For Immediate Release: Sunday, February 27, 2005

Contact: Mercy For Animals (866) MFA-OHIO

UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION EXPOSES APPALLING CRUELTY AT OHIO’S LARGEST “ANIMAL CARE CERTIFIED” EGG FARM

Group Says Producers Guilty of Animal Abuse & Consumer Fraud; Grocery Giant Kroger Urged to Remove Misleading Label from Egg Cartons

Columbus, OH - At a news conference on Monday, the Ohio animal advocacy organization Mercy For Animals (MFA) will release the disturbing findings of an undercover investigation into the cruel treatment of egg-laying hens at Ohio Fresh Eggs (OFE), formerly Buckeye Egg Farm, in Croton, Ohio. OFE is the state’s largest “Animal Care Certified” egg farm. MFA is demanding that Cincinnati-based grocery giant Kroger remove the deceptive “Animal Care Certified” (ACC) logo appearing on its eggs on grounds of consumer fraud.

Date: Monday, February 28

Time: 11:00 a.m. sharp

Location: Ohio Statehouse, Southeast Passageway

In response to the public’s growing awareness of animal cruelty in the egg-industry, the United Egg Producers (UEP), the industry’s primary trade association, created the ACC voluntary program in 2000. Today, over 80% of the eggs found in supermarkets bear the deceptive ACC seal. The logo is aimed at assuring consumers that the eggs in the neatly packaged carton were produced humanely.

As Mercy For Animals’ investigation exposes, nothing could be further from the truth.

In photographs and video footage, investigators documented numerous cases of egregious animal neglect and abuse, including:

• Hens with broken, damaged, and feces-covered feathers packed into tiny wire cages so small they could not even spread their wings.
• Diseased and injured hens suffering from untreated infections and bloody open wounds.
• Hens trapped in the wire of their cages, left without access to food or water.
• Corpses left to rot in cages with hens still producing eggs for human consumption.
• A live hen thrown away in a trash can, left to die among decomposing carcasses.

The cruelty documented at OFE is, to the shock of many consumers, standard industry practice. Recent investigations at egg farms across the country have uncovered similar abuses.

“The most important thing consumers can do to stop the blatant abuse of hens is to choose kindness rather than cruelty by refusing to buy eggs,” says MFA director Nathan Runkle.

Details of the investigation are available at www.AnimalCrueltyCertified.com. Broadcast quality footage from MFA’s investigation will be aired and distributed at the news conference.