13 March 2012

Pace battery-hen farm in Canberra damaged

| leonoosthuizen
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Parkwood Egg Farm, located in Macgregor ACT and owned by Pace, is the ACT’s only factory farm, housing between 100000 and 200000 layer hens in small cages. Last night, Parkwood was infiltrated. Various items of equipment along the automated grading and packing production line were damaged or destroyed in an attempt to cause economic harm to those who profit from torture and murder. No equipment relating to the welfare of the hens was touched; they will continue to receive food and water.

While there are many such facilities across Australia, this Canberra farm was chosen for two primary reasons:
1. Its significance as the only factory farm in the seat of Australia’s parliament.
2. Its history as the target of multiple campaigns by a number of different organisations over a span of twenty years, and its consequent infamy across the nation; these campaigns, despite garnering intense public outrage towards the facility, have failed to shut it down.

A large quantity of free-range packaging was found at the facility, with brands including Pace, Coles, and Woolworths Select. It is therefore believed, though not confirmed, that Parkwood’s battery cage eggs are also packaged and distributed as free-range. The hens at Parkwood are currently being emptied from their cages one shed at a time and sent to slaughter, as they have reached 18 months of age and are no longer producing at peak capacity. It is recommended that Pace uses this opportunity to close down the facility and leave our nation’s capital. Already three sheds have been emptied, with only two remaining.

This action was intended to highlight not simply the atrocities of the “cage egg” but the ethical impossibility of justifying the unnecessary torture and murder of any sentient being. Free-range eggs, for example, still require the males to be macerated (ground up alive) at birth, just like organic milk still requires the cows to be repeatedly impregnated and their calves slaughtered. We cannot rely on or be content with welfare regulations that ultimately seek to assure us of humane slavery and slaughter, because slavery and slaughter can never be humane. We did not improve the transport or living conditions of human slaves traded across the Atlantic, we abolished the trade, and again abolition must be our moral baseline.

It is time to question the validity of the Australian identity. What values do we consider virtues? The icon of the Aussie battler – the family-oriented farmer slaving in tough times for the good of the country – is outdated and does not reflect the heavily industrialised nature of modern livestock farming. Nor does it reflect the severe environmental damage caused by such practices.

We need to ask ourselves, do we take pride in the shadowy men who hide behind piles of blood money – the Frank Paces, the Bob Inghams, the John and Simon Camilleris – or do we take pride in those who fight for the oppressed; those who don?t live by the legal law of the day but instead by a universal moral law, acting out of compassion and for a justice that discriminates not against race, gender, age or species; the voices for all who cannot speak for themselves yet scream unheard behind the closed doors of our nation?s factory farms? A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies, and to say of a system predicated upon hate and violence: This is not just.

Consumers must be made aware of the truth behind the meat, dairy and egg industries. Our politicians have the power to make such information widely available, but choose not to because of the industries’ economic value, even if it means more Australians dying of preventable diseases and disorders, more unnecessary soil degradation, water scarcity, and greenhouse gas emissions, and the slaughter of millions more animals every year.

The industries and their employees, on the other hand, must be made aware that they are in danger of being exposed; that their participation in these violent atrocities will no longer be tolerated, and that the secrecy of their actions can no longer be guaranteed.

Members of the public, and of the parliament, must no longer be afraid to stand up and make their voices heard; never through violence but through the affirmation and embodiment of social and ethical responsibility.

Sincerely,
The Blackbird.

[ED – We’ve requested comment from Pace eggs and will publish any we receive.]

UPDATE 13/03/12 14:30: The Australian Egg Corporation’s response is now available.

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colourful sydney racing identity said :

kumadude said :

I am the CLIT master.

Commander, I believe…

I’ve been looking for your headquarters for ages and just can’t seem to find it.

colourful sydney racing identity9:54 am 14 Mar 12

kumadude said :

I am the CLIT master.

Commander, I believe…

Deref said :

Deref said :

devils_advocate said :

Deref said :

Holden Caulfield said :

I’m all for free-ranging egg production, but these morons must be living very sheltered lives if they can’t find a more important things to vent their spleen on.

