Two Egg Scandals in One Week in Western Australia
More and more compassionate Australians are aware of the cruel reality behind egg production and turning to plant-based alternatives to eggs. So consumer outrage is hitting boiling point in Western Australia after two egg producers made headlines for abusing chickens in the same week.
Federal Court Condemns ‘Free Range’ Egg Producers
On 18 May, it was reported that the Federal Court found Snowdale Holdings – one of Australia’s biggest egg producers and one of Western Australia’s largest supermarket suppliers – guilty of mislabelling eggs as “free range”.
https://www.facebook.com/thewestaustralian/posts/10154188396694439
Greens animal-welfare spokesperson Lynn MacLaren stated:
It was alleged that Snowdale Holdings housed more than 100 times the number of hens per hectare than the 1500 recommended by CSIRO animal welfare guidelines.
Despite this, the company continued to label many of its eggs “free range”.
A Sun City News investigation in 2014 found “thousands of dead chooks, discarded eggs, tonnes of dumped chicken manure plus hundreds more chooks that appear to be in very poor condition.”
Live Chickens Discarded Like Rubbish
Just days after the guilty verdict was handed down to Snowdale Holdings, this shocking video exposed another Western Australia egg producer – Forrestdale Farm Fresh Eggs – throwing live chickens into a skip:
https://www.facebook.com/7NewsPerth/videos/10153698795159072
An RSPCA spokesperson confirmed that an investigation into this facility is now underway.
Not Isolated Incidents
Unfortunately, treating live chickens like rubbish is par for the course in the egg industry. On many egg farms like the one at Forrestdale, hens are crammed into filthy, stinking sheds with thousands of other chickens, only to be killed when they are about 2 years old.
Hens often still have parts of their sensitive beaks cut off with a hot blade, and male chicks are suffocated to death or ground up alive because they are of no use to the egg industry.
The dumpster shown in the video probably provided the birds with the most space they’ve had during their whole lives and was likely the first place many were able to spread their wings, or what was left of them.
