The beak is a "sensory organ" necessary not just for grasping food, but for "preening, drinking, manipulating objects in the environment, nest building and defense," says Dr. Teachout. "As a practicing veterinarian, if I were treating a pet chicken of the same age that required a similar surgical procedure on its beak for therapeutic reasons, and I did not use anesthetics followed by pain modulation, it would be considered malpractice."
And maceration? A fate which greets 150,000 baby males a day at the hatchery according to the MFA investigator?
To render chicks "into pink mush" even as they "bounce and vocalize" cannot be termed euthanasia, says Dr. Teachout because that term implies a "good death."
The U.S. trade group United Egg Producers confirms the daily maceration of thousands of chicks depicted by the video. It's just the price we pay for cheap eggs said spokesman Mitch Head to the Associated Press. "There is, unfortunately, no way to breed eggs that only produce female hens. 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."
But at simultaneous press conferences this week in Spencer, Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa where the video was presented, Mercy For Animals contended that many consumers would reject such cruelty if they knew about it. The Chicago-based group is calling on Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and 47 other grocery chains to affix a new label to egg cartons that says "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry," depicting a chick atop grinding blades.
"The vast majority of Americans care deeply about farmed animal welfare issues, yet, they're kept in the dark about the egg industry's painful disposal of male chicks," says Nathan Runkle, MFA executive director. "If egg producers threw, mutilated and ground up puppies or kittens, they'd be prosecuted for cruelty to animals!"
Grocery stores and consumers have an obligation to acknowledge the truth about eggs, says Runkle, especially when there are so many "easy and delicious" alternatives. "Compassionate consumers can find an assortment of mouthwatering egg-free recipes at ChooseVeg.com," he says.
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