Victory: Radlo Foods Becomes First National Egg Producer to Phase Out Battery Cages

Less than a week after Mercy for Animals exposed extreme cruelty at the largest egg farm in New England, Radlo Foods announced that they are making a commitment to ending the confinement of hens in battery cages at their facilities. With this move, Radlo has now become the first national egg producer to commit to not using battery cages at all. This will mean a tremendous improvement in the lives of the millions of hens who are currently confined in tiny, barren cages owned by Radlo.

According to CEO David Radlo, “We’re proud to officially pledge to stop using cage confinement systems and implement a plan to become an exclusively cage-free company within ten years.”

Cage-free hens generally have two to three times more space per bird than caged hens. Cage-free hens may not be able to go outside and still may have parts of their beaks cut off, but they can walk, spread their wings, and lay their eggs in nests—all behaviors permanently denied to hens crammed into battery cages.

Radlo is taking steps to improve the lives of the animals they raise for food, but let’s not forget the scale of the cruelty these animals face. Phasing out battery cages does not mean that hens live happy lives free of suffering. Cage-free egg factory-farms are still overcrowded with birds, they’re filthy and they provide hens with constant stress.

This victory underlines the severity of the problem of systematic animal abuse in food production. In the United States, factory farms confine about 280 million hens in battery cages. Radlo foods is now the only national egg producer that has committed to not using these types of cages. There are hundreds more egg producers–large and small–that are still using battery cages. Even with this huge victory under our belt, it is still true that the vast majority of eggs produced in this country come from places like Quality Eggs of New England, where an undercover investigator found hens languishing without water, birds with broken bones and some with a prolapsed uterus.

What’s the single-best thing you can do to help hens who are confined in cages? Go vegan.

Read more: animal welfare

photo cred: flickr via creativecommons.com

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Linda M.

6:50AM PDT on May 19, 2009

I felt betrayed, yet again, when I discovered that cage-free wasn't much better than the alternative. I sign all the petitions, but I have been fortunate to find a family who raises 25 chickens in a wonderful environment and can buy eggs for about 15 cents more than in the grocery store. After reading the list of questionable listings on labels, it's one of the few items I feel good about eating.

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Cynthia M.

12:06PM PDT on May 7, 2009

Sad to say but he's right. Just becasue they are "cage-free" doesn't mean they will get live outdoors, in a clean, natural envoronment. They will probably still live in an overcrwoded factory-type facitly. Allthough, it is a step in the right direction. The best solution would be to go vegan. A plant-based diet is better for our health, better for the animals, and better for our environment!

Kath W.

2:41PM PDT on Apr 16, 2009

Sally D., I agree with you 100%. Unfortunately, I do not believe that the signing of petitions, etc. (I sign the petitions too, though - you have to at least try) will do these animals any good. I think this "ten years" - meaning "never" attitude is the way the bureaucrats will continue to handle we protesters, putting off any action at all.

I really believe that only when humans become extinct or their numbers become too small to matter, will the animals of the world stop suffering and be able to live their own lives, unmolested.

The main problem with our world is that there should be maybe a few million humans in the world to be in balance, and instead there are 5+ billion. And medical science tries to preserve every single life (in the western world) for as long as possible, thus clogging the world even more with people.

Sally D.

8:30PM PDT on Apr 14, 2009

Cage Free is definately not enough (especially as when it says 'cage free', we cannot be sure we are being told the truth. Even if the hens ARE cage free, they deserve the right to live a long, happy, healthy life without enduring ANY kind of cruelty whatsoever. I used to buy Free Range Eggs, but I stopped buying them because I was not sure if what it said on the packet was true. I will only buy if I know 100% that the hens have been treated humanely, are genuinely free to roam and are treated with love and respect for their whole life. Tami M, your words are so true and reflect what I have said so many times regarding ALL animal cruelty. My heart is broken by what I read on these sites, but I feel I have to carry on donating, signing petitions and writing to government leaders until all forms of animal slaughter, torture, cruelty and mistreatment of any kind is outlawed. We must be the voice for the animals. They are defenceless, beautiful, sentient beings with feelings just like humans. They have the absolute right to live their lives in their natural habitats, to be free to roam in their surroundings, laze in the sunshine, and to be free from human intervention (except when it is to protect them). I love ALL the animals of our world. We must continue to fight for their rights. It is the greedy, selfish, cruel humans that do not deserve to live on our planet earth.
From one who cares deeply.
SALLY D.

carol a.

10:13PM PDT on Apr 13, 2009

10 years is too long. Seeing is believing.

Eric E.

2:12PM PDT on Apr 13, 2009

It's a good start, and I believe in those.

Robin T.

1:28PM PDT on Apr 13, 2009

I purchase organic eggs from my grocery store. The store is carrying more and more organic items and has even implemented a section of shelves to boxed, canned and bagged organics. I'm wondering if the organic eggs I purchase are cage free and abuse free?

Delight S.

12:05PM PDT on Apr 13, 2009

I meant vegetairanism/veganism being bad for those with kidney disease. I was thinking faster than I was typing!!!

12:04PM PDT on Apr 13, 2009

I meant vegetarianism/veganism being bad for those with kidney disease!!! thinking faster than I was typing!!

Jerilyn C.

10:54AM PDT on Apr 13, 2009

I agree--why is it going to take 10 years to phase out the battery cages? Greed with a capital G. The other part of this is the animals still aren't going to be humanely treated when they get to the slaughterhouses. I've seen videos of the way they are treated and emails on here about the abuse--it just all needs to be stopped. We get our eggs from a friend of the family now and I won't be buying anymore from the supermarket. Eventually, we also will be purchasing organic chickens (where the chickens aren't abused as in the slaughterhouses) and we may only be one family doing this but if other families would start doing this, the slaughterhouses would be put out of of business permanently!!!
JC.