The Cyberactivist

Remember a while back when COK did an investigation of an egg farm and showed all the cruelties involved? Well, yes, they have done more than one. The one that I am referring to happened in the fall of 2002. COK exposed Red Bird Egg Farm in Millington, Maryland. They documented all sorts of horrible things happening there and got great publicity for doing so.

Well, this time they went back to the same place because the farm had gotten themselves certified under the label "Animal Care Certified." They wanted to see for themselves what kinds of improvements had been made to gain such a certification. What do you think they found?

Nothing is any better.

I figure they probably already knew that. We all know that. That's why they did this to shed light on this problem. Too many people are buying eggs with that logo on them in the thinking that the birds are being taken care of and treated humanely. Well, if you have paid much attention to this issue, you know that is not true. They set up a whole site on this issue and won a ruling from the BBB that I also talked about here.

COK has done quite a bit to bring awareness to this problem. This time they also got WJLA (D.C.'s ABC affiliate on channel 7) to work with them on this story. It will air this evening on the 5:00 p.m. news if you want to watch it for yourself. The station has a banner advertising it, calling it "the investigation the egg industry doesn't want you to see."

To their credit, COK also rescued 4 birds and had them treated by a veterinarian. These birds probably would not have lived, but now they will live out their lives in much better surroundings, free from the horror that was their life in the battery cages. Good for you, COK!

Slowly but surely we are shining the lights in the dark places the industry prefers to keep hidden. Secrets are coming out. They can't hide their horrific practices anymore. The world is waking up to all of the inherent cruelty that goes along with factory farming. Little by little we are reaching people. And those people are making changes in their lives.

Just yesterday I showed COK's latest video, "45 Days: The Life and Death of a Broiler Chicken," to someone yesterday. She found it to be an horrific eye-opening experience and plans to order some of the meat substitutes that we gave her the information for.

Thanks again, Paul, for introducing those to us! We eat them every week and have been spreading the word on them. If any of you have never tried them, you really should. They are the best we have found and are much cheaper than most of the ones you find at the grocery stores. The other advantage is that, since they are dehydrated, you can store them easily for a long time, if need be. Ours doesn't last that long, though! Anyway, it's called Not! Beef and Not! Chicken, if you want to try them. The woman that watched the video tasted some "beef" we had here that we had put a little barbecue sauce on and was so surprised that it tasted like meat and had the same texture. She was even more amazed that it was cheaper than real meat. I have a feeling she will probably not eat real chicken again. She said that video made her sick...

I can understand that feeling. As I am sure you can, too.

We just need to keep working to make sure others understand what goes on in this industry, too. People have been lied to and kept in the dark for far too long. We may have a long way to go, but we are making progress. I still hear from new people all the time that say that what they have learned has changed their lives. And when I think of how many animals won't be tortured and killed (thousands) to feed each one of those people, it makes all this work worth the time and trouble.

So keep spreading the word. And new readers, keep the emails coming. I love to hear from you. It makes my day.

Then go tell someone else.

They can't hide their practices forever...