skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump touts immigration crackdown despite concerns about due process; NY faces potential impacts from federal vote on emissions standards; ND Tribes can elevate tourism game with new grants; WA youth support money for Medicaid, not war.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Major shifts in environmental protections, immigration enforcement, civil rights as Trump administration reshapes government priorities. Rural residents and advocates for LGBTQ youth say they're worried about losing services.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Migration to rural America increased for the fourth year, technological gaps handicap rural hospitals and erode patient care, and doctors are needed to keep the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians healthy and align with spiritual principles.

Backlash for PA Hatchery as Video Reveals Fate of Some Newborn Chicks

play audio
Play

Wednesday, October 23, 2013   

FREDERICKSBURG, Pa. - A central Pennsylvania chicken hatchery is receiving national attention after a video surfaced showing the fate of some newborn chicks at the facility.

The video from Bell and Evans in the Lebanon County town of Fredericksburg was shot by a person working there who is also a member of the animal advocacy group Compassion Over Killing.

"We're talking about birds who are just hours old, who are sick, injured or otherwise deemed unfit for processing, are dumped in a grinder while still fully conscious," said Erica Meier, executive director of the group. "So, they're ground up while still alive."

On its website, Bell and Evans says all of its chickens are humanely raised, and that baby chicks are "carefully sorted from their shells and placed in delivery baskets headed for the farm."

Meier said the video demonstrates a different picture, pulling back the curtain on how the chicken industry routinely operates.

"I think it's really important for consumers to recognize that, no matter how these products may be marketed to consumers, animal cruelty is standard practice," she said.

She said she believes animal protection laws fall short when those animals are intended for use as food.

"What's happening on this farm is not subject to the same cruelty laws," she said. "If these are dogs and cats, it would result in criminal prosecution, but because these animals are being raised for food, the state law exempts what's happening inside these facilities."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A day before Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested, federal authorities apprehended a former New Mexico judge and his wife on charges related to harboring an undocumented immigrant. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Legal experts and advocates are outraged over the arrest of a Milwaukee judge last week who was charged with helping an undocumented defendant avoid a…


play sound

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have proposed privatizing the United States Postal Service by selling it off to a corporation such as FedEx or UP…

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Brett Kelman for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Arkansas News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News Service Co…


Advocates from Compassion & Choices attended a hearing for Senate Bill 403 before the State Senate Committee on Health on April 23. (Patricia Portillo/Compassion & Choices)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A bill to make medical aid in dying permanently legal in California goes before the state Senate Judiciary Committee today. The End of Life Option …

Environment

play sound

A major player in the Northwest's energy landscape is considering changes in the future, as extreme climate events make power delivery in Oregon more …

The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington is the largest in the Bonneville Power Administration system. (Will/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A major player in the Northwest's energy landscape is considering changes in the future as extreme climate events make power delivery in Washington mo…

Social Issues

play sound

On May 1, Oregon labor and immigrants' rights organizations are gathering in Salem calling for justice for immigrant workers and an end to mass …

Social Issues

play sound

LGBTQ+ advocates in South Dakota are reeling from passage of another state law they said harms their community. Now, there is concern possible …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021