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Dear donors and friends,

How many chickens are raised yearly on farms in The Netherlands? Roughly 500 million. Five-hundred million chickens are caught, loaded intro containers and transported to the slaughterhouse. This newsletter focuses on our efforts on the ground to improve their welfare. And we are asking you for help!

Another egg company experiments with EonA upright method of catching!

A few months ago we contacted another Dutch egg company that sells its eggs under a separate label with higher welfare. It is a company that started off small but is growing, with their eggs now even available in the larger grocery chains here. Good news – during our meeting we succeeded in convincing them to seriously consider incorporating the more humane method of catching the hens upright (aka as the EonA upright method), into their welfare criteria. They do not want us yet to publish their company name, as they want to be 100% sure first that it is practically and financially feasible. As soon as we can, we will let you know how it goes and reveal the company name.
Commercial catching method
EonA upright catching method

Poultry transport inspections

During the recent hot days, an Eyes on Animals team was on the road checking on the welfare of poultry being transported to slaughter. Fortunately we saw that the truck drivers waiting to unload the poultry containers at a poultry slaughterhouse near Rotterdam always parked in a shady lot, along a row of tall trees. As well, they did not have to wait too long. However, we did document many birds suffering from being stuck on their backs.

Broilers grow to slaughter weight in 6 weeks. They are a genetic mess - selected for rapid growth and massive breasts, their legs cannot support their bodies. When they are caught and loaded, and also when the truck takes corners or goes over speed bumps, these poor animals slide all over the place or even flip over.
They cannot balance or control their overgrown swollen bodies. Once they flip over on their backs, all the weight is on their lungs and they start to suffocate. Imagine also the fear, of being stuck in such an uncomfortable position knowing you cannot help yourself, and also knowing you may be trampled by all the others?

The truck drivers were very polite and admitted it was a grave problem, but the only thing the drivers could do was stick a metal rod inside the crates to flip them over though because there were no access doors.
a short video about the inspection
EonA was successful in ensuring that most newly designed poultry containers have access doors, but sadly many of the old ones are still in use. After our complaint, the international company that builds these containers asked to meet with us; they may be able to install access doors in the old models! We will be brainstorming with them this week.

A second chance of “ spent” laying hens!

To end the newsletter on a happy note; sometimes when we are inspecting poultry being caught on the farms or during our practical training courses of the catchers, the farmer gives us the opportunity to rescue a few hens. We often bring these hens to the organization Red een Legkip (Rescue a Layer) who find beautiful and caring homes for them. Some of the EonA inspectors themselves have also adopted some of these hens.
These hens, rescued after a life spent in the “modified” cage system. Due to feather picking in the cages they had large bald patches:
The same hens as above but a few months later, in their enriched new home they stopped pecking at each other and their feathers are back!
Are you interested in adopting a retired laying hen? Contact Red een Legkip in The Netherlands or Rettet das Huhn in Germany.
And one last piece of news before signing off; Abdul Rahman Safian, director of the Ghanaean organization we work with called WACPAW (West Africa Center for the Protection of Animal Welfare) was recently interviewed on The Animal Reader. In this 20-minute interview he talks about our efforts together to decrease suffering at the animal markets and slaughterhouses in Ghana.
Thank-you for reading this lengthy newsletter. We like to inform you about what has been keeping us busy and what we have been able to do thanks to your support.
Lesley Moffat
director Eyes on Animals
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