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CAROZZI AND THE ANIMAL CRUELTY

A Sinergia Animal investigation in Carozzi supply chain

July, 2020

INTRODUCTION

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Since 2017, the international NGO Sinergia Animal has been in contact and dialogue with Carozzi, one of the biggest food producers in Chile, with the aim of making the company adopt a cage-free egg policy for all their products. This company is one of the principal food manufacturers in Chile and owns famous brands such as Costa, Master Dog, Master Cat, Trattoria, Vivo, and Ambrosoli, among others. Unfortunately, to date, Carozzi has refused to implement a cage-free egg policy. Sinergia Animal also launched an online petition, which already has more than 115,000 signatures.

According to Chile Huevos numbers, from a national production egg total, 98% comes from what is internationally known as the “battery cage system”

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Carozzi

one of the biggest food-producing companies in Chile

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115,000

signatures in the online petition

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AGRICOVIAL TRUCK ENTERING CAROZZI FACTORY

On February 27th, a journalist documented an Agricovial truck delivering at the Carozzi factory, in the area of San Bernardo, Santiago (location -33.647040, -70.709439). These companies are located a short distance apart.

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AUDIOVISUAL INVESTIGATION

Investigative journalists from Sinergia Animal conducted fieldwork at the end of 2019 and at the beginning of 2020 to document how Carozzi’s suppliers keep confined hens in San Bernardo, Santiago, of Chile (location -33.667836, -70.764538). They documented the environmental, social, and animal welfare impacts of one of Agricovial’s farms, which is an egg producer company in Chile, and Carozzi’s egg provider.

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When?

The investigation occurred at the end of 2019 and in the beginning of 2020

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Where?

This took place in the southern area of San Bernardo in Santiago, Chile

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What?

Journalists investigated the environmental, social, and animal welfare impacts of one of Agricovial’s farms

IMAGES ANALYSIS

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Reduced space

The journalists documented thousands of hens confined in cages and in very reduced spaces, with three or four hens per compartment.

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Bone diseases

According to a critical report, this kind of confinement in cages causes pathologies such as osteoporosis due to the hens’ lack of movement.

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Feet over metal

The journalists documented hens stepping over the cages’ metallic wire. This can cause significant pain, and lead to conditions such as hyperkeratosis.

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Dead hens

Due to the closure of some farm sheds, the journalists noted that more than 30,000 hens were slaughtered. They were able to document hundreds of dead hens stacked inside of garbage containers.

WHAT ANIMAL WELFARE SCIENCE SAYS

Animal Welfare experts criticize battery cages:

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Dr. Ian Duncan, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Canada: “Battery cages for laying hens have been shown (by me and others) to cause extreme frustration, particularly when the hen wants to lay an egg. Battery cages are being phased out in Europe, and other more humane husbandry systems are being developed.”

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Dr. Konrad Lorenz, Nobel Prize winner, author, and considered the father of modern ethology: “The worst torture to which a battery hen is exposed is the inability to retire somewhere for the laying act. For the person who knows something about animals, it is truly heart-rending to watch how a chicken tries, again and again, to crawl beneath her fellow-cage mates to search there in vain for cover.”

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Dr. Bernard Rollin, Department of Animal Science, Colorado State University: “Battery cages are responsible for a variety of injuries, as birds are sometimes trapped in cages by the head and neck, body and wings, toes and claws, or other areas. In addition, steep floors can cause foot deformities, and wire mesh can lead to feather wear.”

 PATRICIO DRAGO, AMANECER NEWSPAPER JOURNALIST

“I go for my camera, my notebook and I interview a couple of neighbors down there, and I get to the place where they were doing the ‘treatment.’ Something like five football fields full of manure where they accumulate it. Many neighbors left the area because they can't stand the flies. An angry neighbor told me, ‘I put one more fan to the house, and it will be like the house from UP [movie]; it will go to the sky.’” 

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BATTERY-CAGE SYSTEM AND ZOONOSIS

Salmonella

Besides harming hens, battery cages also endanger public health. The European Union carried out an important study on this matter. The results demonstrate that the risk of salmonella contamination is significantly higher in systems that use cages, compared to cage-free systems.

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SOCIAL ISSUES AND PUBLIC HEALTH

What do the workers say?

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In the interview that the journalists conducted, one of the workers said the farm was about to stop its activity because of foul odors spreading and the evident discomfort caused by the presence of flies in neighbors’ homes.

What do the neighbors say?

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Neighbors of this Agricovial farm, a company that supplies Carozzi, have suffered the consequences of living close to an egg farm. They told the journalists that their quality of life had been severely depleted because of the manure of thousands of confined birds. Neighbors said they have to stay locked inside their homes and use toxins to disperse flies. As a result, they suffered from headaches, nausea, and vomiting, among other symptoms.

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Life quality severely depleted

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They have to stay locked inside their homes

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They use toxins to avoid flies

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Headaches, nausea, and vomiting, among other symptoms

WHAT IS THE NGO ASKING FOR?

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After campaigning for more than two years and engaging in dialogue with Carozzi about this regrettable situation, Sinergia Animal asks for minimum animal-welfare standards and the end of intensive animal confinement in the company supply chain. The request is for Carozzi to adopt and publish a policy where the company commits to exclusively using eggs from cage-free production systems in all their products.

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Minimum Animal Welfare Standards

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The end of intensive animal confinement

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Adopt and announce a cage-free policy

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In the national sector, Grupo Gastronomía y Negocios (Juan Maestro, Doggi’s, Tommy Beans, Mamut), Carl’s Jr. Chile, Explora Hotels, Altiplánico Hotels, and other companies have also made this commitment.

Many international and recognized companies such as Nestlé, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Unilever, among others, have already committed to stopping their use of eggs from cage systems in their supply chains.

CONTEXT

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The plant would likely have had devastating impacts on human health and the environment. Such effects have been researched by the influential Institute of Animal Science in La Habana, Cuba:

HOWEVER...

“The major problem is, undoubtedly, the smell that causes real harm to people living in the vicinity. The sensation of dirt that accompanies these discharges and the appearance of obvious symptoms of environmental degradation are other factors that can lead the residents of the place to file a lawsuit.”

- Esmeralda Lon-Wo

La Habana University Animal Science Institute Principal Investigator

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in another nearby location, the company has an enormous farm where thousands of hens are kept under the same production system (location -33.699082, -70.761845).

SIGN THE PETITION:

A CAMPAIGN BY:

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Sinergia Animal is an international animal protection organization working in countries of the Global South to reduce the suffering of farmed animals and promote more compassionate food choices. We are recognized as one of the most effective animal protection NGOs in the world by Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE).

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