," he said.

Meanwhile, Ms. Colleluori, the Wegmans spokeswoman, said the company would rely on science, poultry experts and consumer demand, rather than pressure from activists, to decide how it runs its farms.

"We'll continue to do what's best for our farm, our employees and our hens," she said.

2006-05-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

What You Can Do To Help the Wegmans Cruelty Campaign

In statements to the media Thursday Wegmans said it is glad this matter is over and behind it. Wegmans has to realize that this issue will not be left alone until the company begins phasing out battery cages at its egg farm.

To help make this happen, contact Wegmans at 1-800-WEGMANS or write to them at:

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
1500 Brooks Avenue
PO Box 30844
Rochester, NY 14603-0844

You can also use their online contact form and email them at comments@wegmans.com, danny@wegmans.com, & colleen@wegmans.com

Please also sign the UR VEG Wegmans Cruelty petition.

Also, please donate to Compassionate Consumers. Any funds donated to us will go directly to pay for legal fees and campaign materials. (We do not have any paid employees.) You can donate online through PayPal (below, no account required) or send a check or money order to our mailing address. Any DVDs purchased will help CC to recoup the cost of DVD production and other campaign materials.

2006-05-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

A statement by Bruce Friedrich, Vice President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, on yesterday's historic verdict:

Every consumer owes a debt of gratitude to Adam Durand and other activists who are doing the government's work for them by exposing the cruelties of modern factory farms. They are also doing the work of Gandhi and King, educating the nation to injustice, oppression and, in this case, the cruelties of modern farms, cruelties that all kind people oppose. It was a good jury for recognizing that saving injured animals is not a crime. And anyone who watches the video at WegmansCruelty.com will see that they were right because sick, dying, and diseased animals were filmed in cages with other animals, and with no care. They'll see animals caught in the wire cages and drowning in their own excrement. Intervening to help an animal or human in need should be applauded and not prosecuted. Anyone who sees how hens suffer in sheds like Wegman's can't help but be revolted. Adam's actions have allowed thousands of consumers to learn about the dark side of the egg industry, and for that, he deserves the gratitude of all caring people.