Exactly three weeks before California voters will decide the fate of initiative for the de facto elimination of cages for egg-laying hens, an animal rights groups has released an undercover video showing hens bloodied, beaten and dying at a California ranch.
The video, which was shot by Mercy for Animals, a group which advocates veganism, was released today. The campaign for Proposition 2, the egg-laying hen initiative, is distributing the footage.
It shows hens, according to the video's producers, at Norco ranch in Riverside County. The Yes on Proposition 2 campaign reports that Norco is owned by MoArk, the top contributor the No on 2 campaign, having given more than $785,000.
The graphic footage shows hens killed by spinning them to break their necks and left to die in piles. The narrator speaks of seeing dead hens laying among those laying eggs on a "daily basis." Some eggs are covering in blood.
Proposition 2 would require all farm animals, such as hens, to have enough room to spread their wings and walk around. Currently, as many as four to six hens, can be confined to a small cage the size of a filing cabinet, backers of the measure say.
Opponents have said the measure would both drive up the cost of eggs and drive production out of state.
The No on 2 campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.
But a spokeswoman told the Los Angeles Times the video was "a dubious, cynical, politically motivated effort."
"The [Norco] ranch maintains thorough veterinary records and was recently inspected by the county of Riverside during the same time period in which the video was apparently shot," said Julie Buckner, spokeswoman for the No on Prop. 2 campaign. "The inspection report notes that the ranch's proper handling of hens was appropriate, conforms to industry-accepted standards and found the ranch to be in 'excellent' standing."
Even before today's footage, Proposition 2 was set to be the subject of an entire hour of Oprah today.
Watch the video below:
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