Free Range or Fraud?

      The Animal Legal Defense Fund is a nonprofit organization based in California which works to protect animals through the legal system. Their latest lawsuit began in 2012, the case of Judy’s Family Farm providing false advertising to their consumers. Judy’s Family Farm sells “free range organic” eggs, according to the label on their eggs in stores.

“These hens are raised in wide open spaces in Sonoma Valley, where they are free to roam, scratch and play.”

           Consumers were lead to believe that the chickens were given room to roam freely outside, and bought the eggs to support free-range farm animals. The farm was found out to be opposite of what they were claiming on their boxes of eggs. The hens were kept in such close quarters that their wings could not open, and they had no outlet to the outdoors. Because there are very few laws that protect hens against cruelty and “humane” is a very overused word when it comes to laws supporting ethical treatment of animals, being able to twist the lawsuit and accuse them of fraud was the best way to protect the hens on this farm. After months of negotiating the two sides came to a detailed agreement:

1.) Change the packaging on the eggs by taking off the picture of hens on an open grass field, and removing the descriptions of the hens lifestyle that lead consumers to wrongly believe the eggs come from hens with substantial outdoor access;
2.) Acquire Certified Humane certification - Human Farm Animal Care: an organization that works to improve the lives of farm animals. (According to Humane Farm Animal Care, 68% of consumers want to know what farmers are doing to ensure animal care.)
3.) A donation of $14,666.67 to Sonoma Humane Society for hen recovery and rescue efforts, $14,666.67 to the Public Justice Foundation to help victims of false advertising, and $14,666.66 to Consumer Action to help the victims of consumer fraud.

Care2
ALDF