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1.
CHICKEN MEAT & EGG SALES - U.K & U.S.
Sales of meat from chickens allowed
to roam outdoors are growing at 10 times the rate
of sales of meat from chickens raised in crowded and
artificially lit sheds, according to the United Kingdom
(U.K.)’s National Farmers Union. Similarly,
for eggs raised in less inhumane conditions (free
range, organic or barn eggs), sales increased 24%
between 2002 and 2005, with sales of eggs from battery
hens dropping by 8% over the same period.These alternatively
produced eggs are said to be the reason the British
egg market is booming, with consumers using more eggs
per capita than ever before. Animal welfare concerns
are cited as the primary reason why shoppers are selecting
them. “Consumers are increasingly turning their
backs on eggs from laying cage hens, which are often
housed in poor conditions,” said Mintel market
research analyst Claire Birks. The Belfast Telegraph
article notes what the different egg systems entail
for the birds.
Those figures were released just a week after the
U.K. government published a report showing that conditions
remain poor for the 800 million chickens annually
raised for meat in Britain’s intensive systems.
The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs reported that deformities were common, and
the legs of a quarter of the birds could not support
their quickly fattened bodies. Of the total 860 million
chickens annually produced for meat there, approximately
94% are raised indoors. Another 5% are reared free
range, and the remaining 1% are reared using organic
standards.
In the U.S., a
new report by Research and Markets says egg sales
have decreased since 2000, with concerns related to
“ethical food production” promoting the
sales of organic, cage-free, and free-range eggs and
eggs from vegetarian-fed hens. The survey found that
27% of respondents purchase specialty eggs, particularly
25-34 year olds and 55-64 year olds. Consumer attitudes
and other factors affecting U.S. retail egg sales
are identified in the report, which includes a 5-year
sales forecast.
BATTERY FARM BACKLASH BOOSTS FREE-RANGE
EGGS
Belfast Telegraph, Louise Jack, August 9, 2006
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/food_drink/story.jsp?story=701892
FREE-RANGE EGGS DRIVE UK INDUSTRY GROWTH
Food Production Daily, Sean Roach, August 8, 2006
http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?n=69742-egg-free-range-battery
2.
EGG INDUSTRY REACTS TO ESBENSHADE CASE
The Esbenshade Farms case (see
last week’s FAW) is the first time a U.S.
egg producer has been charged with cruelty regarding
the conditions in which they normally keep hens. According
to the defense attorney, the case is also unique in
that The Humane Society of the U.S. “has essentially
bankrolled the prosecution,” retaining the prosecuting
attorney [having been permitted to do so by the Lancaster
County (Pa.) District Attorney]. As it garners media
coverage, animal advocacy groups helping to fund the
case are succeeding in promoting their campaign against
conditions for hens in the egg industry as a whole.
Surprised industry leaders are countering by waging
a campaign against “agricultural terrorism”
and by attempting to explain standard industry practices
to politicians and the public. The industry is also
reportedly willing to review these practices and “tweak
them where possible or necessary.” The article
also discusses differences in Pennsylvania legal protections
for chickens and dogs, and charges filed last year
by Philadelphia-based Hugs for Puppies against Kreider
Farms, a Pennsylvania egg production company (see
previous FAW digest coverage at http://tinyurl.com/z92gm).
ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGES COME HOME TO
ROOST
Lancaster Online, Gil Smart, August 12, 2006
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/24793
3.
FIRE, RAIDS KILL 100,000+ CHICKENS
The ventilation system in a metal building
housing 104,001 baby chickens fanned the flames of
a fire at Braswell Foods, near Nashville, Tennessee,
on August 15th, killing all of the birds. Preliminary
indications are that the cause of the fire was electrical.
Firefighters from nine stations had to haul water
from a nearby lake since no fire hydrants were nearby.
An identical structure housing chickens there was
destroyed by fire in 2002. Replacement cost for day-old
pullets is reported to be 60 to 65 cents each.
On the same day, 4,000 14-week-old chickens died
of heat exhaustion at Golden Eggs, south Australia's
largest egg producer, when thieves cut the power to
a temperature gauge while stealing copper wire. If
the act is found to have been deliberate, the perpetrators
could be fined up to $10,000 or up to 12 months in
jail under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Because it has to be proven that there
was a willful intention to hurt the birds, Ontario’s
crown attorney will not lodge cruelty charges against
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency or Egg Farmers
of Ontario (EFO), even though 800 chickens are claimed
to have been killed during a raid on an egg production
facility the two entities staged on March 23rd. The
decision came after review of a case made by the Ontario
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA),
which included graphic photos “of dead and dying
birds, crammed in cages, with their legs and tails
sticking out through the mesh at every angle.”
