WASHINGTON, June 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judge Jayne Duncan of the Magisterial District Court in Lancaster County acquitted a Pennsylvania egg factory farm owner and manager of animal cruelty charges, essentially re- writing state cruelty law to find that abuse is perfectly legal as long as it is committed against farmed animals. Animal protection groups have long criticized the egg industry -- already notorious for its paltry record on animal welfare -- for allowing egregiously abusive practices, such as confining birds in tiny cages, letting birds starve to death and causing them to become impaled on sharp wires. As the outcome of this case further demonstrates, animal agribusiness is often permitted to operate beyond the law.
"This ruling reveals that -- under this judge's opinion -- farm animals in Pennsylvania have no legal protection from the horrific conditions that were clearly documented inside this egg factory farm," stated Erica Meier, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Compassion Over Killing (COK). "This court may have acquitted these two defendants, but the court of public opinion is certainly turning against the egg industry and its cruel practices."
The verdict was handed down after a trial in which the court was presented with undercover video evidence revealing appalling conditions for hens in the facility. The footage was gathered by a COK investigator who was employed at Esbenshade in late 2005, then presented to Pennsylvania-certified humane officer Johnna Seeton of the Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network (PLAN) who subsequently filed 70 counts of criminal animal cruelty against the owner and manager of the farm. Scenes from the video include:
-- hens impaled on loose wires of their cages, some left hanging by their
beaks;
-- hens with their wings, toes or legs entangled in the wires of the cage
floor, or otherwise left dying, unable to access food or water; and
-- decomposing birds left rotting for weeks in cages with live hens.
According to COK's general counsel Cheryl Leahy, "If these animals had been dogs or cats, there's little doubt this case would have resulted in a conviction. There is a clear double standard here, and that hypocrisy is troubling."
According to the United Egg Producers (UEP), an industry trade group which sets the absolute barest of minimum guidelines for laying hen husbandry, nearly 300 million egg-laying hens in the United States today are confined inside wire "battery cages" -- mesh enclosures so small the birds cannot even spread their wings. Although more than 80 percent of the egg industry participates in the UEP's voluntary guidelines, Esbenshade does not even adhere to these meager standards.
Officer Seeton was represented at trial by attorneys Dara Lovitz and Gordon Einhorn.
Investigative footage and hi-res photos available upon request at 202-270- 8253. Video is also viewable at http://www.cok.net/.
Compassion Over Killing (COK) is a nonprofit animal advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Since 1995, COK has worked to end the abuse of animals in agriculture through undercover investigations, public outreach, litigation, and other advocacy programs. On the web at COK.net.
Compassion Over Killing
CONTACT: Erica Meier of Compassion Over Killing, +1-301-891-2458
(office), +1-202-270-8253 (cell), emeier@cok.net
Web site: http://www.cok.net/
