Thousands of "laying" hens died an almost unimaginably horrific death when the barn that they were trapped in burned two days before Halloween. It was the first of three fires involving farmed animals in Ontario in just over a week. Three days later, 10 calves perished in a fire at a dairy farm near London, Ontario. Then, 70 cows and calves died when a fire swept through a barn at a dairy farm near Ottawa on Friday. That's not even counting the suspicious fire at a hog farm in Manitoba that we told you about last week.

A concerned citizen visited the chicken farm and captured this footage of the hens, dead in their cages:
 

The farmer's reaction to the carnage? He noted that neither the chickens nor the barn had any particular sentimental value and stated, rather unnecessarily, that "there won't be any income from the hens, that's for sure."

Perhaps these hens' deaths won't have been entirely in vain if this tragic story convinces even one person with a heart slightly larger than a chicken farmer's to swear off eggs. 

Written by Alisa Mullins

Ever since half a billion eggs were recalled because of a salmonella outbreak, people have been talking about food safety regulations. Animal welfare issues have been mentioned, but they need to be considered more seriously. The following are some facts to help you tell the hens' side of the story:

There's cruelty in every carton of eggs:
Ninety-nine percent of hens used by the egg industry are confined to filthy, crowded battery cages. In June, the owner of one of the egg farms involved in the recall—and of the company that supplies chickens and chicken feed to both farms implicated in the outbreak—pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals and paid more than $130,000 in fines and restitution following an undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals.

Salmonella spreads like wildfire on factory farms:
Under squalid factory farm conditions, it's easy for salmonella bacteria—which live in the intestines and feces of animals—to spread from bird to bird and from birds to people. Vegan foods don't naturally harbor salmonella bacteria.

Avoiding eggs is the best way to prevent salmonella poisoning and reduce animal suffering:
A salmonella vaccine that has been used successfully in Britain is available, but American regulators don't believe there's enough evidence to show that vaccinating hens will prevent people from getting sick. It's obvious that our food safety regulations are not all they're cracked up to be and that the safest and kindest way to prevent salmonella poisoning is to stop eating eggs altogether. PETA is urging Iowa schools to stop serving eggs to children in order to help protect them from food poisoning. You can opt for egg replacer, scrambled tofu, and other tasty vegan foods.

Written by Heather Moore

It's so hot in the city, you'd think I'd be making another batch of lemonade—but I've got a hankering for some Internet Soup. It's been a while since the last batch, so dig in!

• Scientists know that pigs prefer a life like Arnold Ziffel's—full of Green Acres and some "luxuries" …
• … but this pug is partial to that other 60s hit, Batman.
• This video by Frank Strick has it all: A catchy song, an important question, and a big dash of cute—i.e., kid hugs turkey.
• Fisher nets baby black bear—but never fear! Mama to the rescue!
• We've said it before, but it bears repeating: Meat is never "green."
• Sure, beefcakes might make women swoon for a moment, but broccoli wins love for a lifetime.
• We know that Polly wants to fly. I'm guessing that Pauley wants to run.
• "Hummus: The Rap" has inspired me to finish my own masterpiece, Guacamole, A Concerto.
• Professor Turtle weighs in on how to be a hero.

Oof! I don't know about you, but I'm full after all that soup—and guac. This Special K needs a siesta. Until next time …

Written by Karin Bennett

In a recent fire on an Ohio egg farm, 250,000 hens died after they were left in two sheds that had the electricity knocked out in order to battle the fire. Once the fire was squelched, all the birds were "euthanized" (we don't know how they were killed) because, according to a spokeswoman for Ohio Fresh Eggs, it was the "humane thing to do."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aleutia/ / CC BY 2.0

First, take a minute to soak in the fact that there were more than 250,000 hens crammed into two sheds. Chickens on egg farms are packed into battery cages so tightly that they don't even have enough room to lie down, and the cages are stacked from floor to ceiling. They have their beaks seared off without being given any painkillers, and for up to two years they endure relentless cycles of egg-laying. When they become too weak to produce eggs they are trucked to slaughterhouses, where their legs are slammed into metal shackles and they have their throats cut while they are still conscious and able to feel pain.

Animals who are crammed by the thousands into warehouse-like buildings are often out of luck when disaster strikes, because it's not cost-effective for farm operators (and they certainly don't care enough) to take the time to implement evacuation plans. The loss of life caused by fires, floods, and other disasters is all too common on factory farms.

Of course, any animal who has suffered through a tragedy like this should be given a humane release from pain, but the representative also declined to comment on the method that was used to kill these poor chickens. If it's anything like the way many egg farms "euthanize" their male chicks—by leaving them to suffocate in plastic bags or by sending them through giant meat grinders while they are still alive—then I would say that "humane" isn't part of the equation.

Want to make sure that tragedies like these don't continue to occur? Go vegan.

Written by Heather Drennan

Thanks to the quick action taken by more than 5,000 PETA U.K. supporters, the European Union (E.U.) has just rejected Poland's proposal to delay a historic ban on battery cages for hens! In 1999, the E.U. passed the Laying Hens Directive—legislation that requires an end to the use of battery cages by 2012. Polish officials lobbied to delay the ban until 2017, but thanks to everyone in Europe who took the time to write to the U.K.'s minister of state for farming and the environment, Jim Fitzpatrick, the E.U. will stand by its original plan to ditch the cruel contraptions.

Aleutia / CC by 2.0

The production of a single egg means 34 hours of suffering for a hen. In the E.U., 300 million hens are crammed into filthy wire-mesh battery cages stacked tier upon tier in huge warehouses. The birds are packed into the cages so tightly that they are unable to spread even one wing, and they suffer crippling leg injuries from standing on wire cage floors 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When they get too old to lay eggs, they're thrown into transport crates and shipped to slaughter. Battery cages deny every one of a hen's natural instincts, including nesting, perching, scratching, and pecking.

You can help end hens' suffering by taking the pledge to be vegan today.

Written by Logan Scherer

You know what it's like—you get started with something, thinking you'll have just this one or do it just this once, and then you think, "One more wouldn't hurt, right?" And before you know it, it's all out of hand.

Of course, when I do it, I end up eating half a package of Newman-Os, not egging 400 people's houses and cars.

That's right—a couple in Pennsylvania have recently been charged with perpetrating an 18-month "egging spree" that resulted in $7,000 worth of damage.

This news article explains that the couple started egging because they "wanted to retaliate against friends for damages they said were inflicted upon them" but moved on to other targets to avoid suspicion.

Hate to break it to you (geddit?), but 400 targets might arouse a little suspicion, don't you think?

Now, the county's district attorney is urging the victims of the spree to come forward, saying, "We have an obligation under the law to seek to make them whole and to get restitution for them."

Sure, the people who had to wash their cars and hose down their driveways deserve "restitution." But let's take this further: What is washing your car compared to being crammed into battery cages and having your beak cut off with a hot wire?

When you think about it that way, aren't the hens the number one victims here?

We think that all the victims of this crime deserve restitution. For this reason, we've written a letter to the DA with a logical suggestion: It takes up to 34 hours for a hen to produce a single egg, and during that time, she isn't watching TV—she's crammed into a cage that doesn't allow her to take a step or stretch one wing, and she has to balance on wire and do her business on the backs of other birds. If the DA has an "obligation" to "get restitution" for the victims of this crime, wouldn't justice best be served by sentencing the perpetrators to 34 hours of community service in a vegan soup kitchen or doing bird rescues for each egg wasted? We think so!

Check out our letter to the DA: