AOL Hits 'Delete' on Battery Cages; The Humane Society of the United StatesApplauds AOL's New Cage-Free Egg Policy18 April 2006
Today, the nation's largest animal protection organization announced that AOL is discontinuing its use of eggs from birds confined in battery cages in all of its corporate dining facilities. AOL's dining facilities use nearly half a million eggs per year. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) praised AOL's policy as an important success in the growing trend to end one of the most abusive factory farming practices.
"AOL's concern for social responsibility, including animal welfare, led us to distance ourselves from battery cage eggs and switch to exclusively cage-free eggs in our dining facilities," stated Alan Nielsen, AOL's vice president of Corporate Services. "By making a simple purchasing switch, AOL is helping improve the lives of millions of egg-laying birds."
"The nation's leading Internet service provider has also become a leader in animal welfare by ending its use of eggs from birds crammed into battery cages," commented Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "We applaud AOL's efforts to reduce animal suffering, and we encourage other corporations to follow its lead."
Dulles, VA.-based AOL joins several grocery chains such as Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, Jimbo's Naturally and Earth Fare in eliminating its use of battery cage eggs. And Trader Joe's recently converted all of its brand eggs to cage-free. Food service provider Bon Appetit is also phasing in cage-free shell eggs for all of its 400 cafes, including major corporate clients such as Oracle Corporation, Cisco Systems, Adidas, Best Buy and Nordstrom.
And more than 80 schools have enacted policies to eliminate or greatly decrease the use of eggs from caged hens, including Dartmouth College, University of Connecticut, University of Iowa, Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown University and American University.
In the United States, approximately 95 percent of eggs sold come from hens confined in barren "battery cages," wire enclosures so small the birds can't even spread their wings or engage in many other natural behaviors, such as nesting, foraging, perching, and dust bathing. The cages are stacked one on top of another inside huge warehouses on factory farms. Each bird is afforded less space than a single sheet of paper on which to live, leading to extremely high levels of stress and frustration.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The non-profit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the Web at http://www.hsus.org.
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