Breaking investigation: India’s egg industry
Animal Equality’s investigators filmed 19 egg farms across the Indian states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana between the months of July and September 2023.
The investigation into Indian egg farms found:
- Four to eight hens confined in cages no larger than two sheets of paper, trampling each other.
- Hens with sore, cracked, and deformed claws from standing on wire cage floors.
- Feces were collected in piles underneath rows of stacked cages, where they remained for weeks at a time.
- Hens with feather loss and injuries from rubbing against the wire cages and ammonia build-up from the waste piles beneath them.
- Hens left to die slow, agonizing deaths without medical care.
Three investigations into egg farms since 2017
Animal Equality has completed three investigations on egg farms in India. The first investigation, done in 2017, found rampant, illegal cruelty. Animal Equality reported this to the Indian government and proposed a transition away from cages. Instead, the Government has required egg farms to use larger cages.
These larger cages are inadequate and severely restrict hens’ movement who are not even allowed to spread their wings in them. By causing stress and sickness for hens, the egg industry is violating a Supreme Court order requiring businesses to provide the Five Freedoms for all animals.
Recent polls have found that the majority of Indian citizens believe the government should enact stronger laws to protect farmed animals. Demand for ending the confinement of hens in cages is growing, yet 80% of eggs on the market still come from caged hens.
Animal Equality in India has referenced the banning of cages in Europe, and experts calculate that the cost of eliminating cages in India would be marginal, even calling on the government to help farmers with the transition.
An increasing number of food companies are rejecting the confinement of animals. Now, we expect the Government to adapt to this growing demand by phasing out cages.
Amruta Ubale
Executive Director of Animal Equality in India
Join the fight to free animals from cages
In the United States, hens are still confined in battery cages that cause injury, illness, and death before slaughter. These wire cages often have 6 or more hens, each restricted to live in an area similar to a piece of paper. Millions of Americans oppose this cruelty and have taken the most effective action for caged hens by leaving eggs off their plates.
Many have even joined the Love Veg movement, which helps consumers transition toward plant-based proteins. By joining them today, find out how you can replace meat, dairy, and eggs with delicious, compassionate foods.
LIVE KINDLY
With rich emotional lives and unbreakable family bonds, farmed animals deserve to be protected.
You can build a kinder world by replacing animal food products with plant‑based ones.
