Hatching a New Easter Tradition? English Town Replaces Chickens’ Eggs With Vegan Eggs

For Immediate Release:
13 April 2017

Contact:
Olivia Jordan +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 229; [email protected]

HATCHING A NEW EASTER TRADITION? ENGLISH TOWN REPLACES CHICKENS’ EGGS WITH VEGAN EGGS

PETA Teams Up With Stourbridge for Cruelty-Free Festivities

Stourbridge – After hearing from PETA, Mary Stevens Park in Stourbridge has agreed to switch from cruelly obtained chickens’ eggs to vegan chocolate eggs and reusable plastic eggs for its annual Easter activities – including its egg-and-spoon race.

The park confirmed that it would no longer be using chickens’ eggs after accepting an offer from PETA to provide it with vegan eggs for the festivities. In a letter to the park, the group highlighted the cruelty inherent in the egg industry, which confines countless birds to severely crowded battery-style cages, in which the floor space is little larger than the size of an A4 sheet of paper. When hens’ bodies are exhausted and their egg production wanes, they’re shipped to the abattoir, where their fragile legs are forced into shackles and their throats are cut. Of the chicks hatched to replace these “spent” birds, 50 per cent are males, who – because they can’t lay eggs and haven’t been bred to produce excessive flesh for meat – are either tossed into the rubbish and left to suffocate or thrown into a high-speed meat grinder while they’re still alive.

“You can’t eggnore the cruelty of the egg industry, which crams millions of smart, sensitive chickens into cages so small that they cannot stretch out even a single wing, let alone do anything else that comes naturally to them”, says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “By switching to vegan eggs, Stourbridge is helping stop this suffering – without sacrificing any of the fun.”

In addition to being a kinder option, using vegan chocolate eggs that can be eaten or plastic eggs that can be reused many times for Easter activities is less wasteful and better for the environment than using chickens’ eggs. Furthermore, because vegan chocolate is dairy- and egg-free, children with lactose intolerance or an egg allergy aren’t excluded from the fun.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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