Published Letters and Op-Eds from
COK’s Writers Group

No Surprise

Published in the Joplin Globe on June 15, 2005.

Regarding "200 turn out for hearing on Moark plan" June 9, it's no surprise that Moark's plan to expand into Newton County is facing such strong opposition - today's factory farms are rife with controversy for polluting our planet and harming local residents' way of life. A growing number of people are also speaking out against the routine abuses endured by factory-farmed animals.

Egg farms, like those operated by Moark, cram thousands of birds inside a single sunless shed. These hens will never set foot outside or escape the stench of their own waste. Instead, they are forced to spend their entire lives so intensively confined in tiny wire cages, they can't even spread their wings. Welfare concerns have prompted the European Union to phase out the use of these barren "battery" cages, but, shamefully, they continue to dominate the U.S. egg industry.

Whether we're concerned about our own quality of life or that of millions of animals, we'd all be better off without factory farms.

Erica Meier
Director
Compassion Over Killing
Washington, D.C.