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Monday, November 23, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Welcome 3CR listeners!
To learn more about Cage Free Campus and our campaigns, click here.
To find out more about labelling of free range eggs, click here.
To see what goes on at chicken "hatcheries" which supply to both the free range and battery industries, click here.
To learn more about what you can do to help animals, click here.
Thanks for visiting and taking the time to learn about how animals are used and exploited for profit in this great country of ours.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Free Film Screening
Cage Free Campus Society is proud to present EARTHLINGS - a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals for companionship, food, clothing, entertainment and research, and our startling disrespect for these so-called “providers”.
Narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix and featuring music by the critically acclaimed artist Moby, EARTHLINGS is a powerful, gut-wrenching and influential expedition through the myriad forms of suffering inflicted on non-human species. Labelled the single most definitive animal rights film ever made, it is a must see for all those who are concerned – or want to learn more – about the severity and extent of this shocking, hidden exploitation.
Date: Tuesday 13 October
Time: 12-2pm
Venue: Public Lecture Theatre, Old Arts, University of Melbourne
Trailer available at: http://www.earthlings.com/
The most violent movie ever made…only itʼs real.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Vegan Outreach to the Rescue!
Cage Free Campus has been almost frighteningly active this semester. We've been out and about hosting social dinners and picnics, tabling, petitioning, letter-writing and most of all... leafletting!
You might have seen our Outreach Team leafletting outside Union House or the Baillieu Library on a Tuesday afternoon. Those intrepid volunteers are front-lining for the animals! Why not stop and say "hi" next time you see one? Or at very least give them a smile :)
The CFCS Outreach Team is based on the Vegan Outreach model implemented in the U.S.A.
According to the Vegan Outreach website:
As a Vegan Outreach activist, anyone, anywhere, in any situation can be the best possible spokesperson for the animals. Our booklets have been distributed by many individuals and organizations, from middle school students to animal advocacy organizations....
Cage Free Campus Society is really excited about being a part of this initiative. Maybe you were handed a "Why Vegan?" booklet by a member of our Outreach Team? If so, we would love to hear your feedback on the booklets - so please feel free to comment on this blog post or whack us an email to cagefreecampusATgmail.com
If you haven't seen the Why Vegan? booklet yet, you can check it out in pdf format here: http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/WhyVegan.pdf
At the 2009 University of Melbourne Open Day, CFCS distributed over 800 Why Vegan? booklets and other leaflets to prospective Melbourne Uni students. We also gave out 200 cruelty-free gift bags in exchange for signing our petition calling for a cage free campus! So many people wanted to sign the petitions, however, that we actually ran out of bags not even half way through the day! Thanks to Tart 'n' Round and the University of Melbourne Food Co-op for their generous contributions to the gift bags.
Our team is doing an awesome job, but we could always use more hands to get this information out there! We have a room full of various leaflets, outlining the myriad of issues related to animal exploitation; from cruelty, through to human health and environmental impact. If you can give an hour of your time on either a Tuesday or Thursday on campus, let us know and we will send you more details.
Let me leave you now with some photos taken of the CFCS Outreach Team getting the job done at this year's Open Day...
Sunday, September 6, 2009
1 in 6 free range eggs could be from battery hens
As we have discovered as part of our cage free campaign, there is no system in Australia to ensure that free range or barn laid eggs actually are what they say they are, and that the conditions in these farms are close to what we would assume. As a free range egg producer points out in this article from today's Sunday Age, not all free range eggs come from chooks which go outside to scratch in the dirt and forage for invertebrates.
But the Australian Federal government has this year been looking into this problem, so it is certain that in the months or years to come an Australian Standard for free range or cage free egg production will be established. In the mean time, it seems that there are typically only 5 in every 6 eggs sold as free range which actually come from a free range farm. And this is not even the first time this has been reported, a study less than five years ago found that it was about 1.5 in every dozen eggs. Now with increased consumer demand there are even fewer eggs being sold as free range which meet the ideal.
You can do something about this! Contact your state and federal members of parliament, as well as the Vic Minister for Primary Industries Peter Batchelor, and the federal Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke and demand that they get this process moving so that consumers can have some idea what's inside a carton of eggs if they choose to buy it.
Egg group figures run foul of free-range claims
KELLY BURKE
September 6, 2009
ONE in six free-range eggs is not what it seems.
An analysis of data provided by the egg-producing industry has confirmed what most consumers have suspected for some time: it is doubtful that enough free-range layer hens exist in Australia to produce the number of eggs labelled and sold as free-range by retailers.
