Not surprisingly, industry officials don't want to discuss the video in light of the fact that Gemperle Enterprises held a "humane" certification from United Egg Producers, the trade group representing 85% of U.S. egg producers. Oops.
"It's been very difficult to get anyone involved in the egg industry to watch the video and comment," disclosed reporter Dan Noyes with ABC 7's I-Team. "Not the state Department of Food and Agriculture, the poultry experts at UC Davis, and not even the county extension agents who work with the farms. We had to go all the way to the University of Maryland to speak with an expert in the Avian and Animal Sciences Department."
Looking more like Jack Kevorkian than Farmer Jones, Ernie Gemperle told KCRA 3 reporters when the video broke it constituted an "invasion of privacy" and the birds are well cared for and treated "better every year." He defended the gassing seen on the video as how you dispose of "sick birds," sick apparently meaning "spent" and "unprofitable" since they are all gassed.
