I’m a vegetarian, not vegan, which means I still eat eggs and dairy. However, I don’t eat much of either because of the horrible condition the majority of both cows and chickens are kept in. Most chickens live in tiny cages stacked on on top of another. Their excrement falls through the cage onto the chickens below. They are kept in these cages so long without exercising that their feet often begin to grow around the bars. Not to mention the factory farmers often cut off their beaks!! Don’t get me started about cows…At many of these factory farms, the cows are kept pregnant year round in order to for farmers to get the most product out of them. Imagine being pregnant 24/7 for several years? How agonizing. Today the Humane Society reached an agreement with the United Egg Producers to improve the living condition of chickens. Together they will try to pass this legislation that will inevitably improve the lives of over 280 million chickens each year!
According to the Humane Society of the United States, the provisions the UEP will be working together to implement through federal legislation include:
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Require a moratorium at the end of 2011 on new construction of unenrichable battery cages — small, cramped, cages that nearly immobilize more than 90 percent of laying hens today — and the nationwide elimination of barren battery cages through a phase-out period;
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Require phased in construction of new hen housing systems that provide hens nearly double the amount of space they’re currently provided;
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Require environmental enrichments so birds can engage in important natural behaviors currently denied to them in barren cages, such as perches, nesting boxes, and scratching areas;
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Mandate labeling on all egg cartons nationwide to inform consumers of the method used to produce the eggs, such as “eggs from caged hens” or “eggs from cage-free hens”;
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Prohibit forced molting through starvation — an inhumane practice that is inflicted on tens of millions of hens each year and which involves withholding all food from birds for up to two weeks in order to manipulate the laying cycle;
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Prohibit excessive ammonia levels in henhouses — a common problem in the industry that is harmful to both hens and egg industry workers;
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Require standards for euthanasia of hens; and
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Prohibit the sale of eggs and egg products nationwide that don’t meet these above requirements.This is really great news, but these provisions are not the law yet! So please fill out this form in support of humane living conditions for laying hens. It will only take a minute to fill out, it doesn’t cost anything to do, and you will help improve the lives of millions of innocent chickens if this legislation passes.Animals cannot speak for themselves. Their lives often rest solely in the hands of the humans around them. They have no voice. We are their voice. Please sign.