News release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Undercover Investigation Reveals Health Hazards and Inhumane Conditions at Major Egg Supplier of Philadelphia Area
Philadelphia- Philadelphia-based
animal advocacy organization The Humane League of Philadelphia
today released undercover footage taken inside three egg
production facilities operated by Kreider Farms in Lancaster
County , PA. The video, which depicts eggs and birds covered
in feces, birds trapped in cage wires, dead birds rotting
in cages with live birds, and birds overcrowded in small
wire cages, was condemned by animal welfare experts as
portraying inhumane and unsanitary conditions (see attached
statements).
Kreider is one of the nation's leading egg producers, and locally supplies McDonalds restaurants, Genuardis, and A&P supermarkets among others. Kreider Farms houses 3.5 million egg laying hens at its five locations in Lancaster County . It is among the 40 largest egg production companies in the nation. The “battery cage” system of egg production depicted in the video has come under fire recently for its inhumane treatment of hens; the European Union has banned the use of battery cages after 2012.
In addition to releasing the video, The
Humane League of Philadelphia is filing a formal complaint
of false advertising against Kreider Farms with the Better
Business Bureau. Kreider states on its website that their
farms represent “first rate animal husbandry care” and
that “happy chickens lay lots of top quality eggs.” The
undercover video shows this is not the case.
The Humane League of Philadelphia is a 501(c)3
animal advocacy organization that campaigns for the well
being of agriculture and laboratory animals. This is their
first undercover investigation, and the first publicized
investigation of a Pennsylvania agricultural facility.
Enclosed, please find: statements on battery cage conditions by notable academics; commentary on the undercover footage by animal welfare experts; further information on Kreider Farms; a copy of a formal complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau of Easter Pennsylvania; and results of a national Zogby poll on egg industry practices.
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