Video shows chicks ground up alive at egg hatchery

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Video shows chicks ground up alive at egg hatchery

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER (Associated Press Writer)

From Associated Press

September 01, 2009 2:03 PM EDT

WASHINGTON - An animal rights group is calling on the nation's largest grocery

story chains to post warnings on egg cartons that unwanted male chicks are

ground up alive, after videotaping the common industry practice at an Iowa egg

hatchery.

 

In letters sent to the companies this week, Chicago-based Mercy for Animals says

its undercover videotape at Hy-Line North America's hatchery in Spencer, Iowa,

" exposes one of the industry's best kept secrets - that the egg industry tears

male chicks' bodies apart in grinding machines while they are still alive. "

 

The group wants the chains to include a label on egg cartons that says,

" Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry. " The letters were

sent to 50 chains, including Walmart, Whole Foods, Safeway, Harris Teeter and

Trader Joe's.

 

" The violence that you will see is standard and acceptable within the egg

industry, and consumers have a right to know about this cruelty so that they can

make informed and compassionate purchasing decisions, " wrote Mercy for Animals'

executive director, Nathan Runkle.

 

A spokesman for United Egg Producers, a trade group for U.S. egg farmers, called

the proposal " almost a joke. " Spokesman Mitch Head said Mercy for Animals had no

credible authority, as well as questionable motives. " This is a group which

espouses no egg consumption by anyone - so that is clearly their motive. " The

video does in fact end with a call for people to adopt a vegan diet, which

eliminates all animal products - meat, eggs or dairy.

 

Hy-Line said in a statement it has started an investigation " of the entire

situation, " adding that it would have helped their investigation " had we been

aware of the potential violation immediately after it occurred. "

 

The video, shot with a hidden camera and microphone by a Mercy for Animals

employee who got a job at the plant in May and June, shows a Hy-Line worker

sorting through a conveyor belt of chirping chicks, flipping some of them into a

chute like a poker dealer flips cards.

 

These chicks, which a narrator says are males, are then shown being dropped

alive into a grinding machine.

 

In other parts of the video, a chick is shown dying on the factory floor amid a

heap of egg shells after falling through a sorting machine. Another chick, also

still alive, is seen lying on the floor after getting scalded by a wash cycle,

according to the video narrator.

 

Hy-Line said the video " appears to show an inappropriate action and violation of

our animal welfare policies, " referring to chicks on the factory floor.

 

But the company also noted that " instantaneous euthanasia " - a reference to

killing of male chicks by the grinder - is a standard practice supported by the

animal veterinary and scientific community.

 

According to Mercy for Animals, male chicks are of no use to the industry

because they can't lay eggs and don't grow large or quickly enough to be raised

profitably for meat. That results in the killing of 200 million male chicks a

year.

 

The United Egg Producers confirmed that figure and the practice behind it.

 

" There is, unfortunately, no way to breed eggs that only produce female hens, "

said spokesman Head. " If someone has a need for 200 million male chicks, we're

happy to provide them to anyone who wants them. But we can find no market, no

need. "

 

Using a grinder, Head said, " is the most instantaneous way to euthanize chicks. "

 

There is no federal law that ensures the humane euthanasia of animals on farms

or hatcheries, according to Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president and chief counsel

of the Humane Society of the United States.

 

Hy-Line says on its Web site that its Iowa facility produces 33.4 million

chicks. Based on that figure, Mercy for Animals estimates a similar number of

male chicks are killed at the facility each year. Hy-Line did not comment on

that estimate.

 

Runkle, of Mercy for Animals, said most people would be shocked to learn that

200 million chicks are killed a year.

 

" Is this justifiable just for cheap eggs? " he said.

 

As to more humane alternatives to disposing of male chicks, Runkle said the

whole system is inherently flawed.

 

" The entire industrial hatchery system subjects these birds to stress, fear and

pain from the first day, " he said.

 

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On the Web:

 

Mercy for Animals video: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/hatchery

 

Hy-Line International: http://www.hyline.com/

 

 

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