Shell Shock: PETA Asks Stourbridge to Switch to Vegan Eggs for Easter Activities

For Immediate Release:
10 April 2017

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

SHELL SHOCK: PETA ASKS STOURBRIDGE TO SWITCH TO VEGAN EGGS FOR EASTER ACTIVITIES

Group Offers to Send Town Vegan Treats to Replace Cruelly Obtained Chickens’ Eggs in Egg-and-Spoon Race

Stourbridge – Ahead of the Easter activities at Mary Stevens Park, PETA has sent a letter to the park ranger this morning offering a donation of eggs made from dairy-free chocolate or reusable plastic for the park’s egg rolling and egg-and-spoon race.

In the letter, the group highlights 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 can help stop this suffering without sacrificing any of the fun.”

PETA is offering to donate vegan chocolate eggs that can be eaten or plastic eggs that can be reused many times – which, in addition to being kinder options, are less wasteful and therefore better for the environment. Additionally, because vegan chocolate is dairy- and egg-free, children with lactose intolerance or an egg allergy wouldn’t be excluded from the fun.

PETA’s letter to Mary Stevens Park is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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