Published Letters and Op-Eds from
COK’s Writers Group

Cruel Treatment

Paul Shapiro from the Humane Society of the United States is right: battery cage confinement for egg-laying hens is nothing less than animal abuse.

As Shapiro pointed out in his Tuesday opinion, "Battery Cages Are Not Good for Chickens," numerous experts and scientists agree that wire battery cages, which dominate the U.S. egg industry, are inherently cruel. But you don't need to be an expert to recognize that this system of intensive confinement is anything but humane. See for yourself by visiting

eggscam.com to view undercover video footage and photo galleries revealing appalling conditions for hens inside egg factory farms that qualify as "United Egg Producers Certified."

As a former animal control officer in our nation's capital, I'm certain that if cats or dogs were treated similarly — overcrowded in cages, left to suffer from untreated illnesses and injuries, and kept in cages with decomposing bodies — it would warrant charges of animal cruelty.

Kudos to those students who are taking a stand against this abuse by encouraging the University to join a long list of schools that have adopted cage-free egg policies.

Erica Meier
Executive Director
Compassion Over Killing