The Dalai Lama is speaking out for the millions of egg-laying hens condemned to lives of misery inside tiny, wire battery cages and is urging consumers to switch to cage-free eggs.
“In these cages, birds cannot engage in natural behaviors such as spreading their wings, laying eggs in a nesting area, perching, scratching at the ground, and even standing on a solid surface. Each hen has less space to live than the very sheet of paper I have written this letter on,” wrote the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
According to the Hindustan Times on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama added that “Cage-free hens may not be able to go outside, but they are able to walk, spread their wings and lay their eggs in nests – all behaviours denied to hens confined in battery cages.”
Over 95% of the chickens raised to lay eggs in the U.S. are forced to live crammed together inside battery cages, small, barren wire cages stacked in rows inside filthy windowless sheds that can stretch the length of two football fields. Not only are battery-cage egg operations extremely cruel, they pose a serious public health menace by dramatically increasing the risk of salmonella.
As the Dalai Lama noted, cage-free does not mean cruelty-free. The best thing people can do to protect their health and prevent needless cruelty to animals is to adopt a healthy and compassionate vegan lifestyle. Visit ChooseVeg.com for tips on how to get started.
