Success: Egg Industry to Phase Out Mass Killings of Male Chicks

Target: Chad Gregory, President and CEO, United Egg Producers

Goal: Applaud plan to end the torturous culling of hundreds of millions of male chicks per year.

In a massive victory for animal rights, United Egg Producers has pledged to stop the culling of male chicks by 2020. The egg production cooperative provides 95 percent of all eggs sold in American stores. This move, due in part to pressure from animal welfare groups and activists at ForceChange, will prevent the cruel and unnecessary deaths of hundreds of millions of animals every year.

Male chicks born in egg factories are considered useless, as they cannot produce eggs and were not bred to produce meat. Male chicks are therefore culled after sexing. They are sometimes thrown into a machine to be ground up alive, and are sometimes just thrown in bags or bins to suffocate under the weight of thousands more chicks.

While United Egg Producers is aiming for the complete elimination of this cruel practice by 2020, the organization says it could be sooner if alternatives to culling can be implemented quickly. These alternatives include in-ovo sexing, a process in which male eggs can be eliminated before they are hatched. Scientists are also working on a way to turn male eggs a different color so that they can be sexed even sooner.

Though many cruelties common in the egg industry will persist, this bold move will set a precedent for the world to follow. Countless animals will be saved from immense suffering before their deaths. Sign the petition below to applaud United Egg Producers’ decision to end the culling of male chicks, and ask the company to work quickly to implement the necessary changes.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Mr. Gregory,

United Egg Producers has recently announced a plan to phase out the culling of live male chicks by 2020. This plan will see alternative methods, such as in-ovo sexing, used instead. The plan will save hundreds of millions of chicks from being ground up alive, gassed, or suffocated simply because they are deemed useless.

This practice is barbaric and must be stopped as son as possible. By stopping the culling of male chicks, United Egg Producers will be ushering in a new era for the global egg farming industry. We, the undersigned, applaud this ambitious and groundbreaking new plan, and ask that you work to implement it as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo credit: Benjamin Rondel