Cruelty alleged at Alberta farms
McDonald’s denies buying eggs there
VANCOUVER McDonald’s Canada says it does not buy eggs that are produced from two Alberta farms featured in a gruesome documentary showing chickens subject to what an animal rights group is calling “egregious animal cruelty.”
However, the fast food giant has confirmed that it does buy eggs from a company headquartered in Ontario that does business with the two farms featured in the CTV W5 documentary aired last week. That company, Burnbrae Farms, confirmed in a statement Monday it has purchased eggs from the Alberta farms, but never sold those eggs to McDonald’s.
“Although Burnbrae Farms has purchased eggs from KuKu Farms, none of these eggs have ever entered the McDonald’s Canadian supply chain,” said company president Margaret Hudson.
“Burnbrae Farms does not sell product of any kind to McDonald’s Canada which is sourced from Alberta.”
The hidden-camera footage is filmed by Mercy For Animals Canada. It shows hens crowded in battery cages and chicks being violently smashed against hard surfaces by workers and then thrown into garbage bags at what the organization says is KuKu Farms and Creekside Grove Farms. The video, which was shown at a news conference on Monday, also shows dead hens rotting in the cages, and chicks being covered in feces.
A written statement Monday from Burnbrae Farms said the company does not tolerate animal abuse, and that it has “suspended the purchase of eggs from the farms depicted in the video pending full investigation.”
“Burnbrae Farms is committed to treating all of our hens in a safe and humane manner and we expect all of our suppliers to do the same,” the statement said.
Mercy For Animals Canada said its video footage was taken by an undercover investigator who was hired as a farm worker by KuKu Farms and Creekside Grove Farms for 10 weeks in May.
“(The hens) are so crammed inside those cages they can’t spread their wings, they can’t walk, they can’t turn around, they can’t engage in any of their natural behaviour,” said Stephane Perrais, director of operations with Mercy For Animals Canada.
‘(The hens) are so crammed inside those cages they can’t spread their wings, they can’t walk, they can’t turn around …’
STEPHANE PERRAIS
Mercy for Animals Canada
“They spend one year of their miserable life in there, basically producing eggs and after that time period, they’re considered spent by the industry because their productivity is declined, and then they’re slaughtered.”
Amin Valji, general manager of KuKu Farms and Creekside Grove Farms, said he and his family were “deeply upset” by some of the images in the video footage.
“Immediately after learning about the video, we had inspections of the farm conducted by our regulating organizations and a poultry veterinarian,” he said.
“Additional staff training with the help of a poultry veterinarian has been conducted for all our employees and all staff members have signed a code of conduct based on their training. Any departure from that code of conduct will be cause for immediate disciplinary action. We will continue to evaluate and monitor, and take any further action necessary to ensure our flocks are receiving the highest level of care.”
Perrais said the video does not address the quality of the eggs or food safety. His organization is calling for McDonald’s to specifically ban egg suppliers from using hens confined in battery cages, which are barely bigger than the hens and prevent them from freely moving about.
A statement said McDonald’s does not condone animal abuse by its suppliers.