10-16-2008, 07:40 PM
The cages in question are called "battery cages."
They are inhumane. Imagine being locked in a 3x5 jail cell along with 3-5 other people. Now imagine that it's part of a stack of hundreds of other similar jail cells so that bugs and feces travel easily between rows and colums.
Examples:
http://images.google.com/images?q=hens+battery+cages&hl=en&safe=off&gbv=1&ei=JJX3SNGiCaSIee2H8ZQO
[spoiler=Do not click this link unless you are prepared to be grossed out.]
http://www.upc-online.org/aart/010801.html
[/spoiler]
This is how hens live out their lives on California farms. They can't clean themselves. Their muscles atrophy to the point where many can't even stand up. Filth accumulates on their feathers, feces attaches to their legs in what grows to be giant wads and bugs eat away their skin.
The largest food-producers in the country are phasing out this method of egg-production. Many countries are considering a ban on it. The EU will ban battery cages as of 2012.
They are inhumane. Imagine being locked in a 3x5 jail cell along with 3-5 other people. Now imagine that it's part of a stack of hundreds of other similar jail cells so that bugs and feces travel easily between rows and colums.
Examples:
http://images.google.com/images?q=hens+battery+cages&hl=en&safe=off&gbv=1&ei=JJX3SNGiCaSIee2H8ZQO
[spoiler=Do not click this link unless you are prepared to be grossed out.]
http://www.upc-online.org/aart/010801.html
[/spoiler]
This is how hens live out their lives on California farms. They can't clean themselves. Their muscles atrophy to the point where many can't even stand up. Filth accumulates on their feathers, feces attaches to their legs in what grows to be giant wads and bugs eat away their skin.
The largest food-producers in the country are phasing out this method of egg-production. Many countries are considering a ban on it. The EU will ban battery cages as of 2012.