{"id":557,"date":"2025-01-01T11:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T12:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/macroron.com\/?p=557"},"modified":"2025-01-01T17:14:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T17:14:17","slug":"kafer-torture-free-eggs-are-worth-the-extra-dollar-or-two-per-dozen-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macroron.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/01\/kafer-torture-free-eggs-are-worth-the-extra-dollar-or-two-per-dozen-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Kafer: Torture-free eggs are worth the extra dollar or two per dozen, right?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a lot of pitiful grousing this week on social media about the law requiring commercial poultry farms keep hens cage-free<\/a> in order to sell eggs in our state. The main argument went something like this: A scandalous abuse of government power is driving egg prices to shocking levels.<\/p>\n

Shelves emptied as people tried desperately to beat the anticipated New Year hike as the law took full effect.<\/p>\n

Online, people argued that there\u2019s nothing wrong with cramming hens into small cages to keep prices a little cheaper. Cage-free is no poultry paradise anyway, folks said. This is just another way Governor Polis is trying to \u201cdestroy Colorado<\/a>,\u201d others mused.<\/p>\n

For cluck’s sake. The logic here is so bad I can\u2019t even use it as an example of rhetorical fallacies in class. Students will think I made it up while high.<\/p>\n

First of all, animal welfare laws are hardly an abuse of government power. We the People have been enacting them since 1641. Today, federal and state laws set minimum standards for the treatment of livestock, pets, laboratory animals, and wildlife. These laws regulate how animals are kept, bred, licensed, exhibited, medically treated, hunted, slaughtered, packaged, sold, rendered, and otherwise disposed of in order to ensure humane treatment, mitigate environmental impacts, and safeguard human health and safety.<\/p>\n

To understand why transitioning to cage-free is necessary, one need only witness the abject cruelty of battery cages. In these wire crates, hens are crammed together barely able to move much less engage in normal chicken behavior such as walking.<\/p>\n

No one is equating cage-free with pasture-raised. Cage-free environments are indoor spaces where hens have limited room to move around, stretch their wings, perch, and lay down. Though not the idyllic life among the wildflowers, it is a big improvement over no room whatsoever. It\u2019s like being among the crowd at a sold-out Red Rocks concert versus being locked in a gas station bathroom stall with two other adults for life.<\/p>\n