Urgent ASPCA Alert - Take Action

Urgent ASPCA Alert - Take Action - Printable Version

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Urgent ASPCA Alert - Take Action - Twitchin Kitten - 05-16-2010

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Dear Animal Advocates,

U.S. Representatives Diane Watson and Elton Gallegly have introduced the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act (H.R. 4733), an ASPCA-supported bill that would require the federal government to purchase animal products only from entities that do not keep animals cruelly confined in gestation crates, veal crates or battery cages.

Factory farms in this country commonly house animals in cruel confinement systems. Veal calves are chained in small crates without enough room to turn around; sows are confined in gestation crates only a few inches wider and longer than the sows themselves; and egg-laying hens are jammed into tiny “battery” cages with less space, per bird, than the size of a regular 8.5″×11″ sheet of paper.

Whether or not it intends to, the federal government supports these cruel practices by spending over $1 billion per year on meat and eggs from animals who are raised in overcrowded cages and cramped crates. (This food is distributed to our military, federal prisons, school lunch programs, and many other government programs and services.)

Since almost all major packers and distributors do business with the federal government, passage of the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act would have a significant impact. It would dramatically improve living conditions for countless farm animals across America, and would put an end to the federal government’s economic support of this form of cruelty.

What You Can Do
Your U.S. representative needs to hear that this bill is important to you as a voter. Please visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center to email your representative and urge him or her to support the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.

Thank you for taking action for animals!

RE: Urgent ASPCA Alert - Take Action - LKTraz - 05-16-2010

Since I am involved in the egg industry I can say for a fact that a cage with a footprint smaller than a sheet of paper wouldn't even hold a laying hen. Now are there undersized cages being used for holding hens? Yes.

Does this mean that all eggs should be "cage free"? No.

Cage free eggs are simply eggs produced the "old fashioned" way. You let the hens walk about freely and lay the eggs (typically) in their own shit. These more "natural" eggs cost more because we need to clean and sanitize them (using many chemicals) so that they pass USDA health standards. Catch 22 anyone?

The real answer is to establish minimum cage sizes which will allow the hens adequate room but also allow for ample sanitation which will minimize the use of sanitizing chemicals such as SHS2000.

RE: Urgent ASPCA Alert - Take Action - Twitchin Kitten - 05-16-2010

Sorry, can't agree with you here. It's cruel.

and let's not even get started on farmed pets.

Sorry, but the mass production process for any food needs serious reform. I have been boycotting veal since I was a teenager because I've seen with my own eyes how ONE veal calf was treated, never mind a whole farm full of them.

RE: Urgent ASPCA Alert - Take Action - Twitchin Kitten - 05-16-2010

Cage size

Floor space for battery cages range from 300 cm² per bird and up. EU standards in 2003 called for at least 550 cm² per hen. In the US, the current recommendation by the United Egg Producers is 67 to 86 in² (430 to 560 cm²) per bird.

The space available to battery hens has often been described as less than the size of a piece of paper. A4 sized paper has an area of ≈ 97 in² (625 cm²), while letter sized paper has an area of ≈ 93.5 in² (603 cm²). A typical cage is about the size of a filing cabinet drawer and holds eight to 10 hens. Hens in battery cages do not have room to lie down or stretch their wings.

Animal welfare

The main contentious issue of battery cages relates to the welfare of the hens. Several studies have indicated that a combination of high calcium demand for egg production and a lack of exercise lead to a painful condition known as cage layer osteoporosis, which increases the chances that hens in battery cages will break their bones.

However, it is the behavioural effects of keeping hens in cramped and barren conditions that is the main concern of both animal welfare organisations and scientists studying animal welfare. The Scientific Veterinary Committee of the European Commission stated that "enriched cages and well designed non-cage systems have already been shown to have a number of welfare advantages over battery systems in their present form". Hens in battery cages are said to experience elevated stress and aggression levels, but a 2008 study states that there is no detectable difference in stress levels based on housing.
Battery cages

Animal welfare scientists have been critical of battery cages because they do not provide hens with sufficient space to stand, walk, flap their wings, perch, or make a nest, and it is widely considered that hens suffer through boredom and frustration through being unable to perform these behaviours.

Supporters of battery farming contend that alternative systems such as free range also have welfare problems, such as increases in cannibalism and injurious pecking. A recent review of welfare in battery cages made the point that such welfare issues are problems of management, unlike the issues of behavioural deprivation, which are inherent in a system that keeps hens in such cramped and barren conditions. Free range egg producers can limit or eliminate injurious pecking through such strategies as providing environmental enrichment, feeding mash instead of pellets, keeping roosters in with the hens, and arranging nest boxes so hens are not exposed to each others' rears.

Human health

Research has shown that the risk of salmonella is likely to be higher in intensively produced eggs in comparison to free-range or organic produced eggs.