I refuse to concern myself with animal welfare until all the humans on the planet are looked after. And yes, I do contribute to the latter outcome.

I should have added “and more effective ways to vent it”.

Irrelevant argument.

It is impossible for you to do so but it is possible for you to add to the welfare of animals in this country, ie chickens treated cruelly, pigs kept in cages just big enough to let them stand, cows and sheep stuffed into trucks and driven for miles, poddy calves simply killed because they are male. The list is endless.

Nowhere did I say that I approved of cruel treatment. In fact, if you look, I said I was in favour of free-ranging egg production. I’m in favour of treating animals humanely under any circumstances.

By effectively accusing me (and others) of being in favour of inhumane treatment directly contrary ti the evidence, you’ve not only erected a classic straw man (demonstrating an inability to mount a sensible argument) but you’ve further antagonised people who, given a reasonable approach by you, would generally agree with your aims, if not your methods.

I note that you have selectively quoted what I said, conveniently neglecting where I said that the actions of these people is wrong.

And then accusing me of condoning their actions when I didn’t.

So, no, it’s not a straw man.

Oh, and the italics are going crazy man 🙂

I’m just posting this to see how far I can stretch the first comment out. 😀

I note that you have selectively quoted what I said, conveniently neglecting where I said that the actions of these people is wrong.

And then accusing me of condoning their actions when I didn’t.

So, no, it’s not a straw man.

It occurred to me after I’d posted that I found your post hard to follow and that I may have misinterpreted it. If I did, I apologise.

danx76 said :

Those who assume these topics and vandalise will get caught. It’s fairly easy to track these criminals especially by posting videos up here!

There are pro’s and con’s for freerange vs cage eggs. It’s interesting when people talk about welfare when freerange hens exhibit a double mortality rate over caged hens and freerange hens like to stay inside the sheds and a small percentage venture outside. So does that mean people who live in crowded cities have a lower human welfare than people who live in the wide open spaces!

The claim that they are selling cage eggs as freerange is the biggest load of BS I have heard!!!

These people don’t know how many external audits from major suppliers and quality standards that the egg producers have to do, to put and keep a egg in the market. The fines, loss of capital, jobs, business licences, suppliers are that serious that it is practically impossible to do such a ridulous act.

If people are uncomfortable with caged hen eggs,then buy freerange eggs or even organic eggs.The more people demand a product or service the more producers will follow the market to keep the supply going.

I’m glad you have said that cage eggs being packed in free range boxes is BS. That really sets my mind at rest. (Sarcasm.)

Living in a cage for 18 months is not a life. Sure, these chickens don’t get run over by cars while crossing the road, or killed by other chickens, but it’s hardly a fufilling and satisfying life. It’s very productive though. Very efficient. Not a whole lotta fun.

Why do I find myself humming Cows With Guns?

IP

Pandy said :

Would the vegans support the killing of people if it meant the end of of the of the egg trade?

see a few posts above folks

Absolutely, hand me a pole-axe

Those who assume these topics and vandalise will get caught. It’s fairly easy to track these criminals especially by posting videos up here!

There are pro’s and con’s for freerange vs cage eggs. It’s interesting when people talk about welfare when freerange hens exhibit a double mortality rate over caged hens and freerange hens like to stay inside the sheds and a small percentage venture outside. So does that mean people who live in crowded cities have a lower human welfare than people who live in the wide open spaces!

The claim that they are selling cage eggs as freerange is the biggest load of BS I have heard!!!

These people don’t know how many external audits from major suppliers and quality standards that the egg producers have to do, to put and keep a egg in the market. The fines, loss of capital, jobs, business licences, suppliers are that serious that it is practically impossible to do such a ridulous act.

If people are uncomfortable with caged hen eggs,then buy freerange eggs or even organic eggs.The more people demand a product or service the more producers will follow the market to keep the supply going.

