Editor: The egg is one of the most recognized Easter symbols. Unfortunately, it takes a certain amount of hunting to find a humanely produced egg.

People who don鈥檛 want their eggs to come from hens in cages (as 98 per cent of eggs do in Canada) should shop carefully.  Only certified organic eggs guarantee the hens a better life 鈥� uncaged, with access to the outdoors and a nest in which to lay their eggs. Organic farms are also inspected regularly, so you can be sure that you鈥檙e getting what you鈥檝e paid for.

Regular eggs, with their dizzying array of labels like 鈥渇arm fresh,鈥� 鈥渧egetarian feed鈥� and 鈥淥mega-3鈥� are the product of extreme and unnecessary suffering. Hens are kept in wire cages in tiers piled on top of each other, stuffed into a cage with five to seven other hens for their entire lives.

They have no access to the outdoors and no opportunity to perform hard-wired behaviours such as wing-flapping, nesting and foraging. Until they are transported to slaughter, they never feel the sun on their backs or the wind in their feathers. Their beaks are cut off to stop them pecking each other from frustration.

Even labels such as 鈥渇ree-range鈥� and 鈥渇ree-run鈥� can be misleading, since there are no regulations in place to ensure the standards.

Science is clear that hens suffer in cages. Yet battery cages are still the production method of choice in Canada. Only you can change that 鈥� when you pay a few cents more for a certified organic egg. It makes a world of difference to the hens,

Debra Probert,

Vancouver Humane Society