(EDITOR’S NOTE: Warning- The video content is graphic and is for mature audiences only.)

Recently, the animal rights group Mercy for Animals infiltrated a factory farm located in Washington that supplies eggs to the brand Eggland’s Best. Dubbed ‘Eggland’s Worst’, the footage (below) is certain to turn your stomach.

Not only are the conditions the chickens are forced to live in disgusting, workers at times aggressively mishandle the birds.

Treehugger summarizes:

“The hens spend their lives crammed into cages, their feathers covered with feces and blood. Many endure extreme prolapse and extreme feather loss, left to suffer without veterinary care. If their feet get caught in the wire cage bottoms, they can fall down and get trampled by other hens. The video reveals dead, rotting carcasses of birds on which other hens stand and drop their eggs.

The unfortunate hens die in grotesque ways. Some accidentally fall out of the cages into the manure pits below, where they are left to die slowly. Most, however, are yanked out of the cages once their egg production decreases, stuffed into garbage cans, and taken away to be gassed to death.”

It’s no secret that chickens bred to be raised in factory farms often live in horrendous conditions, but the fact that it’s so prevalent in the industry doesn’t make it right, either. Furthermore, plenty of food companies and restaurants (130, to be exact) have committed to sourcing cage-free eggs, but Eggland’s Best has shown no sign of improving its ethical standards.

By revealing what goes on behind the walls of factory farms, Mercy for Animals hopes to inspire the public to demand change. Only then will companies, like Eggland’s Best, source eggs from hens that have lived healthier, happier lives. Of course, loopholes exist – which companies do use, but it is a step in the right direction.

Says Nathan Runkle, the organization’s president:

“Eggland’s Best is the worst to hens. Hens who lay eggs sold under the Eggland’s Best brand lead lives filled with horrific suffering and deprivation crammed inside filthy cages. Eggland’s Best must do better by getting hens out of cruel cages—something many of its competitors have already done. It’s time for Eggland’s Best to make the socially responsible choice to go cage-free.”

 

You can get involved by signing the pledge and sharing this news.
*Article originally appeared at True Activist.