Dear Human,
18 months. That may not sound like a long life–but when all you know is confinement, darkness, and pain, 18 months feels like an eternity.
I was one of the billions of chickens who laid eggs for you humans. Most of my 18 months were spent in a tiny wire cage with a handful of other hens, so cramped I couldn’t even stretch my wings. My health worsened every day, but nobody noticed. No one cared. Many of us didn’t even make it through the full 18 months. The dead were left with the living.
All I ever did was eat and lay eggs, day in and day out–I thought it would never end. Where the eggs went after I laid them I never knew–I just knew soon I would lay another one, and my suffering would continue.
Eventually, it did end with one final blow: the electric bath. I was hung upside down by my feet and slowly moved into a bath of electrified water, stunning me before the blade slit my throat.
I never understood why I had to live like this. I can’t believe that all my suffering was so that you humans could eat my eggs. It was all for something so needless.
I know you didn’t know what you were causing, dear human. I know you didn’t mean to cause harm. But now you know, and I’m begging you to put an end to it. Let chickens live in peace. Let us live how we were meant to. I’m begging you: stop buying eggs.
For the billions still suffering,