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Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, Inc.
38 East Market Street, Rhinebeck, New York 12572 USA -
845-876-2626
Vegetarian - Vegan - Animal Rights - Health - Nutrition - Environment
The mission of the Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, Inc. is to promote the vegetarian ethic in the Mid-Hudson (New York) region, educate the community and aid anyone in the pursuit of a totally vegetarian (vegan) cruelty-free and healthful lifestyle.
Newsletters
Winter 2002-2003 Edition
NEWS BRIEFS
UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION CRACKS THE EGG INDUSTRY
Routine Animal Abuse Exposed; Ten Hens Rescued
Animal advocacy organization Compassion Over Killing (COK) unveiled the results of its latest undercover investigation into the cruel treatment of egg-laying hens--its third such expose of Maryland egg factory farms in just 18 months.
From August through November 2002, COK investigators went undercover at Red Bird Egg Farms (RBEF) in Millington, Md., and found unimaginably cruel conditions for the hundreds of thousands of hens at the factory farm, in which all birds live in "battery cages" without enough room to freely stretch their wings.
Investigators with COK documented in videos and photographs numerous acts of animal cruelty at RBEF, including:
* Hens immobilized in the wires of their cages without access to food or water.
* Hens living in overcrowded cages with the decomposing corpses of deceased hens.
* Diseased, sick, and injured hens suffering without veterinary care.
On November 20, 2002, COK investigators rescued ten sick and injured hens in dire need of immediate veterinary care, removing them from the factory farm.
As reported in The New York Times, members of COK entered the chicken sheds at night and filmed the rows of hens crammed 10 to a cage, and documented close-ups of swollen eyes, infected skin and shattered wings entangled in cage wire." (December 4, 2002.)
Says COK president Miyun Park, "If the abuse egg-laying hens endure was forced upon dogs or cats, it would be illegal. It's time we take a stand against such cruelty and stop buying eggs."
RBEF is not an isolated case--it is the norm in the egg industry. Similar investigations at major egg farms in Minnesota, Ohio, New Jersey, and Maryland have all uncovered the same conditions.
Compassion Over Killing is a Washington, D.C.-based animal advocacy organization. For details on COK's latest investigation/open rescue and to view the photo gallery, please visit: http://www.cok.net
Neighbors win $33 million in pork nuisance suit
A Sac County, Iowa, jury last week awarded a precedent-setting $33 million in damages to neighbors of an Iowa Select Farms hog lot in a suit alleging the company's large swine operation produced odors, noxious gases and excessive flies that diminished the value of their property. The lawsuit involved four farm couples from Early, Iowa, who said the facility improperly disposed of animal carcasses and waste.
The hog producer, which is the largest in the state and the ninth largest in the country, was assessed $1.06 million in actual damages plus $32 million in punitive damages.
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