In the year to January 2007, the Australian free-range flock would have had to grow by more than 37 per cent to match the increased sale of free-range eggs recorded by the Australian Egg Corporation in its annual reports.
Over that time, the number of all eggs sold in the grocery market jumped from 811 million to 971 million and the proportion of those sold as free-range jumped from 20.3 per cent to 23.4 per cent.
But at the same time the number of eggs produced in total, covering the wholesale, manufacturing and export markets as well as the grocery sector, dropped from 3 billion to 2.8 billion, and the overall flock of laying hens decreased by 6 per cent.
The total free-range flock would have had to grow from 891,000 hens in 2006 to 1.22 million to meet the Egg Corporation's free-range sales figures.
NSW Greens MP John Kaye said about 36.8 million eggs (about 16 per cent) branded as free-range must actually have been either barn or cage-laid. ''Either the industry's making up the figures as it goes along or there are dodgy producers who are getting away with calling eggs free-range when they are not,'' he said.
Dr Kaye said that with big retailers such as Woolworths reporting increased demand for free-range eggs, there was an urgent need for formal accreditation of free-range farming practices and the introduction of regulations to control labelling.
The Egg Corporation, which operates its own voluntary accreditation program, Egg Corp Assured, did not return calls.
According to its website, Egg Corp Assured uses registered third party auditors to monitor the quality of product and the integrity of labelling practices.
Tony Coote, of free-range egg producer Mulloon Creek Natural Farms, east of Canberra, said even consumers opting to buy only Egg Corp Assured-labelled eggs may not be getting what they think they've paid for because the Egg Corporation set the bar too low on what it classified as free-range.
Large ''free-range'' operators were permitted to crowd thousands of hens in giant sheds containing all the flock's needs, so very few birds ventured outside to forage anyway.
''You can't believe all the pictures you see, with birds roaming on green grass. That's just not so in many cases,'' Mr Coote said.
But the Australian Federal government has this year been looking into this problem, so it is certain that in the months or years to come an Australian Standard for free range or cage free egg production will be established. In the mean time, it seems that there are typically only 5 in every 6 eggs sold as free range which actually come from a free range farm. And this is not even the first time this has been reported, a study less than five years ago found that it was about 1.5 in every dozen eggs. Now with increased consumer demand there are even fewer eggs being sold as free range which meet the ideal.
You can do something about this! Contact your state and federal members of parliament, as well as the Vic Minister for Primary Industries Peter Batchelor, and the federal Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke and demand that they get this process moving so that consumers can have some idea what's inside a carton of eggs if they choose to buy it.
Egg group figures run foul of free-range claims
KELLY BURKE
September 6, 2009
ONE in six free-range eggs is not what it seems.
An analysis of data provided by the egg-producing industry has confirmed what most consumers have suspected for some time: it is doubtful that enough free-range layer hens exist in Australia to produce the number of eggs labelled and sold as free-range by retailers.
In the year to January 2007, the Australian free-range flock would have had to grow by more than 37 per cent to match the increased sale of free-range eggs recorded by the Australian Egg Corporation in its annual reports.
Over that time, the number of all eggs sold in the grocery market jumped from 811 million to 971 million and the proportion of those sold as free-range jumped from 20.3 per cent to 23.4 per cent.
But at the same time the number of eggs produced in total, covering the wholesale, manufacturing and export markets as well as the grocery sector, dropped from 3 billion to 2.8 billion, and the overall flock of laying hens decreased by 6 per cent.
The total free-range flock would have had to grow from 891,000 hens in 2006 to 1.22 million to meet the Egg Corporation's free-range sales figures.
NSW Greens MP John Kaye said about 36.8 million eggs (about 16 per cent) branded as free-range must actually have been either barn or cage-laid. ''Either the industry's making up the figures as it goes along or there are dodgy producers who are getting away with calling eggs free-range when they are not,'' he said.
Dr Kaye said that with big retailers such as Woolworths reporting increased demand for free-range eggs, there was an urgent need for formal accreditation of free-range farming practices and the introduction of regulations to control labelling.
The Egg Corporation, which operates its own voluntary accreditation program, Egg Corp Assured, did not return calls.
According to its website, Egg Corp Assured uses registered third party auditors to monitor the quality of product and the integrity of labelling practices.
Tony Coote, of free-range egg producer Mulloon Creek Natural Farms, east of Canberra, said even consumers opting to buy only Egg Corp Assured-labelled eggs may not be getting what they think they've paid for because the Egg Corporation set the bar too low on what it classified as free-range.