Would the vegans support the killing of people if it meant the end of of the of the egg trade?

see a few posts above folks

AsparagusSyndrome9:22 pm 13 Mar 12

Dear “The”,

You lost me at “Parkwood…”

I admit that I skimmed a bunch of confusing, hard-to-read verbage, that looked for all the world like a manifesto about imposing your values on us all, without My Express Permission. So, I added your name, in blue ink, to my small red notebook.

I did happen across your references to “shadowy men”, that almost looked perjorative. Am I to suppose, The, that you don’t like “shadowy men” and that you yourself are not shadowy? If so, I remain puzzled that I can’t find your name in the phone book anywhere in Australia. Is Blackbird your middle name or your surname?

I nearly choked on my omelette when I discovered that my precious food-egg system was predicated upon hate, and that I had, hitherto, been ignorant of yet another Universal Moral Law, which you feel must now be administered forcibly upon the ignorant, and the egg-packing glitterati. I thought I already had every Universal Moral Law chiselled into my Stone of Retribution. Signs and Wonders.

Good onya, leonoosthuizen, the Sea Shepherd of the ACT. Once upon a time whaling was considered acceptable in Australia. And slaughtering cattle and sheep without stunning them first. Progress often requires someone to push the boundaries hard – would that it were not so, but it is.

Hopefully police will also be investigating the presence of Free Range packaging at the site, as fraud is also a criminal offence, and in this case potentially of much higher value than the criminal damage inflicted the other day.

IP

I-filed said :

Yeah sure like the battery eggs never got accidentally on purpose mixed up with the expensive free-range ones during the packaging!

Where are the Greens on this issue? Why is a battery operation still happening in the ACT, hurting tens of thousands of hens, when a handful of circus animals are banned on welfare grounds? Shane? Caroline? Amanda?

I would have thought cage eggs are core business for the Greens to concern themselves with.

http://act.greens.org.au/content/greens’-egg-laws-help-canberra-go-free-range

kangasrevenge said :

This act might be illegal according to the law but it was the correct act morally. Pace farms are a disgrace. The system is a disgrace. There are laws to protect the welfare of animals (even if you agree with the welfarist approach, and I don’t) but they do nothing of the sort. The RSPCA is complicit in the cruel treatment metered out by PACE. They do nothing. The government does nothing. The media have had stories about PACE and yet consumers still buy their eggs and by this act condone the cruelty in PACE sheds. It must stop. And whatever it takes to say ‘no, this is wrong, think again’ is fine by me.

I believe ecoterrorism is evil and supporters of it must have their possessions confiscated for the greater good. Can you please post your address so I can pay your house a visit?

I know it might be illegal but its the right thing to do morally.

You won’t complain right?

kangasrevenge7:40 pm 13 Mar 12

This act might be illegal according to the law but it was the correct act morally. Pace farms are a disgrace. The system is a disgrace. There are laws to protect the welfare of animals (even if you agree with the welfarist approach, and I don’t) but they do nothing of the sort. The RSPCA is complicit in the cruel treatment metered out by PACE. They do nothing. The government does nothing. The media have had stories about PACE and yet consumers still buy their eggs and by this act condone the cruelty in PACE sheds. It must stop. And whatever it takes to say ‘no, this is wrong, think again’ is fine by me.

Deref said :

devils_advocate said :

Deref said :

Holden Caulfield said :

I’m all for free-ranging egg production, but these morons must be living very sheltered lives if they can’t find a more important things to vent their spleen on.

I refuse to concern myself with animal welfare until all the humans on the planet are looked after. And yes, I do contribute to the latter outcome.

I should have added “and more effective ways to vent it”.

Irrelevant argument.

It is impossible for you to do so but it is possible for you to add to the welfare of animals in this country, ie chickens treated cruelly, pigs kept in cages just big enough to let them stand, cows and sheep stuffed into trucks and driven for miles, poddy calves simply killed because they are male. The list is endless.

Nowhere did I say that I approved of cruel treatment. In fact, if you look, I said I was in favour of free-ranging egg production. I’m in favour of treating animals humanely under any circumstances.

