Cage-free eggs still inhumane

Thank you for the excellent article explaining the lack of regulation on "cage-free" eggs ("Cage-free living isn't always equal," June 17). However, describing these birds as "happy" is a gross misrepresentation. Despite what the industry would like us to believe, there is no such thing as humane, cage-free eggs. Egregious cruelty is routine even in "cage-free" and "free-range" facilities.

Just like caged hens, the birds are debeaked without anesthetic - a portion of the beak is seared off, causing acute and chronic pain. The quarter of a billion male chicks hatched each year are of no value in egg production; they are ground up alive or smothered in the trash. And almost all egg-laying hens endure "forced molting," being intentionally starved for up to 14 days to shock the body into another laying cycle.

Egg-laying hens are arguably the most abused animals on the planet. Let's not be fooled by semantics.

Jennifer Kaden, Cleveland Heights