McDonald's and Target Cuts Ties to Sparboe Farms After Video of Animal Abuse

I just watched a newly released undercover video from Mercy For Animals showing abuse of hens at the largest restaurant egg producers, Sparboe Farms. This farm supplies eggs to McDonald's. The Sparboe eggs were on recall last year due to Salmonella.

I've eaten these eggs for several year so I contacted the company and got a reply within minutes with this link:
http://www.sparboeupdate.com/

McDonald's Corp. said Friday the behavior shown on the video is "disturbing and completely unacceptable." The fast food chain says it demands humane treatment of animals by suppliers.

* Update *
Late Friday, Target confirmed that it had not only dumped Sparboe as a supplier, but was also pulling Sparboe eggs off the shelves at Super Target stores nationwide.

"Having been made aware of the unacceptable conditions in the company's egg laying facilities, effective immediately, Target will discontinue its business relationship with Sparboe Farms," the Minnesota-based retailer said in a press release. "We are currently in the process of notifying our stores to remove the product from our shelves."

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation into a McDonald's egg supplier, Sparboe Egg Farms, exposes the fast-food giant's secret ingredient: shocking cruelty to animals.

Hidden-camera footage taken at Sparboe facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado reveals:

Hens crammed into filthy wire cages with less space for each bird than a standard-sized sheet of paper to live her entire miserable life, unable to fully stretch her wings or engage in most other natural behaviors

Workers burning off the beaks of young chicks without any painkillers and callously throwing them into cages, some missing the cage doors and hitting the floor

Workers grabbing hens by their throats and ramming them into battery cages

Rotted hens, decomposed beyond recognition as birds, left in cages with hens still laying eggs for human consumption

A worker tormenting a bird by swinging her around in the air while her legs were caught in a grabbing device - violence described as "torture" by another worker

A worker shoving a bird into the pocket of another employee without any regard for the animal's fear and suffering

Chicks trapped and mangled in cage wire - others suffering from open wounds and torn beaks

Live chicks thrown into plastic bags to be suffocated

Here's the link to the video but please be warned, it is very disturbing.

Here's a copy of the letter send to Sparboe Farms after the FDA inspection:

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm280413.htm

I don't eat at McDonald's - I did buy the Sparboe Farms eggs from my local grocer because they were local. Back to the farmer's market for me to get my farm eggs from pasture raised hens!

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