Changing Minds One NY Times Reader at a Time
On the front page of the New York Times on August 12 chickens and eggs had their day in the spotlight with “Suddenly, the Hunt Is On for Cage-Free Eggs”. No doubt, many of you either read this or have heard wind of it by now as the Internet is a buzz about this groundbreaking article.
But did anybody also take note of Jean Bettanny’s letter to the editor in response to this article? Her letter, titles “Let Chickens Be Chickens,” was printed on August 20, and was even more noteworthy than the article itself:
To the Editor:
While this is a step in the right direction toward reducing the animal abuse inherent in all factory farming (from the chicken’s point of view), it’s still a long way from what nature intended.Chickens enjoy being together in small flocks, sunning, dust bathing and scratching in the soil for food. The rooster watches over the flock protectively and often participates in a hen’s egg-laying ritual, an extremely important and private part of her life.
“Free range” does not solve the problem of painful debeaking, enormously oversized flocks or the unnatural isolation of the birds from other sexes and age groups.
Though chickens can live for 5 to 11 years, after two years, they are hauled away to slaughter just like battery-caged hens. All of the male hatchlings are either smothered or ground up alive.
Let chickens be chickens, and avoid the whole moral dilemma by going vegan.
Jean Bettanny
Port Townsend, Wash., Aug. 13, 2007
Way to go, Jean! Everyone else - take note; writing one letter can reach hundreds of minds and impact the public!
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January 30th, 2008 at 11:10 am
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