 INSIDE ONE OF THEIR “FARMS”
 Former PETA intern Freeman Wicklund and his team from Compassionate Action for Animals knew the Michael Foods egg factory wouldn’t be pretty, but one step inside this Burger King supplier’s Minnesota farm and they were appalled.
 The activists faced endless rows of suffering hens and scrambled to help as many as they could. They watered desperately thirsty hens, untangled claws twisted around cage wires, and pulled fly-infested corpses out of cages. They took photos and video of cages encrusted with filth and crippled, featherless hens who were being trampled by their cagemates. And they whisked away hens from death’s door and delivered them to a sanctuary.
 The rescue exposed everyday cruelties endured by hundreds of millions of factory-farmed hens all over North America who are treated like machines-then killed, their bodies ground up for chicken soup and pet food. (Visit BanBatteryCages.org for more details on the rescue and investigation.)
Forced Molting: A Cheap, Cruel Ploy
“When man domesticated animals, it was inevitable there would be some negative aspects for those animals,” says Donald Bell, widely considered a driving force behind forced molting.
 The process of forced molting, starving birds and restricting water intake, was created by the egg industry as a cheap way to get more “product” out of almost completely “spent” hens. Some birds suffer multiple forced moltings before they’re finally killed. This industry ploy threatens consumers’ health-forced molting weakens birds’ immune systems and increases the risk of disease. Studies reveal a link between the stress of forced molting inflicted on chickens and the incidence of salmonella in the chickens and their eggs.
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No Beak, No Room, No Life
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 In 1999, the agricultural ministers for the European Union voted to ban battery cages because of cruelty concerns. But in the U.S., it’s hideous business as usual-99% of all eggs sold in the United States are laid by battery hens in squalid factory farms, where the sights and stench of waste and death are hidden inside windowless sheds. Everything is mechanized. Conveyor belts deliver water and food and remove eggs and waste.
At this Michael Foods egg factory, a missing conveyor belt meant that hens in the lower tier of cages were covered in excrement from hens housed above them. Because the ceilings of their cages are actually conveyor belts, many hens who stand tall while the belts are moving are choked to death after their heads get caught and they are dragged along.
A single cage, roughly 18 by 20 inches, typically holds seven or eight hens-in the Michael Foods facility, as many as 11 birds were crammed into one cage.
In an effort to decrease injuries that frustrated, stressed hens might inflict on their cagemates, baby chicks are painfully debeaked by hot blades that slice off their beaks-and sometimes their tongues or faces.
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You can help
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 • Urge Burger King to commit to our list of specific steps to improve animals’ lives.
In the U.S., contact:
Mr. John Dasburg, CEO
Burger King Corporation
17777 Old Cutler Rd.
Miami, FL 33157
Tel.: 305-378-7011
Fax: 305-378-7262
In the U.K., contact:
Mr. Eric Bonnot
Managing Director
Burger King Ltd.
Charter Place, Vine St.
Uxbridge, Middx.
UB8 1BZ
Fax: 01895 206026
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In Canada, contact:
George E. Michel, President Burger King Restaurants of Canada, Inc.
401 The West Mall
Etobicoke, ON M9C 5J4
Tel.: 416-626-6464
Fax: 416-626-6686
• Please urge Burger King’s Franchisee Association to take
a stand:
Frank Capaldo,
Executive Director
National Franchisee Association, Inc.
3901 Roswell Rd. N.E., Ste. 208
Marietta, GA 30062
Tel.: 770-971-0808
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• Please write to Michael Foods and request that it stop debeaking and force-molting hens and phase out the use of battery cages:
Gregg A. Ostrander, CEO
Michael Foods, Inc.
5353 Wayzata Blvd.,
Ste. 324
Minneapolis, MN 55416
E-Mail: gregg.ostrander@michaelfoods.com
• Write a letter to your local newspaper about how animals suffer for Burger King.
• Organize a local demonstration and sponsor a billboard—visit www.MurderKing.com for details.
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Former PETA intern Freeman Wicklund and his team from Compassionate Action for Animals knew the Michael Foods egg factory wouldn’t be pretty, but one step inside this Burger King supplier’s Minnesota farm and they were appalled.
The activists faced endless rows of suffering hens and scrambled to help as many as they could. They watered desperately thirsty hens, untangled claws twisted around cage wires, and pulled fly-infested corpses out of cages. They took photos and video of cages encrusted with filth and crippled, featherless hens who were being trampled by their cagemates. And they whisked away hens from death’s door and delivered them to a sanctuary.
The rescue exposed everyday cruelties endured by hundreds of millions of factory-farmed hens all over North America who are treated like machines-then killed, their bodies ground up for chicken soup and pet food. (Visit BanBatteryCages.org for more details on the rescue and investigation.)
The process of forced molting, starving birds and restricting water intake, was created by the egg industry as a cheap way to get more “product” out of almost completely “spent” hens. Some birds suffer multiple forced moltings before they’re finally killed. This industry ploy threatens consumers’ health-forced molting weakens birds’ immune systems and increases the risk of disease. Studies reveal a link between the stress of forced molting inflicted on chickens and the incidence of salmonella in the chickens and their eggs.
