Exploited hens: PETA tells White House to lay off the real eggs at the Easter Egg Roll

Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wants the White House to forgo using fresh eggs during the annual Easter Egg Roll on Monday, an event that typically draws 19,000 eager egg-rollers. In an open letter to President Obama, the animal rights group insists that plastic or ceramic eggs should be the accessory of the day.

“Using cruelly obtained eggs from female chickens who will be killed when their egg-laying usefulness ends and who are exploited because of their sex is inarguably inconsistent with the goals of the 2016 ‘Let’s Celebrate!’ theme,” Ms. Newkirk wrote. “For hens on factory farms, Easter is no time to rejoice. One shed may contain tens of thousands of birds crammed together in something like the Black Hole of Calcutta — five to 10 in a tiny wire ‘battery cage’ in which a hen does not even have enough space to stretch even one of her wings.”

Ironically enough, the White House is excruciatingly, ecologically correct with its official souvenir eggs — each of the kids who show up for the event go home with one; they are also sold to the public. The eggs are crafted from Forest Stewardship Council-certified U.S. hardwood, and the packaging is recyclable paperboard.