Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, today thanked Trader Joe’s for removing Gemperle Farms’ battery cage eggs from the company’s store shelves. Farm Sanctuary launched a campaign to urge Trader Joe’s to stop selling Gemperle’s eggs in early 2007 after obtaining investigative footage on two previous occasions that showed ongoing animal cruelty. A recent undercover investigation conducted by Mercy for Animals reinforced problems at the facility and prompted Trader Joe’s to finally take action. However, Trader Joe’s continues to sell battery caged eggs from other facilities. Farm Sanctuary and other animal protection organizations have footage from multiple battery cage facilities across the U.S. showing that the cruelty witnessed at Gemperle is not anomalous. Farm Sanctuary is urging the public to contact Trader Joe’s to thank them for there decision to remove Gemperle products and to ask the company to remove all battery caged eggs from its store shelves.

Footage from Gemperle Farms, California’s largest egg producer, first obtained by Farm Sanctuary in 2005, revealed horrific conditions in which hens were packed into dilapidated wire cages, suffering and dying amid filth. This footage, released as a televised, investigative report in 2005, prompted Trader Joe’s to agree to stop selling battery-cage eggs from Gemperle Farms under its own label, but the company continued to sell the eggs under other labels. In 2006, Farm Sanctuary sent a letter, video evidence and expert statements to the Merced County District Attorney pushing for the prosecution of Gemperle Farms for illegally abusing these animals under Calif. state law. In early 2007, Farm Sanctuary received more footage from Gemperle Farms' battery cage facilities showing identically appalling conditions –also sent with a letter to the District Attorney – and launched a campaign urging Trader Joe’s to remove all battery caged eggs from Gemperle facilities from their store shelves.

“We are happy to hear that Trader Joe's has announced that they will cease sales of battery cage eggs from Gemperle Farms; this is a step in the right direction,“ states Julie Janovsky, Farm Sanctuary director of campaigns. “However, the company remains complicit in its sale of other eggs from battery cage facilities. This egregious abuse and intensive confinement is not unique to this facility. It’s systemic in factory egg farms, and the public is opposed to this cruelty. We hope Trader Joe’s will remove eggs derived from battery caged hens from their store shelves. In doing this they would be joining the almost 800,000 Californians who have already signed petitions to place a question on the November ballot to ban battery cages in their state.”

The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, a ballot initiative co-sponsored by Farm Sanctuary, which is now certified to appear on California’s November ballot, would ban the most intensive confinement systems, including battery cages for laying hens, veal crates for calves, and gestation crates for breeding pigs. If passed, this measure will affect approximately 20 million animals in the state.

In battery cage systems, egg-laying hens are crowded four to seven birds per cage, each bird is allotted only the space of a standard sheet of paper in which to live with no room to walk and stretch their wings. They are denied every natural behavior. Investigative footage of many of the largest battery cage facilities across the U.S. have shown that these birds are often left to die from injuries and illnesses resulting from their intensive confinement. Farm Sanctuary, which operates the largest rescue and refuge network for farm animals in North America, has rescued thousands of hens from battery cage facilities during the past 22 years. Nearly all of these hens suffer debilitating illnesses from their treatment in these facilities. Many have osteoporosis from high calcium loss due to laying an unnatural number of eggs per year. Egg-laying hens are now bred and pushed to produce upwards of 300 eggs every year, when they would normally lay about 60-80 eggs per year. Many suffer broken bones from rough handling while at these facilities. Others have suffered chronic infections from the mutilation of debeaking. As chicks, their beaks are seared off or lasered at the tip without anesthetic to prevent excessive pecking due to their overcrowded conditions.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at http://www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.