“all egg consumption supports cruelty”

Animal Rights activist and longtime PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich now runs a group called “Farm Sanctuary” He is also a regular columnist at the Huffington Post, where today he  has a post in which he lobbies for a federal bill which he says would be, “the first federal law relating to the treatment of chickens used for food, the first federal law relating to the treatment of animals while on farms, and the first federal law improving the treatment of farmed animals in more than thirty years.”

I would have thought that animal rights would be an issue for the states, but I guess it is being federalized along with everything else. Pretty soon there will be federal “gonad police” who will make you cut your dog’s balls off.

In any event, Friedrich does not think the language in the bill goes far enough, as he wants an egg-free country:

At Farm Sanctuary, we share our lives with hens, and we know them as individuals. We will continue in our mission of rescuing farmed animals from abuse, advocating for legislative change to improve farmed animal welfare, litigating on behalf of farmed animals, and educating consumers about the fact that all egg consumption supports cruelty. The idea of confining hens in any cages, including the enriched colony cages (12 feet by 4 feet cages with perches, dust bathing areas, and other forms of enrichment) that will replace tiny battery cages, is unacceptable to us.

Why all egg consumption (even from humanely treated hens) necessarily supports cruelty aroused my curiosity. According to the Wiki entry on Ovo vegetarianism, the problem seems to be that male chicks are routinely euthanized:

Ethical concerns about the consumption of eggs arise from the practice, not limited to industry, of euthanising male chicks shortly after birth.

The entry on chick slaughtering says pretty much the same thing.

Hmmm… Perhaps they could come up with a way to sex the embryos before they are hatched. That way the unwanted ones could simply be, um, “aborted”? Or is that the right word for cracking open and discarding the contents of an unwanted egg? I’m just not sure on the correct terminology.

Is a fertilized egg a chicken?

I’m also confused about what would happen if the ovophobes were to get their way and prevent egg consumption by humans. Would chickens still be allowed to lay eggs? And if so, would they all be allowed to hatch? Or would they have to ban chickens first? Which ban would have to come first? The chicken or the egg?

Clearly, the goal is for humans not to eat — or own — either.

Author Bruce Friedrich, btw, is the same guy who scolded President Obama for swatting a fly. He also said this:

If we really believe that these animals do have the same right to be free from pain and suffering at our hands, then, of course we’re going to be, as a movement, blowing stuff up and smashing windows. For the record, I don’t do this stuff, but I do advocate it. I think it’s a great way to bring about animal liberation … I think it would be a great thing if all of these fast-food outlets, and these slaughterhouses, and these laboratories, and the banks that fund them exploded tomorrow. I think it’s perfectly appropriate for people to take bricks and toss them through the windows, and everything else along the line. Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do it.

He ought to be careful about egging such people on, because some crank on the other side might counter that it’s perfectly appropriate for people to take eggs and toss them at animal rights activists.

For the record, I don’t do that kind of stuff, nor do I advocate it.

MORE: Egg Paranoia.

Suppose some day there weren’t any chickens!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpRn4Q4V81o&NR=1


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8 responses to ““all egg consumption supports cruelty””

  1. John S. Avatar
    John S.

    I’m also confused about what would happen if the ovophobes were to get their way and prevent egg consumption by humans. Would chickens still be allowed to lay eggs? And if so, would they all be allowed to hatch?

    Well, chickens are going to lay eggs no matter what humans do… after all, egg-laying is simply hens ovulating, a completely natural process. And, of course, if there is no rooster around, the eggs will not be fertilized and therefore cannot hatch.

    I’m all for treating animals humanely in most circumstances, but this is WAY beyond ridiculous. Gathering unfertilized eggs that are going to be laid anyway is probably one of the least harmful and invasive things a human can do, right up there with eating fruit that has already fallen off of a tree.

  2. Trimegistus Avatar
    Trimegistus

    If we don’t eat meat or eggs or drink milk, I guess that means we can go out and kill all the farm animals, right? Or will PETA do that? Will they shoot ’em, or use clubs?

  3. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    You think that is bad? My dad once owned a chicken. Bought special for the occasion. So he only owned it for a few days. Then one fine morning in Charlottesville, VA at the foot of Monticello where we lived he axe murdered the chicken on an old stump. The chicken then began running around the yard like a chicken with its head cut off. It didn’t last long.

    Which gave me a valuable lesson in life:

    “Try to keep your head on your shoulders. It generally works better that way.”

    Seen it with my own eyes.

  4. Simon Avatar
    Simon

    The best thing about working in a slaughterhouse is the freshness of the meat. It really improves the flavor. Unless you can afford to age the carcass for a week.

  5. dr kill Avatar
    dr kill

    Bwahahahaha, thanks for the laugh my friend. I remember cruising down to the TLA on South Street to see Pink Flamingos in ’72 with a few other deviates. Good, but not the most famous scene.

  6. […] sure got some crazy ‘Merkins about these days. Eric is discussing a few who want to put an end to egg eating because you know – an egg is a chicken – or […]

  7. Veeshir Avatar

    In the “making of” Pink Flamingos, John Waters talks about the dead chicken and how animal rights types attacked him.

    His comments were basically that they bought the chicken from a farmer who advertised “dead chickens”, the cast ate the chicken after the scene (so it wasn’t wasted, just used for two things) and hey, it got laid.

    Pretty darn funny.

  8. Bleepless Avatar
    Bleepless

    Support the right to arm eggs.