By effectively accusing me (and others) of being in favour of inhumane treatment directly contrary ti the evidence, you’ve not only erected a classic straw man (demonstrating an inability to mount a sensible argument) but you’ve further antagonised people who, given a reasonable approach by you, would generally agree with your aims, if not your methods.

Yeah sure like the battery eggs never got accidentally on purpose mixed up with the expensive free-range ones during the packaging!

Where are the Greens on this issue? Why is a battery operation still happening in the ACT, hurting tens of thousands of hens, when a handful of circus animals are banned on welfare grounds? Shane? Caroline? Amanda?

I would have thought cage eggs are core business for the Greens to concern themselves with.

Holden Caulfield said :

A shame that a worthy cause will be lost in a wash of over emotional tripe…

Your mention of Tripe in a thread about Eggs has got me hungering for of one of my favourite dishes- Trippa Legata Colle Uova – or Tripe Bound with Egg.

I might make some this weekend. I usually have to order tripe in as most butchers don’t stock it as a regular.

leonoosthuizen, i hope you are charged with criminal damage and have to pay for any damages incurred (including loss of income)

This type of language used in the OP doesn’t really help the cause. A high handed smug attitude tends to put people off.

If you really want to get your message across talk to people like you will in a conversation, don’t lecture.

Everyone hates being lectured at.

Where was Foghorn Leghorn last night, as he would have stopped this Henery Hawk?

Skidbladnir said :

If there was an option whereby people could buy eggs exclusively form chickens fed on a diet of the salt evaporated from the tears of greenies, I’d consider it.

Free range birds are more likely to engage in cannibalistic behaviour than caged birds (ie: the term pecking order, being originally a term for describing chicken behaviour, remains a very real threat in barn and free-range flocks, but not so much in caged\beak-clipped fowl).

“Causes of mortality in laying hens in different housing systems in 2001 to 2004” January 2009, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden
Conclusion
The results of the present study indicated that during 2001–2004 laying hens housed in litter-based housing systems, with or without access to outdoor areas, were at higher risk of infectious diseases and cannibalistic behaviour compared to laying hens in cages… Cannibalism was not observed as the main cause of death in any of the flocks housed in cages.

See also: Vent pecking, images of vent pecked birds.
This does not happen with beak-clipped flocks.

PS: Anyone claiming “I pay an extra $2.50 per dozen myself, get over it.” is thinking far too small, retail eggs are a small portion of the egg-market.

PPS: Australian Egg Corporation standard reply.

The Egg Corporation’s “facts” about battery hens are about as reliable as a tobacco company’s “facts” on cancer.

And I can’t belive that people still buy cage eggs.

I am the CLIT master.

screaming banshee5:02 pm 13 Mar 12

TL;DRCBFR

devils_advocate said :

Deref said :

Holden Caulfield said :

I’m all for free-ranging egg production, but these morons must be living very sheltered lives if they can’t find a more important things to vent their spleen on.

I refuse to concern myself with animal welfare until all the humans on the planet are looked after. And yes, I do contribute to the latter outcome.

I should have added “and more effective ways to vent it”.

devils_advocate4:41 pm 13 Mar 12

Deref said :

Holden Caulfield said :

I’m all for free-ranging egg production, but these morons must be living very sheltered lives if they can’t find a more important things to vent their spleen on.

I refuse to concern myself with animal welfare until all the humans on the planet are looked after. And yes, I do contribute to the latter outcome.

Holden Caulfield said :

A shame that a worthy cause will be lost in a wash of over emotional tripe…

That.

I’m all for free-ranging egg production, but these morons must be living very sheltered lives if they can’t find a more important things to vent their spleen on.

You lost me at comparing chickens bred in captivity to humans stolen from their homes in the night and shipped over an ocean whilst chained in the bottom of leaky dank ships.

I hope Johnboy does the right thing and passes the OPs IP address and email address on to the AFP for investigation into the crimes mentioned in the post.

This sort of thing is counterproductive in that it brings back the imagery of the Greenpeace terrorists destroying the GM crop last year.

