Pitt council egging on change
Author:
Anne DeCecco
Publication:
Maple Ridge News
Publication Date:
March 19, 2008
Pitt Meadows council is standing alongside a small but growing number of B.C. municipalities that are opposing battery cage egg production, a practise criticized by many animal rights organizations as inhumane to hens.
Council voted to support such a resolution in a committee meeting last week and was to give it final approval at a regular meeting yesterday.
Coun. Andrew Tolchard proposed the resolution, which was adapted from a version the Vancouver Humane Society sent to municipal governments in a January mailing campaign.
Currently, 98 percent of eggs produced in Canada come from “battery hens,” which have their beaks cut off and are kept in small wire cages with less space per bird than a letter-sized piece of paper, according to the organization’s website.
Research shows that the hens suffer from the stress of these conditions, where they don’t get any exercise and cannot perform normal functions, such as wing-flapping.
The alternative is free-range or free-run organic eggs, produced by hens that lead more comfortable lives.
According to Tolchard, he already had such egg production alternatives in mind after returning from a recent trip to England and the European Union, which are on the way to banning battery cage egg production.
“I found that very interesting, and I just think that we’re looking at green products, energy conversation, at our imprint on the world, as a society, and I just think we just need to take a really good look at how we’re producing our food,” Tolchard said Monday.
When the humane society’s mailing came out, he said, he thought it was as good a time as ever to take action.
Richmond was the first city in North America to pass a resolution against the practise in May 2007. Since then, a handful of British Columbia municipalities have followed suit – Vancouver, North Saanich, Duncan, and Whistler.
The resolution, which would not actually ban battery cage egg production but rather put pressure on the B.C. government to do so, is set to go before the Lower Mainland Municipal Association in May. It is expected to be voted on by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities in October.
For Tolchard, the issue is not only about animal rights, but also those of consumers. He said he was impressed by the way consumers in Europe were able to dictate what would be sold at market simply by refusing to buy battery-cage produced eggs.
“I think there are some really ominous signs out there, that what we have been doing over the past 50 to 60 years is probably not good and we probably need to take a step back and look at the long-term effects,” he said.
