Ms. Penny Kelley General Manager Manitoba Egg Producers 
Dear Ms. Kelley, 

I'm writing an article on farm animal welfare in Canada's and  Manitoba's egg industry for The Aquarian in Winnipeg and Southern  Manitoba. I'm wondering if you could answer a few questions. If a  recorded telephone interview would suit you better, please let me  know. I apologize for rushing you, but I'll be needing any answers  you can provide at your earliest convenience. 

What number or percentage (exact or approximate) of registered egg  producers in MB have opted into CEMA's Animal Care Certification  Program? 

Do the animal welfare criteria for CEMA's Program differ in any way  from the 2003 CARC "Recommended Code of Practice for the Care and  Handling of Pullets, Layers and Spent Fowl"? 

Are the audits (about once a year?) unannounced or do producers  receive notice? 

How well are Manitoba producers performing so far? 

How does the Program deal with producers who don't meet the audit  criteria? Are there conseqences for severe infractions or repeated  failures? 

Do you have any statistics or general information on how spent hens  are disposed of in Manitoba and the methods used for onsite  disposal? I have an AFAC [Alberta Farm Animal Care] estimate for 2002, but it  sounds like  things are changing rapidly. For example, for onsite euthanasia is  Alberta's new MAC [Modified Atmosphere Chamber that uses CO2 to kill the birds] unit catching on? What about high-speed  macerators? 

Does MEP offer tours to media or humane organizations of typical egg  barns or provide videos during the end of lay period when the  quality of animal care is likely to be most evident? 

Many thanks for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from  you soon. 

Sincerely, 

Syd Baumel 
Co-editor, The Aquarian 
(Disclosure: I am also a cofounder/co-director of AnimalWatch  Manitoba and a member of the Winnipeg Humane Society's Farm Animal  Welfare Committee.)

The Aquarian's Ethical Food Market

EGG-FREE
recipes & products

Compassion Over Killing (USA)

Vegan Society (UK)

Learn More

The Truth About Canada's Egg Industry (Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals)

Chickenout.ca (Vancouver Humane Society)

Canadian Agri-Food Research Council's Recommended Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pullets, Layers and Spent Fowl

> BEYOND CANADA

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:"Wegmans Cruelty": an undercover investigation of the immense egg barn of a leading American grocery chain is the basis of an outstanding 27-minute documentary that lays bare the secrets of the battery egg industry (streaming video or download) 

Behind the Label: "Animal Care Certified" (by Peter Singer and Jim Mason) 

Battery Hens (United Poultry Concerns, USA)

Eggindustry.com (Compassion Over Killing, USA)

No Battery Eggs (Humane Society of the United States)

Egg-laying Hens (Compassion in World Farming, UK)