NDTV: PETA launches egg campaign

April 5, 2007

PETA launches egg campaign

Nandagopal Nair

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 (Thiruvananthapuram)

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a

new campaign 'Don`t Eat Eggs' in Thiruvananthapuram.

The campaign focuses on downgrading the nutritional value of eggs so

as to persuade people to adopt alternative choices, thereby bringing

an end to inhuman living conditions of chicken in poultry farms.

The argument however, seems to have few takers among the

non-vegetarian Malayalees.

PETA says eggs are over-hyped as powerhouses of energy and are often

contaminated with bacteria, leading to food poisoning.

" An egg leads to life. A chick hatches out of an egg. We are trying to

correlate the two. An egg has life, " said Rohini Kamath, PETA.

The campaign also intends to highlight the shabby conditions at

poultry farms - cruel and unhygienic.

" You have stacks and stacks of battery cages, probably the size of a

newspaper where seven or nine hen are stuffed and they live like this

for two years. A hen lays eggs every 34 hours and after two years

their capacity goes down and they are sent to slaughter houses, " said

Kamath.

But poultry-farm owners don't buy the argument, saying that the

animals are treated well as that makes good business sense.

" They are saying this because they do not know anything about poultry.

It is our business. We take good care of our hen and feed them well.

We take care of them as our own children. If we don't, they might

contract some disease and die. That will be a loss for us, " said

Jaffer, owner, SJ Poultry farm.

The campaign is welcome insofar as it calls for a more humane

treatment of poultry.

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