By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
Egg Farmers of Canada are on the defensive after CTV’s W5 show aired a segment called “Behind the Barn Doors” over the weekend, which showed graphic images of animal cruelty at two chicken farms in Alberta. An animal rights group, Mercy for Animals Canada are claiming responsibility for the leaked video footage.
This morning on Canada AM, Egg Farmers of Canada spokesperson Peter Clarke provided comment on the W5 segment calling the alleged video footage “unacceptable” and “horrific,” noting that the segment does not reflect standard industry practices.
Clarke also questions the validity of the video footage which was allegedly recorded at Kuku Farms and Creekside Grove Farms. Egg Farmers of Canada has launched an investigation to prove the authenticity of the footage. "It's not acceptable to our industry and to our farmers, and if there are things on there that are authenticated as we do our investigation, they will be corrected,” Clarke said in an interview with CTV News.
In December 2012, Mercy for Animals Canada leaked their first video showing alleged mistreatment of pigs at a Manitoba hog farm. Mercy for Animals, animal rights group is active in the United States, and recently founded a Canadian chapter last year.