This blog post was written by an Animal Justice undercover investigator whose identity will remain anonymous.
I am a whistleblower. I worked at a large-scale egg farm in British Columbia that supplies Golden Valley Eggs, whose products are sold at Sobeys. This farm has two barns holding 50,000 hens, crammed into cages. I knew cages were bad before I started. But the truth is, nothing can prepare you for the reality—the sights, the sounds, and the smell. What I witnessed is the hidden suffering behind Sobeys eggs.
The air burned my eyes with ammonia. I wore a mask just to get through an eight-hour shift. The hens, though, had no escape. They spend their entire lives breathing that toxic air, surrounded by the deafening sounds of thousands of birds in complete misery.
Misery in Cages for Sobeys Eggs
Inside the barns, I saw thousands of hens trapped in filthy cages, often missing clumps of feathers and listless. Some were trapped beside the bodies of their dead cagemates, still being forced to lay eggs for human consumption. It’s clear that the reality behind Sobeys eggs supply chain is far from what most shoppers imagine.
I will never forget one hen whose head got stuck between cage bars. She died before anyone noticed. Another hen seemed to have died while laying an egg. My boss told me this was a “blowout”—a gruesome condition where a hen dies while she is laying an egg that is too large for her to handle.
The farm had both battery cages and so-called “enriched cages.” But “enriched” means nothing more than a slightly bigger cage with a plastic perch or a rubber mat. These birds are still denied the most basic freedom: the ability to move, explore, and feel safe. Enriched cages are still cages, and they are still cruel.
Sobeys Farm Death & Suffering
Hens on this farm died everyday—a hidden cost of producing Sobeys eggs in cages. Some collapsed from exhaustion and never got up. Others died when eggs became stuck inside their reproductive tracts.
When birds became sick or injured, the “solution” was to kill them on site. Workers used cervical dislocation (neck-breaking), and I was told they used to swing hens around by their necks.
To prevent birds from escaping their cages, the farm even used an electric wire that shocked them on contact. The fear inside those barns was palpable.
Broken Promises
Hens are curious, social animals who love to explore, scratch in the dirt, dust-bathe, and play. On this farm, they lived and died trapped in steel cages, never once experiencing a moment of freedom.
Sobeys has publicly promised to go cage-free, but now they’re stalling. Today, the majority of Sobeys eggs still come from hens trapped in cages. If Sobeys executives saw what I saw—the misery, the fear, the suffering—they would at minimum follow through on their cage-free commitment.
Take Action
I’m asking you to join me in urging Sobeys leadership to take action, finally keep its word, and publish a real plan to get rid of cages. Speak out today to help free hens from this cruelty and hold Sobeys accountable.
