http://www.omaha.com/article/20100407/NEWS01/704089969/1009#going-under-cover-for-chicken-videoPublished Wednesday April 7, 2010
By MICHAEL J. CRUMB
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The Humane Society of the United States released videos Wednesday that they say show animal-welfare violations at four egg farms in Iowa, the nation’s top egg-producing state.
The videos, made secretly as part of the animal rights group’s ongoing push to get egg-laying hens out of cramped cages, show chickens caught between wires and others being pulled dead from cages that sit above piles of manure.
“I think by any reasonable standard this is wholly unacceptable and insufficient to account for the physical and behavioral needs of any animal,” said Wayne Pacelle, the Humane Society’s president and chief executive officer.
Pacelle said industry standards allow for 67 square inches per bird with hundreds of thousands of birds per building. He said hens kept in the cages known as battery cages are trampled by other hens, suffer broken bones and can’t reach food and water.
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He also claimed hens are roughly handled and suffer from exposure to ammonia from the manure in pits below the cages.
“You cannot have good animal welfare by jamming six to eight animals in a small cage that doesn’t allow them to turn around, extend their wings or engage in any natural behavior,” Pacelle said. “And these facilities are so large and there are so many birds that when problems arise they’re almost impossible to address.”
FULL story and photo at link.
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