Humane Society says LePage wrong; state knew about egg farm sting

The president of the Humane Society of the United States bit back at Gov. Paul LePage’s comments on HSUS’s undercover sting at the state’s largest egg farm.

The society last week released photos and videos that it claimed showed inhumane conditions at the Turner egg farm owned by Jack DeCoster and managed under a long-term lease by Hillandale Farms.

Days later, LePage in a letter to HSUS called its tactics “deplorable” and lambasted the group for taking the images to the media instead of first bringing issues to the state’s attention.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the society, said he did just that.

“Gov. LePage is embarrassing himself and the state of Maine with his total unfamiliarity with the facts of this case,” Pacelle said in a written statement. “Perhaps he should check with his own Department of Agriculture since it received HSUS’s formal complaint about the egg factory in question five days in advance of the expose going public.”

John Bott, spokesman for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, confirmed Monday that his agency received HSUS’s complaint either June 2 or June 3.

The society provided a copy of a letter it sent to four state officials, including the state veterinarian and director of the Maine Animal Welfare Program dated June 2 that announced it had run an undercover investigation from April 20 to May 20 in the Turner barns. It claimed to find birds sharing space with mummified cagemates, filthy equipment and poisoned mice being swept into manure which was later sold as fertilizer. It also questioned the health of the eggs.

Media were alerted to the sting on June 7.

“The video footage speaks for itself: It shows rampant animal welfare problems, filthy conditions and massive numbers of dead and decomposing animals,” Pacelle said. “It’s not surprising that the owner of this facility in Maine is currently scheduled to serve federal prison time for his role in America’s largest egg recall.”

His statement further took the governor to task for his position on several animal-related bills.

“This is just the latest example of LePage being on the wrong side of animal welfare,” Pacelle said. “He tried to kill off the most important revenue stream for low-income spaying and neutering in the state and vetoed bills to crack down on the sale of puppy mill dogs at pet stores and to restrict ownership of animals for a short period after a person was convicted of malicious cruelty.

“We did go to his Department of Agriculture, but we wanted to stay clear of him. He’s a menace on animal welfare,” he said.

LePage spokesman Peter Steele on Monday maintained that HSUS should have contacted the governor’s office directly.

“When the governor wrote the letter, we were unaware the Humane Society had already sent a letter to state employees who have no decision-making authority,” Steele wrote in an email. “The point is that if HSUS was truly concerned with the treatment of chickens, they would have notified the commissioner or the governor.

“Instead, they sent a letter to state e?mployees who have no decision-making authority so they could cover themselves before pulling their shameless publicity stunt. HSUS is not really concerned about chickens; they are still upset their attempt to stop bear hunting was soundly defeated, despite the absurd amount of money they poured into Maine to bolster their anti-hunting efforts.”

Asked whether state officials had been back to reinspect the Turner barns in the wake of the HSUS footage, Bott declined to comment.

“We are in the process of conducting an investigation, so we can’t provide any details on that,” he said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

HSUS Letter to Maine Depart of Ag Re Turner ME Facility June 2 2016 by sunjournal