Investigation: Inside an Italian egg facility
At the end of April 2018, Animal Equality investigators along with a TV host from the Italian show TG2 (TeleGiornale 2), the Italian state-owned television channel, investigated an egg-laying hen farm in Mantua. We had already reported this facility, but despite the shocking conditions, there were no improvements and conditions were even more disconcerting. Some of the issues our cameras captured were:
- Hens and eggs completely infested with red mites
- Corpses of mice and hens on the factory floor
- Hens in cages walking on the decomposing corpses of their companions
- Featherless hens with overgrown nails
- Hens with broken legs trapped inside cages
“Cages are a breeding system that inflicts terrible suffering on animals. We ask that in Italy we take note of this situation and listen to the many citizens and companies in the agri-food sector who have already lined up against this extremely cruel practice”, says Matteo Cupi, Executive Director of Animal Equality Italy. “Thanks to our investigation and to Tg2, all the horrors of these farms clearly emerge, and this is why the trade associations and also the Ministry must take responsibility for responding appropriately. We must move quickly to solve these serious problems and to put an end to these incredible sufferings to which the livestock animals are subjected, forced into these squalid cages,” added Cupi. Animal Equality has delivered the footage and photographs to the Italian police with a formal complaint against the owners of the farm. You can watch the video (in Italian) and sign the petition here.
