Imagine being locked inside a crowded elevator for your entire life, unable to fully stretch your legs or turn around without rubbing up against someone else. Now, imagine that instead of a crowded elevator, you are barefoot in a wire cage, unable to stand or lie down comfortably, surrounded by tens of thousands of your fellow cage mates inside a giant, ammonia-filled warehouse. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you will never do anything that comes naturally to you. You will never see the sun, or breathe fresh air, until the day you are sent to slaughter.
For most people it is next to impossible to imagine this type of existence, yet this is the grim reality for millions of egg-laying hens worldwide. But now, thanks to the courageous efforts of Anonymous for Animal Rights, a hidden camera has been installed inside a battery egg facility in Israel, giving the world a rare glimpse of the conditions that millions of egg-laying hens are forced to endure.
The Israeli parliament will soon decide whether or not to ban battery cages under the Israeli Animal Welfare Act and this live broadcast of suffering hens may influence that decision. “This is a first of its kind in Israel, perhaps worldwide. It aims to make the walls of industrial farms transparent, allowing the public a direct view of the suffering 7 million hens have to go through each and every day of their lives,” says Chen Morad, who runs the “Israel Leaves the Cage” campaign for Anonymous.
With growing consumer awareness of the inherent cruelty of battery egg production and mounting concerns over repeated salmonella outbreaks linked to battery cage egg facilities, the days of battery cage egg production may be numbered. In 1992, Switzerland became the first country in the world to ban conventional battery cages. Following a 10 year phase-out period, barren battery cages are due to be banned from the European Union in 2012. After the passage of Proposition 2 in 2008, California became the first U.S. state to ban battery cages effective in 2015, followed by Michigan just last year.
But consumers need not wait for battery cage bans to take a stand against the cruel practices of industrial animal agriculture. Adopting a healthy and humane vegan lifestyle is an easy way that each of us can withdraw our support of needless cruelty to animals. Visit ChooseVeg.com to find out more.