Several years ago I decided I wouldn’t support battery hens by buying free range eggs – firstly from the local newsagent – then from the farmers’ markets. I also did this because supermarket eggs are usually stale and the independently produced eggs taste better and are much fresher.

I have to wonder why it has taken so long for something like this raid to happen, but it is more of a wonder that battery operations such as Pace are still operating in this day and age.

p1 said :

Stevian said :

phototext said :

The above rhetoric reminds me of the bs holy war dribble al-Qaeda comes out with.
.

Godwin’s Law needs to be updated, that kind of retarded comment is beyond stupid

While I agree with you about Godwin’s Law, in this case I agree with the posters meaning.

The OP’s rant very much reminds me of propaganda written by someone who has had more then their fair share of the coolaid. Not that there is anything wrong with opposing animal cruelty, but as many others have pointed out, if you [a] take a practice that the majority of people probably think should be banned, and [b] protest it in a way that alienates the majority of those people, you are [c] clearly doing something wrong.

+1

I don’t get people who think propaganda is an effective way to win people over. Most intelligent people find it insulting.

I do not know why activism and diplomacy appear to so often be mutually exclusive.

“a universal moral law, acting out of compassion and for a justice that discriminates not against race, gender, age or species”

Seriously, where do you get this stuff? You want to stop all discrimination on the basis of “species”? So let’s criminalise the act of failing to stop when you run over a rabbit, cos that’s a clear example of a justice that discriminates against species.

Guess what – viruses are species too! And yet it’s perfectly legal to kill – nay, to murder – these unsuspecting fellow-creatures. Discrimination!

Guess what – all medication is tested on animals before being approved for human use. Have you made a decision to stop using all such drugs/medicines? Surely, if all species are equal, that is the only possible course of action if you wish to be true to your beliefs…

Of course, it could just be that you are deliberately using emotive language in an attempt to manipulate the emotions of others. Or, it could be that you have not actually thought about the logical conclusions of what you say. Or maybe you think that all species are equal, but some are more equal than others? Point being, you’re either a hypocrite, or stupid, or both. Nice one.

I’m not defending battery farming – I’m just saying that you are as full of sh*t as the “shadowy men who hide behind piles of blood money”. Different sh*t, but sh*t all the same.

Stevian said :

phototext said :

The above rhetoric reminds me of the bs holy war dribble al-Qaeda comes out with.
.

Godwin’s Law needs to be updated, that kind of retarded comment is beyond stupid

While I agree with you about Godwin’s Law, in this case I agree with the posters meaning.

The OP’s rant very much reminds me of propaganda written by someone who has had more then their fair share of the coolaid. Not that there is anything wrong with opposing animal cruelty, but as many others have pointed out, if you [a] take a practice that the majority of people probably think should be banned, and [b] protest it in a way that alienates the majority of those people, you are [c] clearly doing something wrong.

colourful sydney racing identity2:00 pm 13 Mar 12

poetix said :

I’m not vegan, but the way these animals are treated is wrong, I agree. I just don’t like the wording of this statement, which uses language that will alienate a lot of people. For example, comparing the suffering of the chickens with human slavery. There was no need to do that, and it tends to lump kidnapped Africans together with chooks, which could be seen as more than a tad unfortunate. You may think these two things are the same morally, but most people don’t, and you lose support by linking the two.

Sticking to the simple message of cruelty would be a lot more effective, rather than laying (ha!) out a whole manifesto. And ‘the shadowy men who hide behind piles of blood money’ is actually so over the top that I was giggling.

But I certainly agree that battery farming should be banned, as I understand it has been in at least some of Europe, and I admire people who keep raising these issues.

+1

devils_advocate1:48 pm 13 Mar 12

Unfortunately for the OP, it so happens that my God has given me dominion over all the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and the animals that go upon the land.

And woe betide anyone who even thinks about impinging on my freedom of religion.

In fact, I demand that an area of a swimming pool be screened off to facilitate my swimming in non-organic milk.

neanderthalsis1:33 pm 13 Mar 12

Pandy said :

Organic milk is now cruel? I would be interested in th e truth here.