Large ''free-range'' operators were permitted to crowd thousands of hens in giant sheds containing all the flock's needs, so very few birds ventured outside to forage anyway.
''You can't believe all the pictures you see, with birds roaming on green grass. That's just not so in many cases,'' Mr Coote said.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Undercover footage from US hatchery shows cruelty of egg industry
Video shows chicks ground up alive
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER (AP) – 2 days ago
WASHINGTON — An undercover video shot by an animal rights group at an Iowa egg hatchery shows workers discarding unwanted chicks by sending them alive into a grinder, and other chicks falling through a sorting machine to die on the factory floor.
Chicago-based Mercy for Animals said it shot the video at Hy-Line North America's hatchery in Spencer, Iowa, over a two-week period in May and June. The video was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Hy-Line said in a statement it has started an investigation "of the entire situation," adding that it would have helped their investigation "had we been aware of the potential violation immediately after it occurred."
The video, shot with a hidden camera and microphone by a Mercy for Animals employee who got a job at the plant, shows a Hy-Line worker sorting through a conveyor belt of chirping chicks, flipping some of them into a chute like a poker dealer flips cards.
These chicks, which a narrator says are males, are then shown being dropped alive into a grinding machine.
In other parts of the video, a chick is shown dying on the factory floor amid a heap of egg shells after falling through a sorting machine. Another chick, also still alive, is seen lying on the floor after getting scalded by a wash cycle, according to the video narrator.
Hy-Line said the video "appears to show an inappropriate action and violation of our animal welfare policies," referring to chicks on the factory floor.
But the company also noted that "instantaneous euthanasia" — a reference to killing of male chicks by the grinder — is a standard practice supported by the animal veterinary and scientific community.
According to Mercy for Animals, male chicks are of no use to the industry because they can't lay eggs and don't grow large or quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat. That results in the killing of 200 million male chicks a year.
The United Egg Producers, a trade group for U.S. egg farmers, confirmed that figure and the practice behind it.
"There is, unfortunately, no way to breed eggs that only produce female hens," said the group's spokesman, Mitch Head. "If someone has a need for 200 million male chicks, we're happy to provide them to anyone who wants them. But we can find no market, no need."
Using a grinder, Head said, "is the most instantaneous way to euthanize chicks."
Hy-Line says on its Web site that its Iowa facility produces 33.4 million chicks. Based on that figure, Mercy for Animals estimates a similar number of male chicks are killed at the facility each year. Hy-Line did not comment on that estimate.
Mercy for Animals says it will call on the nation's 50 largest grocery chains to include labels on their eggs that say, "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry."
Head called that proposal "almost a joke," saying the group had no credible authority, and had questionable motives. "This is a group which espouses no egg consumption by anyone — so that is clearly their motive." The video does in fact end with a call for people to adopt a vegan diet, which eliminates all animal products — meat, eggs or dairy.
Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy for Animals, said most people would be shocked to learn that 200 million chicks are killed a year.
"Is this justifiable just for cheap eggs?" he said.
As to more humane alternatives to disposing of male chicks, Runkle said the whole system is inherently flawed.
"The entire industrial hatchery system subjects these birds to stress, fear and pain from the first day," he said.
click here to see the footage
(contains some graphic images)
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER (AP) – 2 days ago
WASHINGTON — An undercover video shot by an animal rights group at an Iowa egg hatchery shows workers discarding unwanted chicks by sending them alive into a grinder, and other chicks falling through a sorting machine to die on the factory floor.
Chicago-based Mercy for Animals said it shot the video at Hy-Line North America's hatchery in Spencer, Iowa, over a two-week period in May and June. The video was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Hy-Line said in a statement it has started an investigation "of the entire situation," adding that it would have helped their investigation "had we been aware of the potential violation immediately after it occurred."
The video, shot with a hidden camera and microphone by a Mercy for Animals employee who got a job at the plant, shows a Hy-Line worker sorting through a conveyor belt of chirping chicks, flipping some of them into a chute like a poker dealer flips cards.
These chicks, which a narrator says are males, are then shown being dropped alive into a grinding machine.
In other parts of the video, a chick is shown dying on the factory floor amid a heap of egg shells after falling through a sorting machine. Another chick, also still alive, is seen lying on the floor after getting scalded by a wash cycle, according to the video narrator.
Hy-Line said the video "appears to show an inappropriate action and violation of our animal welfare policies," referring to chicks on the factory floor.
But the company also noted that "instantaneous euthanasia" — a reference to killing of male chicks by the grinder — is a standard practice supported by the animal veterinary and scientific community.
