To: Owners of Biofuel Oasis
Biofuel Oasis: Stop Selling Baby Chicks!
Friends of DxE
Demand that progressive businesses like Biofuel Oasis stop promoting the exploitation of chickens. Animals are not property to be bought and sold.
Why is this important?
UPDATE: We are now in conversation with the managers of Biofuel Oasis to educate them on the cruelty of using animals and hope to work with them in stopping the sale of baby chicks.
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Biofuel Oasis is a Berkeley-based biodiesel store that also sells baby chicks for people to purchase and raise for their eggs. This raises many ethical concerns including: male chicks - who are useless to the egg industry - being killed on the day they are born; hens bred to lay so many more eggs than they naturally would leading to painful and deadly health issues; hens who no longer produce as many eggs being dumped on sanctuaries because they are no longer considered “useful”; killing animals who value their own lives and want to live.
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) organizers reached out to the owners of Biofuel Oasis to request a conversation about this practice in an attempt to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. In response to the concerns raised by DxE organizers they stated via email “Our customers would most likely continue to buy eggs from a grocery store if they did not have fresh eggs provided by the chickens in their backyard. Many of our customers love their chickens dearly, give them an abundance of love and affection, and keep them after they are past their egg-laying years until they die of natural causes [...] We order chicks from a local hatchery. Our hatchery’s roosters and older flock go to agencies that rehabilitate wildlife; they become food for those animals.”
It is not true that the only options available are buying eggs from grocery stores or raising chickens for eggs in your backyard. Millions of people choose to not eat eggs and this number is growing every day as more people become aware of the ethical issues with eggs. Sanctuaries and other rescuers receive constant requests to take in “spent” hens or roosters from people with backyard chickens. And, whether male chicks are ground up alive or suffocated (as it the practice in most hatcheries) or fed to other animals, the result is the same - thousands of dead baby birds.
The bottom line is that animals are not property. They are individuals who should not be bought and sold as commodities. Exploiting them for their eggs and flesh reinforces their property status, causes them pain, and leads to the death of millions every year. Please tell Biofuel Oasis to stop this practice immediately and keep their focus on providing sustainable fuel to Berkeley.
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Biofuel Oasis is a Berkeley-based biodiesel store that also sells baby chicks for people to purchase and raise for their eggs. This raises many ethical concerns including: male chicks - who are useless to the egg industry - being killed on the day they are born; hens bred to lay so many more eggs than they naturally would leading to painful and deadly health issues; hens who no longer produce as many eggs being dumped on sanctuaries because they are no longer considered “useful”; killing animals who value their own lives and want to live.
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) organizers reached out to the owners of Biofuel Oasis to request a conversation about this practice in an attempt to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. In response to the concerns raised by DxE organizers they stated via email “Our customers would most likely continue to buy eggs from a grocery store if they did not have fresh eggs provided by the chickens in their backyard. Many of our customers love their chickens dearly, give them an abundance of love and affection, and keep them after they are past their egg-laying years until they die of natural causes [...] We order chicks from a local hatchery. Our hatchery’s roosters and older flock go to agencies that rehabilitate wildlife; they become food for those animals.”
It is not true that the only options available are buying eggs from grocery stores or raising chickens for eggs in your backyard. Millions of people choose to not eat eggs and this number is growing every day as more people become aware of the ethical issues with eggs. Sanctuaries and other rescuers receive constant requests to take in “spent” hens or roosters from people with backyard chickens. And, whether male chicks are ground up alive or suffocated (as it the practice in most hatcheries) or fed to other animals, the result is the same - thousands of dead baby birds.
The bottom line is that animals are not property. They are individuals who should not be bought and sold as commodities. Exploiting them for their eggs and flesh reinforces their property status, causes them pain, and leads to the death of millions every year. Please tell Biofuel Oasis to stop this practice immediately and keep their focus on providing sustainable fuel to Berkeley.