In the mind of the professional activist, everything is cruel. Even if we banned all livestock production and meat consumption and converted all grazing land for intensive horticulture, these numpties would start protesting about the loss of habitat of the lesser arse-hatted grass munching weevil (the LAHGMW can”t live in the shade and is critically endangered now due to reforestation efforts).

I’m not vegan, but the way these animals are treated is wrong, I agree. I just don’t like the wording of this statement, which uses language that will alienate a lot of people. For example, comparing the suffering of the chickens with human slavery. There was no need to do that, and it tends to lump kidnapped Africans together with chooks, which could be seen as more than a tad unfortunate. You may think these two things are the same morally, but most people don’t, and you lose support by linking the two.

Sticking to the simple message of cruelty would be a lot more effective, rather than laying (ha!) out a whole manifesto. And ‘the shadowy men who hide behind piles of blood money’ is actually so over the top that I was giggling.

But I certainly agree that battery farming should be banned, as I understand it has been in at least some of Europe, and I admire people who keep raising these issues.

neanderthalsis1:28 pm 13 Mar 12

Stevian said :

neanderthalsis said :

These are legitimate businesses operating within the law in Australia. If you don’t like what they do, lobby to have the appropriate legislation in place outlawing battery farms. If you break into a business and damage goods/equipment, then IMO, you’re not an eco-warrior, you’re a criminal.

MissJustice said :

… Go Vegan!

I’ll go vegan when they discover a tree that fruits eye fillet.

Neaderthals are extinct, so your comment is invalid

They’re not extinct, they evolved into Katter’s Australia Party voters.

Organic milk is now cruel? I would be interested in th e truth here.

neanderthalsis said :

These are legitimate businesses operating within the law in Australia. If you don’t like what they do, lobby to have the appropriate legislation in place outlawing battery farms. If you break into a business and damage goods/equipment, then IMO, you’re not an eco-warrior, you’re a criminal.

MissJustice said :

… Go Vegan!

I’ll go vegan when they discover a tree that fruits eye fillet.

Neaderthals are extinct, so your comment is invalid

phototext said :

The above rhetoric reminds me of the bs holy war dribble al-Qaeda comes out with.
.

Godwin’s Law needs to be updated, that kind of retarded comment is beyond stupid

why is this ‘significant’ because it happens to be in the vicinity of the nation’s capital? real live people live in the vicinity of the seat of parliament [really? shit!] and real live people sometimes even eat eggs…

get off the ‘capital’ bit and think about where the real power is – sydney and melbourne are each home to the australian hqs of global enterprises. go beat up on poor local businesses suppling them. sheesh…

brainless vandals deserving of very little sympathy…

neanderthalsis12:51 pm 13 Mar 12

These are legitimate businesses operating within the law in Australia. If you don’t like what they do, lobby to have the appropriate legislation in place outlawing battery farms. If you break into a business and damage goods/equipment, then IMO, you’re not an eco-warrior, you’re a criminal.

MissJustice said :

… Go Vegan!

I’ll go vegan when they discover a tree that fruits eye fillet.

What gives you the right to damage other peoples property?

EvanJames said :

See the picture of the hen above? It has had its beak clipped off. They all undergo that. Does it hurt? hell, yes.

MissJustice said :

Battery cages are an abomination. These gentle innocent girls live a life of torture, torment & misery. The egg industry is shameful. Not only do they imprison the females (after removing their beaks in an extremely painful procedure) they also have no use for the male chicks so they throw them away, simply throw them away to die an awful death.

No it hasn’t, it has a normal beak. I just re-watched the video, this time in beak-watching mode, and all the chooks have normal beaks. Some might be broken or chipped, which is completely normal, but on the whole, they have them.

Get your facts straight.

If there was an option whereby people could buy eggs exclusively form chickens fed on a diet of the salt evaporated from the tears of greenies, I’d consider it.

