5:09 PM
Vegetarian
Today TreeHugger has up a post praising cage-free eggs and the fact that many of them now carry the "American Humane Certified(TM) label, showing that they're from producers that practice humane treatment of their animals." (This post comes as a result of a press release from the certifying organization.)
Sigh. Here we go again. (TreeHugger, sometimes I do love you, but sometimes I do not; this week, apparently, it's a mix--sorry.)
Let's revisit a post from a couple weeks ago about how "humane" such humane standards really are: "Proving Humane Certifications Meaningless." I wrote that post after this same certification group bestowed its prized label on a veal operation--and an enormous, crate-using veal operation at that. I suggest reading or scanning that post and then coming back here.
And now let's talk specifically about the eggs. First, we have to remember again what "cage-free" in general actually means. It does not mean birds running around outside or dust-bathing or playing or living a natural life. In most cases, it means birds crammed into dark sheds their whole lives, in conditions not much better than battery cage operations.
And what are the truths about both cage-free and free-range? Painful, mutilating, long-impacting debeaking? Still done. Mass, cruel killing of all male chicks--250 million per year in the United States alone--at the hatcheries where egg-laying hens come from? Still done. Violent, frightening, painful slaughter when the hens stop laying enough eggs to be profitable? Still done.
Someone please tell me what's "certified humane" about any of that.
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