Following the release of Mercy for Animals' video that showed conditions at the Quality Egg farm in Turner, ME (formerly Decoster Egg Farm), Maine Contract Farming, which supplies hens to Quality Egg, has entered into a settlement in the civil suit that was brought against the company.Quality Egg, which is Maine's largest egg farm, entered into the agreement with prosecutors on Monday, and the settlement was approved in Lewiston District Court, reports the Associated Press in the Waterville, ME Morning Sentinel online.
The Associated Press reports that under the settlement Maine Contract Farming admitted "it did not provide[] adequate shelter and sustenance to 10 hens at its farm in Turner last year." The video released by Mercy for Animals undercover investigation "showed hens living under cramped conditions in cages and workers grabbing hens by the neck and twirling them around in circles," reports the AP.
Maine Public Broadcasting Network online reports that Maine Contract Farming admitted to 10 civil counts of animal cruelty under the settlement.
Maine Contract Farming will pay $25,000 in penalties and a "one-time payment" of $100,000 to the Maine Department of Agriculture "for monitoring of hens at egg farms across the state," reports the AP.
To read the Maine Public Broadcasting Network report, click here.
To read the AP story in the Morning Sentinel, click here.
Posted: 06/08/10
