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Bay Area Animal Group to Screen Rare Agribusiness Industry Footage for
the Media and Public
Oakland, CA, January 20, 2006 -- Each year, more than 19 million
egg-laying hens are raised in intensive confinement for the California
egg industry. According to the California Poultry Workgroup, nearly
100 percent of these hens are confined to battery cages -- wire
enclosures so small that birds are unable to lift even a single wing.
This nearly-universal practice violates Section 597t of the California
State Penal Code, which requires that confined animals have adequate
exercise space.
In order to expose this blatant violation and publicly ask why local
enforcement of 597t is largely absent in California, East Bay Animal
Advocates (EBAA) is inviting the media to a special screening of a
ten-minute film documenting the living conditions of egg-laying hens in
California. Footage includes shocking conditions at egg facilities in
Sonoma, Santa Clara, Merced and San Diego counties.
The documentary also includes rare footage showing the egg industry’s
mistreatment of "spent" hens— birds whose egg production begins to drop
off between 18 and 20 months of age. These "spent" hens are slaughtered
for second-grade meat, without any protections under California’s 1990
Methods of Slaughter law. There is no legal requirement for humane
handling of spent laying hens, nor is there any requirement that they
be rendered insensible to pain before slaughter.
Join EBAA for this special screening on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00
p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street (between Telegraph & Broadway)
in Oakland.
East Bay Animal Advocates is a non-profit organization based in the San
Francisco Bay Area. California is home to one of the most industrious
and concentrated animal agriculture areas in the world. Exposing animal
cruelty in modern agriculture is of utmost importance to EBAA. Through
direct aid and education outreach, EBAA is dedicated to fighting and
preventing animal abuse in California's agricultural industry.
For more information: www.eastbayanimaladvocates.org.
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