Egg Producers of Alberta Video showing workers smashing chicks and throwing them in garbage was broadcast on television news program
It’s the chicken equivalent of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.
Officials with Egg Producers of Alberta are trying to assure consumers that a disturbing video showing inhumane handling practices on two Alberta chicken farms isn’t representative of what happens in the entire industry.
The video, taken by the animal rights group Mercy for Animals Canada, was shown earlier this month on the investigative television show W5.
Since its release, the provincial chicken organization has hired investigators and veterinarians to work with the owner of the pullet and egg laying operation to improve animal handling practices.
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“We engaged an independent poultry vet and did an extensive review of the farm and the day activities and made quite a number of recommendations,” said Susan Schafers, an Egg Farmers of Alberta director.
“There was stuff on there that was disturbing and concerning.”
The edited video shows chickens in crowded cages, chicks being smashed by workers and chicks tossed in garbage bags.
“The farmer himself has been quite devastated about what he saw in the video. He was very upset and shocked,” Schafers said about Amin Valji, who owns Creekside Grove Farms and KuKu Farms, where the video was shot, and who is also an Egg Farmers of Alberta board member.
“He has made every effort to work with the veterinarian. Almost all recommendations have been implemented.”
Creekside Grove Farms provides chicks to KuKu Farms, an egg operation. Together they are one of the largest egg laying farms in the province with 126,000 egg laying hens.
The veterinarian and Egg Farmers of Alberta staff have worked with Valji and his staff to teach proper ways to handle birds, correct euthanization procedures and the proper way to load birds.
“We really had a wake-up call, and maybe we need to look at the way we train employees and the liability factor. That is a big concern. When you’re relying on those people, you have certain expectations and that wasn’t happening,” said Schafers, who operates a free run farm at Stony Plain.
“Consumers are probably very shocked by the footage, but it is not representative of the farms across Canada. A lot of us had an awful lot of sleepless nights in the last little while about what this says about our industry. That is why we want to assure people that we care.”
The three-minute video was sent to a panel of three farm animal care specialists, who said the video clearly shows unethical and irresponsible treatment of animals.
“What was shown in the video is inappropriate and unacceptable,” said Dr. Candace Croney of Purdue University.
“Handling birds that roughly reflects a lack of cognizance that these are live, sentient animals that can feel pain. What I saw shows a real need for additional training of farm employees at the very minimum.”
Another panel member, B.C. veterinarian and poultry consultant Dr. Stewart Ritchie, said: “I disagreed with everything I saw in the video, but I would have liked to have seen more than the short video clips so I could more clearly understand if the scenes they chose to show truly represented the way this farm was being managed.”
