Egg Upcharge Prompts PETA Message Near Waffle House in Fort Worth: ‘Hens Pay the Highest Price’

For Immediate Release:
March 24, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Following complaints that Waffle House has added a 50-cent surcharge per egg due to the ongoing national shortage, PETA has erected a sky-high message in Fort Worth near the chain’s location on Oakland Boulevard to remind people that it’s actually hens in the egg industry who pay the highest price—their lives—and to urge everyone to try widely available, delicious vegan eggs.

PETA’s message comes as a bird flu outbreak continues to spread across the U.S., infecting dozens of people over the last year alone, resulting in one human death so far and the slaughter of over 30 million chickens in 2025.

“Cramming birds by the tens of thousands into filthy factory farm sheds that serve as disease incubators before hauling them to slaughter is both cruel and dangerous,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Vegan eggs are pandemic-proof, and PETA encourages everyone to choose them and leave the birds in peace.”

Chickens form complex social structures, dream when they sleep, and worry about the future, just as humans do. But hens used for egg production are crammed together inside filthy, wire-floored cages where they don’t even have enough room to spread their wings. Once their egg production drops, they’re sent to slaughterhouses, where mechanized blades slit their throats—often while they’re still conscious—and many are scalded to death in de-feathering tanks.

PETA points out that breeding and raising animals for food creates hotspots for potentially deadly zoonotic diseases, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that three out of every four new or emerging infectious diseases in humans are transmitted due to contact with animals, primarily those usedin animal agriculture. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help anyone thinking of making the switch.

PETA’s billboard is located near I-30 at the intersection of Bridge Street and Oakland Boulevard, Fort Worth. Please see the Google Maps link here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. PETA’s free vegan starter kit is filled with tips to help anyone looking to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.