Free range birds are more likely to engage in cannibalistic behaviour than caged birds (ie: the term pecking order, being originally a term for describing chicken behaviour, remains a very real threat in barn and free-range flocks, but not so much in caged\beak-clipped fowl).

“Causes of mortality in laying hens in different housing systems in 2001 to 2004” January 2009, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Uppsala, Sweden
Conclusion
The results of the present study indicated that during 2001–2004 laying hens housed in litter-based housing systems, with or without access to outdoor areas, were at higher risk of infectious diseases and cannibalistic behaviour compared to laying hens in cages… Cannibalism was not observed as the main cause of death in any of the flocks housed in cages.

See also: Vent pecking, images of vent pecked birds.
This does not happen with beak-clipped flocks.

PS: Anyone claiming “I pay an extra $2.50 per dozen myself, get over it.” is thinking far too small, retail eggs are a small portion of the egg-market.

PPS: Australian Egg Corporation standard reply.

Regardless of whether they are also processing free-range eggs there or deceiving just customers with packaging, why would you buy free-range eggs from a company that also sells battery eggs? You’re still supporting their business.

p1 said :

ecoterrorist said

Just a suspected eco-terrorist at this point, the OP never actually admitted to carrying out the terrorist act. I’m waiting for the AFP release saying that several people were arrested in relation to property damage that occurred last night as a result of information obtained from a popular community news site.

What a load of crap

Battery cages are an abomination. These gentle innocent girls live a life of torture, torment & misery. The egg industry is shameful. Not only do they imprison the females (after removing their beaks in an extremely painful procedure) they also have no use for the male chicks so they throw them away, simply throw them away to die an awful death.

What these activists have done is nothing short of amazing – stopping the money making egg producing machine in its tracks.

Battery cages are pure evil. Go Vegan!

Purple prose not withstanding, I support actions such as these. See the picture of the hen above? It has had its beak clipped off. They all undergo that. Does it hurt? hell, yes. And you’d have to be living under a rock to not know the conditions for battery caged hens, squashed into tiny cages, no room to move. Bloody disgusting.

And, if this raid does in fact reveal that battery farmed eggs are being sold as free range or barn laid, the balloon will go up BIG TIME and it needs to. People are cheerfully paying more, to signal their preference for cruelty-free food. I am always heartened when I can’t get at the non-cage eggs section at Coles in Queanbeyan, because there’s too many people in front of it, choosing their eggs. In Queanbeyan, for heavan’s sake!

So if our much-vaunted regulatory regimes are failing to prevent the public from being ripped off and lied-to, I think a lot of very ordinary, non-crazed-animal-lovers, will be absolutely disgusted. The RSPCA and Animals Australia run very good campaigns to enable ordinary people to signal their feelings about these things.

And with so many people opting for the more expensive cruelty-free eggs, doesn’t that signal that battery farming is perhaps not necessary and can be safely done-away with?

Couldn’t be bothered reading all of that. It’s pretty simple. Do your resesarch and then buy your eggs from a real free-range source. There’s no need to yell, money speaks louder than words.

I’ve known that free-range eggs from Pace aren’t really free-range for ages. There’s only one brand I buy because a reliable source told me that they are truly free-range.

Instead of breaking into chicken farms and jumping on the barricades, why don’t you just invest your time and money in a media campaign to educate people on which brands are and which aren’t free-range and then let them vote with their money.

ecoterrorist said

Free-range eggs, for example, still require the males to be macerated (ground up alive) at birth….

Really? If I want to have chooks producing eggs in my backyard I have to grind up male chooks alive? I don’t have hens now, by never remember doing that in the past.

TheDancingDjinn10:49 am 13 Mar 12

bugmenot said :

Why do they have Barn and Free Range Packaging on site?

Because they don’t just process eggs from those Barns, more often than not, it’s the semi trailer loads of eggs coming from all around NSW.

I worked in the grading area back in 2003, and the amount of eggs coming from those sheds was dwarfed by the amount that came from elsewhere.

I’d make sure you get your story straight before accusing them of deceiving their customers

I was going to add the same thing actually – this company does have property with livestock on it all around the outskirts of Canberra – they very well could have some free range chickens on those properties you know. While i don’t like cruelty to any creature, actually look into it a bit deeper before your inner hippy gets enraged… Also gives you no freeking right to break and enter and damage anything!! – that just dropped your cause a few hundred points in respect, as now your all just scummy crims.

phototext said :

The above rhetoric reminds me of the bs holy war dribble al-Qaeda comes out with.

Try sounding like a normal person, not some self important nutjob, and you might have a chance of influencing the public.

Where does the Left find these numnuts.

+1.

leonoosthuizen – your BS rhetoric and criminal activities make me want to actively oppose your cause. I don’t care about your ideals or your opinion on matters of animal welfare or meat consumption, but when you act like this, thinking that you’re above the law, you lose any credibility you or your cause may have had, and you make enemies of people who probably would have supported your cause had you not acted like scumbags.

If you want to affect change you should do it legally. For now, I’m going to ramp up my meat and egg consumption. Partly to negate your individual efforts, and partly to help local famers pay for the unlawful damage to their property that you and your friends have caused.

Why do they have Barn and Free Range Packaging on site?

Because they don’t just process eggs from those Barns, more often than not, it’s the semi trailer loads of eggs coming from all around NSW.

I worked in the grading area back in 2003, and the amount of eggs coming from those sheds was dwarfed by the amount that came from elsewhere.

I’d make sure you get your story straight before accusing them of deceiving their customers

The above rhetoric reminds me of the bs holy war dribble al-Qaeda comes out with.

Try sounding like a normal person, not some self important nutjob, and you might have a chance of influencing the public.

Where does the Left find these numnuts.

qbngeek said :

There is not, and never will be, enough vegetable matter to sustain the worlds population.

This is simply false. Most animal livestock around the world is fed on grain that could otherwise be feeding humans (yes, this is not the case for cattle and sheep in Australia). It is massively less efficient to grow vegetable produce to feed animals, than it is to simply grow and eat the vegetable produce.

qbngeek said :

While I detest battery farming, or the factory-farming of any animal especially pigs and chickens for that matter, I sense you want us all to become vegans and try to live healthy lives on just vegetables.

I got that impression too, expecting people not to eat animals is an extremely unrealistic goal. I think we need to focus on improving animal welfare in the existing system.

schmeah said :

don’t be tempted to buy eggs at a supermarket.

The supermarkets are very sneaky in their marketing – it started a few month’s ago with just a small display, then gradually they increased their range and shelf space, soon we will be bombarded with catalogue advertising and huge displays of eggs placed right at the entrance and every checkout. Its so hard to resist the temptation of their chocolaty delight.

Unless someone can explain satisfactorily why there are packaging labelled “free range” at a battery-hen farm I’ll be boycotting Pace eggs.

While I detest battery farming, or the factory-farming of any animal especially pigs and chickens for that matter, I sense you want us all to become vegans and try to live healthy lives on just vegetables. In this case I will put to you the same question I put to all vegans who preach at me ‘Where will all this magical plant life come from?’. There is not, and never will be, enough vegetable matter to sustain the worlds population.

Other than that good job. battery farming of chickens need to made illegal as it is nothing but cruelty to animals.

While this article is does itself a great disservice by being so flamboyant and a bit holier-than-thou, I agree that those birds are treated atrociously. Know where your product comes from, or don’t eat it.

That said, the ACT is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the country on animal welfare, the fact that ‘free range packaging’ was found is worrying.

My advice, unless you own chickens or have contacts who do (and loads of people in Canberra do) .. don’t be tempted to buy eggs at a supermarket.

Holden Caulfield9:51 am 13 Mar 12

A shame that a worthy cause will be lost in a wash of over emotional tripe…

“Members of the public, and of the parliament, must no longer be afraid to stand up and make their voices heard; never through violence but through the affirmation and embodiment of social and ethical responsibility.”

So we can assume that “embodiment of social and ethical responsibility” is a euphemism for breaking and entering, and willful damage?

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