Joaquin Phoenix and TV legend Bob Barker are joining forces in their fight against animal cruelty.
The Hollywood stars are condemning the actions of Safeway, demanding the grocery giant adopts a 100 percent cage-free egg policy.
“As a longtime animal advocate, I implore you to end the practice of caging egg-laying hens,” Phoenix wrote in a letter addressed to Safeway CEO Robert Miller. “Animal welfare experts regard battery cages as perhaps the most egregiously cruel practice employed on factory farms today. For the hens in Safeway’s egg supply chain, every minute is sheer misery.”
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He continued, “Safeway is nothing more than a safe haven for animal abuse. In refusing to commit to ending this practice, you are stigmatizing yourself as a backward, obstinate, heartless company.”
A missive by 19-time Emmy Award-winning host Barker took on a much more forceful tone, attacking the values and morals of the people behind Albertsons — Safeway’s parent company. “Albertsons claims to be a company with a conscience. But who in good conscience would condone by association an industry that locks an animal in a cage so small she can’t even spread her wings for her entire life?” Barker asked in a letter, which was also addressed to Miller. “No one with morals would allow sensitive, intelligent animals to literally waste away in dire confinement, covered in their own feces.”
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The former “Price Is Right” host went on to describe the dire consequences of such stark living conditions and offered vivid description of the cramped quarters. “Take one look at an image of a hen in a cage, and you will understand why this practice must be stopped,” he added. “Her beak seared off, her body half-featherless and red with infected sores, and her eyes filled with terror, she is a creature in constant agony.”
The letter writing campaign is just one more step in their ongoing work with international animal protection group Mercy For Animals. The stars previously signed a Change.org petition urging the grocer to stop selling eggs from animals kept in battery cages.
