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Egg Corporation Appeals Cruelty Conviction

Contends that Hens Can be Discarded Like Manure and that Disposing of Live Hens in Trash Can is Legal

Warren Country, NJ. - February 25, 2001 - One of the largest egg producers in the northeast United States, ISE corporation, was convicted of cruelty to animals for discarding two living chickens in a trash can, but it is now appealing the conviction, asserting that its hens can legally be treated like manure. The case is scheduled to be heard in the New Jersey Superior Court, Warren County on March 8th, 2001.

This landmark case indicates a growing popular concern about the industrialized abuse of animals on factory farms - where chickens, pigs, and other animals are treated like expendable 'tools of production.' Farm Sanctuary, a leading farm animal protection organization whose investigator found the hens in the trash can at ISE's egg factory, asserts that farm animals should be treated as sentient beings, rather than as inanimate commodities, or 'manure' as ISE is asserting in this case. (PHOTOS AND VIDEOTAPE SHOWING CONDITIONS AT ISE EGG FARM ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.)

During the initial trial ISE's lawyer argued that his client was exempt from New Jersey's anti-cruelty law, and 'protected' by the Right to Farm Act, as this excerpt from the transcript indicates:

ISE Lawyer: "We contend Your Honor, that clearly my client meets the requirements of the Right to Farm Act. Clearly it's a commercial farm. And clearly the handling of chickens and how chickens are discarded falls into agricultural management practices of my client. And we've had -- we've litigated this issue before in this County with respect to my client and how it handles its manure..."
Judge: "Isn't there a big distinction between manure and live animals?"
ISE Lawyer: "No, Your Honor. Because the Right to Farm Act protects us in the operation of our farm and all of the agricultural management practices employed by our farm. And so I would contend that we're entitled to the full protections of the Right to Farm Act..."

Despite ISE's contention that it could not be prosecuted under New Jersey's anti-cruelty law, the Judge allowed the case to proceed, and after videotape evidence and sworn testimony was presented, ISE was found guilty of violating the state's anti-cruelty law.

In its appeal, ISE cites the original transcript, and again contends that live hens can be discarded like manure, stating, "The lower court either did not understand - or did not want to understand - that euthanizing and disposing of sick poultry is directly analogous to the disposal of chicken manure and is expressly permitted by the Act: 'Isn't there a big distinction between manure and live animals?' [T12:18 to 19]. Respectfully, in this context, the answer is 'no.'"

Prosecuting the case on behalf of the state, attorneys Leonard Egert and Amy Trakinski, argue in their brief, "What Defendant fails to understand -- or does not want to understand -- is that these two hens had not been euthanized. They had been disposed of while still alive. In order to claim protection under the Right to Farm Act, Defendant characterized this inhumane act as just another agricultural management practice. Even under the broadest reading of the Right to Farm Act, such acts of cruelty are not protected. Indeed, the court properly found that there is a 'big distinction between manure and live animals.'" Egert and Trakinski further state, "This case is not about the necessity of removing diseased birds from a flock, or about the acceptability of a particular method of euthanizing those birds. It's about taking two living, sentient animals and throwing them in the trash."

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture is currently in the process of drafting standards for the humane treatment of chickens and other farm animals. Farm Sanctuary and others are urging the Department to draft meaningful standards to prevent the suffering endured by animals on industrialized factory farms, and to date, the Department has received over 15,000 letters from citizens concerned about the inhumane treatment of farm animals.

For additional information about Farm Sanctuary, please see www.farmsanctuary.org. For information about inhumane conditions on modern farms, please see: http://www.factoryfarming.com/poultry.htm.

About Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.