L214 unveils an investigation into a Pampr’œuf farm located in Pamproux, in Deux-Sèvres. Crowded in cages, the hens suffer from poor sanitary conditions and sometimes even violence from employees. The association calls for the closure of the breeding and wishes to relaunch the debate on battery breeding, with a view to the presidential election.
The images are unbearable. The animal protection association, L214, is publishing an edifying video this Thursday, December 16. She denounces the mistreatment of laying hens in a farm in Pamproux, in Deux-Sèvres. This belongs to the Pampr’œuf group which produces and sells 20% of the French shell eggs market.
Struck hens, others left dead with their congeners…, the proofs brought by L214 on mistreatment in the Pamproux farm are difficult to see. The association lodged a complaint against the company for mistreatment and acts of cruelty to the Niort public prosecutor’s office and seized the European Commission. L214 also calls for the closure of the farm and the ban on the production of eggs by laying hens in cages.
The Pampr’œuf group produces more than a billion eggs per year. A more than important player in the sector which, to this day, is “the only one not to have published an official commitment excluding cage farming from all of its activities by 2025“, as specified by L214. The association for the protection of animals went to see under what circumstances the laying hens at the Pamproux site are raised. Through a video presented by the magician and humorist, Eric Antoine, she delivers a worrying diagnosis on the living conditions of these hens which do not see the light of day.
In cages with wire mesh floors, the hens survive. They are 200,000 piled up in the warehouse. Among them, 23,560 die prematurely. That is to say a mortality of nearly 12%, a high figure that questions. The answer lies in the practices of the Pampr’œuf company. In addition to being crammed into cages, the hens are kept away from the eggs laid by electrified fences. L214 denounces the non-conformity of the breeding and the conditions in which the hens live. The lack of hygiene and the deafening noise do not allow the animals to live satisfactorily. As shown in the video (see below), some hens are completely plucked. Others are left dead in the cages, sometimes in an advanced state of decomposition. But the most chilling remains the behavior of certain employees filmed. We see them in particular, stick in hand, hitting the hens who try to escape. An individual even goes so far as to kick a flying hen. Before laughing out loud to his colleagues.
Images that do not come from our farms.
Pampr’oeuf press release, defending itself from the accusations of L214.
Finally, L214 warns about the way in which the hens are taken to the slaughterhouse. These are suddenly crammed into transport cages “unsuitable“, according to the association, by agents who do not have the necessary equipment (gloves, masks and coveralls). Following this alarming observation, L214 launches a petition to close the breeding and invite the company Pampr’œuf to take measures – like its competitors – to put an end to the breeding of laying hens in batteries. “To end the atrocities of cage farming, it is essential that Pampr’œuf make a public commitment to end the cages.“, says Sébastien Arsac, co-founder of the L214 association.
Contacted, the leader of Pampr’œuf, Stéphane Nérault responded in a single press release. “We strongly affirm that the behaviors denounced absolutely do not correspond to the practices of our employees. Our teams use methods that respect animal welfare. They are regularly checked. We trust them completely“, it is indicated. Pampr’œuf denounces the methods of L214 and affirms that the images of the video”do not come from [ses] breeding“. She demands that the unblurred videos be sent to justice so that”light be on“. What the L214 association has already done.
The latter takes advantage of the approach of the presidential election to relaunch the debate on the breeding of laying hens in cages. A commitment that Emmanuel Macron had made in February 2017, on the eve of his election.
“The President of the Republic and the candidates for the presidential election of 2022 must for their part respond to this societal demand and organize the end of this method of breeding by fixing its ban for 2025 as soon as possible.“, supports the co-founder of L214, Sébastien Arsac. To encourage candidates to position themselves, the association relies on an Ifop survey on animal welfare. The latter shows that 81% of French people are in favor of the ban the breeding of laying hens in cages, all political stripes, a subject on which the French will expect commitments from presidential candidates.