Intro.

Alright. So we all know animal cruelty sucks. But what are we doing about it?

Well at the moment, not a lot, but thanks to the hard work of organisations like SAFE, PETA and WSPA things are changing. With the help of local celebrities and videos that tug at the heart strings these groups are slowly changing the way New Zealanders think. This includes the way they think about the animals they eat, the way are treated and the alternatives becoming available to them.

A little bit about me -

Well that's me there on the left, collecting for SAFE. I'm not a vegetarian but I do believe animals deserve a fair go, so I fully support free range animal products, whether it's eggs, pork, chicken or anything else. So this blog will show the efforts being made by the organisations above to change rules and legislation that currently exists in regard to factory farming.

To free range, or to not free range.

Free range is an option that is becoming readily available in most places around the country. Although more expensive than animal products that have been farmed in a cruel way, I still believe this is the best option both taste wise and for the benefit of the animal. In 2009, McDonalds decided to go free range in it's Christchurch and Dunedin stores. Although this is a step in the right direction, unfortunately this is not the case nationwide yet as there is not the supply to meet McDonald's demand. However, the very important question of how you can tell an egg is truly free range has been raised. This is due to the fact that the free range egg industry is not regulated.

It is obvious that free range eggs have many benefits for both the animals and the consumers. And this video clip from TVNZ's Close Up shows how free range eggs are a far tastier option than the inferior barn laid and cage eggs. And as this article by Mother Earth News shows us, free range eggs are a much more nutiricious option.

This is because free range eggs have:

1/3 less cholesterol

1/4 less saturated fat

2/3 more vitamin A

Two times more omega-3 fatty acids

Three times more vitamin E

Seven times more beta carotene

If that isn't proof enough then this photo shows the colour of the egg yolk of an egg from a rescued cage chicken (right) and then an egg from the same group a few weeks later after the it had been allowed to free range (left).














You can read more about the rescued chickens and some of the characteristics of the different types of chicken rearing here.

If you needed more convincing.

So we already know that free range eggs have many health benefits. And battery farmed hens are banned in the European Union. This clip from TV3's Campbell Live shows the proposed changes to the living conditions of factory farmed cage chickens. However, it is not much of an improvement.

This article written by the Animal Justice Fund highlights the appalling standards maintained by the battery farming industry.

Some of these are:

• A battery hen lives for about 18 months. The natural life span of a hen is typically five to seven years, but some can live as long as 15 years.


• In New Zealand there are 3.2 million egg-laying chickens. About 83 percent of these are in cages. The rest are kept in indoor barns or on free range farms.


• A battery hen lays nearly 300 eggs per year, while its wild ancestor would lay only 12-20.


• A battery cage is too small for a hen to carry out basic behaviour, such as stretch her wings and preen. For this a hen needs about three times the 550 square centimetres
typically provided for her in a battery cage.


• Battery hens may suffer from brittle and broken bones, foot deformities, feather loss and injuries due to pecking from cage mates.


• Male chicks are not required by the egg industry. About 3 million one-day-old male chicks are killed each year by gassing or masceration.

The picture below shows the poor condition of battery farmed chickens in the older style chicken cages.

Factory farming - Not just chickens.

Factory farming is not something that happens solely to egg producing chickens, pigs are also treated in disgusting ways, along with chickens that are reared to be eaten and their are now proposals of building cubicles in the South Island for dairy cows to be raised in.

This web page, written by the Animal Justice Fund with support from SAFE, outlines the use of battery cages for chickens and sow stall and the disturbing effect they have on the animals they are used to contain.

CHICKEN PRODUCTION

• 90 million chickens are killed annually for their meat.


• Up to 40,000 chickens are confined together inside large windowless sheds at a stocking density of 19 birds per square metre.


• Nearly 3.5 million chickens die annually from of health problems before six weeks of age.


• 38 per cent of New Zealand’s chickens experience difficulties walking.


• broiler chickens are reared to their slaughter weight of around 1.8 to 3 kg within just 6 weeks of being hatched (chickens are normally fully grown by 5-6 months). By selective breeding, the length of time broiler chicks take to grow to 2 kg has been halved in the last 30 years.


• Over the last 20 years, annual chicken consumption has increased from 14kg (1986) to an average 35kg of chicken meat per person per year.

As this article by SAFE suggest, global fast food giant - KFC, supports this method of chicken rearing.

PIGS

• Sows confined in sow stalls cannot perform most of their natural behaviour, as is required under the Animal Welfare Act 1999. They cannot walk or turn around, and can only lie down or stand up.


• Sow stalls have been banned in the United Kingdom and Sweden and are being phased out in Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark.


• The government acknowledged in 2005 that sow stalls did not meet the obligations of the Animal Welfare Act 1999, but despite this they did not ban their use.


• Approximately 45 per cent of the sows farmed in New Zealand (about 21,000 animals) are confined to sow stalls the same size as those seen on the Sunday programme. Alternatively, to sow stalls only 60 cm wide and 2 meters long.


• Scientific evidence shows that pigs kept in intensive farms suffer from psychological distress, frustration, lung and heart disease, leg problems and lameness, and display stereotypical behaviour such as bar biting.


• In 2007 there were about 370,000 pigs kept on New Zealand farms, including nearly 47,000 breeding sows.

There have even plans to factory farm cows, this would be done by using a method which includes the use of cubicles to house cows. This article by SAFE and this article from APN/New Zealand Herald outlines the plans by 3 companies to create 16 of these farms in New Zealand's South Island to house 17,850 cows and what would be involved.

In conclusion.

Even though this is a class assignment, it is also something I feel strongly about. I know buying free range isn't something that is everyones price range but I hope that by reading this blog, seeing the pictures and watching the videos I have included at least help you to think twice at your local supermarket. And perhaps one day you will be able to make the decision to choose an option that is right by the animals.

APA Referencing

Alterman, T. (February/March 2009). More Great News About Free-range Eggs. Retrieved May 2, 2012, from http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/Health-Benefits-Free-Range-Eggs.aspx 

Animal Justice Fund. (n.d) FACTORY FARMING IN NEW ZEALAND. Retrieved 9 May, 2012, from http://www.animaljusticefund.org.nz/content/factory-farming-new-zealand 

APN. (October 5, 2010) New Plans for South Island Cubicle Cow Farms. Retrieved 11 May, 2012, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/animals/news/article.cfm?c_id=500834&objectid=10678217

Barlow, J. (February 24, 2011) Free-Range eggs –What’s the price? Retrieved May 2, 2012, from http://ecolutionist.com/2011/02/24/free-range-eggs-whats-the-price-for-freedom/

Campbell Live. (19 Mar, 2012) Video reveals replacement for battery hen cages in NZ [Video File]. Retrieved from

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video-reveals-replacement-for-battery-hen-cages-in-NZ/tabid/367/articleID/247217/Default.aspx

McDonalds New Zealand. (2009). Christchurch and Dunedin have gone free range! Retrieved May 2, 2012, from

http://mcdonalds.co.nz/free-range-eggs

One News. (2010). How free range is free range? Retrieved May 2, 2012 from
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/free-range-3557090

SAFE. (6 July, 2007) SAFE challenges KFC cruelty. Retrieved 11 May, 2012, from
http://safe.org.nz/Safe-News/View-Article/SAFE-challenges-KFC-cruelty/

SAFE. (October 2010) Cubicle Dairying Still Likely. Retrieved 11 May, 2012, from
http://www.safe.org.nz/Campaigns/dairy-farming/

TVNZ Close Up. (2012, January 1). Taste Test [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/taste-test-5-31-video-3557221