The SPCA can press charges on its own but went to
the crown attorney for legal advisement. The local
SPCA had been called by a neighbor to intervene the
day of the raid but declined to do so.
COMPANY WEIGHS RECOVERY FROM FIRE
Rocky Mount Telegra, J. Eric Eckard, August 17, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/mcyn9
ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS CAUSED CHICKEN HOUSE FIRE
WRAL, August 16, 2006
http://www.wral.com/news/9691625/detail.html
FARM RAID LEAVES 4,000 CHICKENS DEAD
ABC News Online, August 17, 2006
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1716850.htm
CROWN FLIES THE COOP ON CHICKEN RAID
CHARGES
AgriNews, Catherine Thompson, August 2006
http://www.agrinewsinteractive.com/fullstory.htm?ArticleID=7745&ShowSection=News
4.
AD BATTLE OVER ARIZONA INITIATIVE
An extensive ad campaign to defeat
Proposition
204, the Arizona initiative to reduce confinement
of pregnant pigs and calves raised for veal, is being
financed by the pig industry [and other agribusiness
interests]. Since there is no veal industry in Arizona,
only pigs and only one company that produces them,
PFFJ (Pigs for Farmer John), would be affected. The
company, however, is not allowing reporters access
to its facility. Its consulting firm, which designed
the ads, said that doing so would create disease-related
hazards. Although the firm rejected a reporter’s
offer to undergo the same sanitizing procedures as
do plant workers, it did get company approval to send
its own crew in to videotape conditions there. It
says the media will have to rely on that video. Proponents
of the initiative are also planning to run ads. Hundreds
of thousands of dollars have been raised by both sides
from various entities in and out of the state. A statewide
poll in March showed 57% of those surveyed strongly
support the initiative, with 21% saying they are somewhat
in support. Only 13% were somewhat or strongly opposed.
More information at:
Pro-204: www.yesforhumanefarms.org
Anti-204: www.azfarmersranchers.com
FOES SEND FIRST VOLLEY IN FARM ANIMAL
AD WAR
East Valley Tribune, Howard Fischer, August 12, 2006
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=71552
5.
CRUELTY CHARGES AFTER HORSE BILL HEARING
Days after a U.S. House of Representatives
committee tried to kill legislation aimed at ending
commercial horse slaughter in the U.S., a man hauling
19 horses from Mississippi to a Texas slaughterplant
was charged with animal cruelty. Bryan Morgan was
initially cited with 19 counts of animal abuse in
Texarkana after police were alerted that several of
the horses had abrasions and marks across their faces
and bodies (photo at: http://tinyurl.com/hpona). "It looked like someone took a baseball bat
and beat the hell out of the horse," said one
witness. After consulting with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, police decided not to press charges
and Morgan was allowed to drive on to the slaughterplant
with the horses. Upon determining that the injuries
were not caused in-transit or by the other horses,
Morgan was subsequently charged with 5 counts of cruelty.
The full House is expected to vote on
the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act in September.
(See related action in item #6.) A representative
of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association,
who testified against the bill, asserts that “the
most compelling reason for cattlemen to oppose H.R.
503 is that it sets a drastic and dangerous precedent
for regulating animal agriculture.”
MAN CHARGED WITH 5 COUNTS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY
TO HORSES
Texarkana Gazette, Lori Dunn, August 12, 2006
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2006/08/12/local_news/news/news07.txt
RAMSEY: HORSE SLAUGHTER BAN WOULD BE
A BLOW TO PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE
Cattle Network, August 10, 2006
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=59222
6.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
TAKING ACTION FOR ANIMALS will be held
at a Renaissance Hotel September 2-5 in Washington,
D.C. The second annual conference is “designed
to motivate, inform and inspire activists nationwide.”
A rally against horse slaughter and constituent lobbying
on Capital Hill is planned for Sept. 5th. See: http://www.takingactionforanimals.org.
CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS
IN NEW YORK STATE: Environmental and Animal Welfare
Issues will be held at the Albany Law School on September
15, 2006 in Albany, New York. The 5.5 credit Continuing
Legal Education course is open to the public and will
synthesize “the environmental, property, and
animal welfare issues that stem from the operations
of large scale agricultural animal production facilities.”
More info at: http://tinyurl.com/nuszx
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