According to Mercy for Animals, male chicks are of no use to the industry because they can't lay eggs and don't grow large or quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat. That results in the killing of 200 million male chicks a year.
The United Egg Producers, a trade group for U.S. egg farmers, confirmed that figure and the practice behind it.
"There is, unfortunately, no way to breed eggs that only produce female hens," said the group's spokesman, Mitch Head. "If someone has a need for 200 million male chicks, we're happy to provide them to anyone who wants them. But we can find no market, no need."
Using a grinder, Head said, "is the most instantaneous way to euthanize chicks."
Hy-Line says on its Web site that its Iowa facility produces 33.4 million chicks. Based on that figure, Mercy for Animals estimates a similar number of male chicks are killed at the facility each year. Hy-Line did not comment on that estimate.
Mercy for Animals says it will call on the nation's 50 largest grocery chains to include labels on their eggs that say, "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry."
Head called that proposal "almost a joke," saying the group had no credible authority, and had questionable motives. "This is a group which espouses no egg consumption by anyone — so that is clearly their motive." The video does in fact end with a call for people to adopt a vegan diet, which eliminates all animal products — meat, eggs or dairy.
Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy for Animals, said most people would be shocked to learn that 200 million chicks are killed a year.
"Is this justifiable just for cheap eggs?" he said.
As to more humane alternatives to disposing of male chicks, Runkle said the whole system is inherently flawed.
"The entire industrial hatchery system subjects these birds to stress, fear and pain from the first day," he said.
click here to see the footage
(contains some graphic images)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Taronga Zoo sold animals to hunters for private slaughter parties
Zoo 'suspended from selling animals'
August 31, 2009 - 5:49AM
It's been revealed that Taronga Western Plains Zoo has been suspended from selling animals after it misled the public about the sale of endangered antelope to a member of the Shooters' Party lobbying for the right to hunt them.
The Sydney Morning Herald says documents obtained under Freedom of Information show the zoo made none of the contractual safeguards it claimed to have implemented to protect the 16 blackbuck antelope from being hunted on Bob McComb's proposed game reserve. Instead, the sale contract stipulated the zoo accepted no responsibility for the animals after they left Dubbo.
The paper says internal correspondence shows the animals were sold to Mr McComb for less than half their value and had been bred for the sale after the zoo's population dropped to an historic low.
While the zoo, at Dubbo west of Sydney, maintains that a senior veterinarian inspected Mr McComb's property before the sale, there is no mention of the assessment in the zoo's correspondence and no record of a report being prepared.
The Herald says the NSW minister responsible for the zoo, Carmel Tebbutt, has demanded a report into the zoo's trade of animals after the paper revealed the antelope sale to Mr McComb. She said it would include "what further animal welfare protections should be put in place. In the meantime, the zoo has suspended such transactions with private operators."
A zoo spokeswoman said: "The zoo is at its heart dedicated to animal welfare. There is no history of mistreatment of animals that have been transferred from its care, (but) it was incorrectly stated that transaction records included a reference indicating the animals were to be used for breeding purposes only."
August 31, 2009 - 5:49AM
It's been revealed that Taronga Western Plains Zoo has been suspended from selling animals after it misled the public about the sale of endangered antelope to a member of the Shooters' Party lobbying for the right to hunt them.
The Sydney Morning Herald says documents obtained under Freedom of Information show the zoo made none of the contractual safeguards it claimed to have implemented to protect the 16 blackbuck antelope from being hunted on Bob McComb's proposed game reserve. Instead, the sale contract stipulated the zoo accepted no responsibility for the animals after they left Dubbo.
The paper says internal correspondence shows the animals were sold to Mr McComb for less than half their value and had been bred for the sale after the zoo's population dropped to an historic low.
While the zoo, at Dubbo west of Sydney, maintains that a senior veterinarian inspected Mr McComb's property before the sale, there is no mention of the assessment in the zoo's correspondence and no record of a report being prepared.
The Herald says the NSW minister responsible for the zoo, Carmel Tebbutt, has demanded a report into the zoo's trade of animals after the paper revealed the antelope sale to Mr McComb. She said it would include "what further animal welfare protections should be put in place. In the meantime, the zoo has suspended such transactions with private operators."
A zoo spokeswoman said: "The zoo is at its heart dedicated to animal welfare. There is no history of mistreatment of animals that have been transferred from its care, (but) it was incorrectly stated that transaction records included a reference indicating the animals were to be used for breeding purposes only."
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