The cost of an egg. . .

This is a BAG. Where I will go off on a tangent about something that I find that needs to be seen, heard or discussed by all of us. If you do not want to involve yourself, now is the time to navigate away from this page. Feel free to come back on a day when I am not bagging.

What you are about to read is a bit violent and to some degree horrifying, again now is the time to navigate away if you do not wish to know the truth.

This story appeared on my news feed today:
Video shows chicks ground up alive at egg hatchery

It seems that while breeding chicks to become egg layers, there must be some "weeding out" of those that are not of the egg laying variety, i.e. males.
Now, please do not misunderstand, I am not a vegan, a vegetarian, an Eco terrorist or any other variety of animal rights extremist. That is not to say that anyone who takes animal rights as a personal passion is an extremist or some kind of loony. I have great respect for those who put others first. But I have a serious problem here. These animals are "instantaneously euthanized" by being tossed into a grinder, because they are too difficult to raise as meat animals. Seriously? In an industry where animals are stacked in 1 foot by 1 foot cages sometimes 10 high, and it is too expensive to raise them? Let us hope that we are all not this expendable someday.

There is a video that goes along with the story (http://www.mercyforanimals.org/hatchery), I warn you it is QUITE disturbing. The Diary is also something to read, it too is disturbing. One quote from this should really get you to take notice. If you are a dog owner, as I am, it might be time to look into your particular brand of dog food: "The plant manager told me that the ground-up male chicks were used in dog food and fertilizer". This is why I make most of my dogs food at home.

Times are tough. Many people are out of work. Money needs to go farther, but if we allow things like this to go on, is it worth it? 150,000 dead chicks at one plant every day for 25 cents an egg? What is an egg worth to you? What SHOULD it be worth?

The full article can be found here:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EGG_HATCHERY_INVESTIGATION?SITE=MOSTP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT