You may remember me telling you back in April that Otis Ferry – the pro-hunt ‘extremist’ son of Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry – was charged with attacking hunt saboteurs. Well, the fox killer has since landed himself in HMP Gloucester, where he is currently on remand for allegedly perverting the course of justice. And doesn’t he half bang on about it? In a letter to hunt mag, Horse & Hound, he rattles on about his “mind numbingly boring” incarceration and “namby pamby” prison life. But wait for ‘la pièce de la résistance’:

His profound knowledge and respect for animals really shines through here. What a gem. I wonder if his bed is directly below his fellow inmates’ beds, with their excrement trickling through the slats all day? Of course, that’s when he’s not wandering around the yard, just like battery hens do. For all his talk of ‘keeping to the books’, he’s not a very smart fellow, is he?

Let’s play a game! It’s called Spot the Difference, and you can leave comments below with your answers.

Otis image: Multisports / CC
Farm image: AnimalActivism / CC

Yet again the “Freedom Food” scheme has come under heavy criticism, this time backed by video evidence and a Five News report – a recent investigation by our friends at Hillside Animal Sanctuary and Five News unearthed evidence of gross neglect of chickens at a farm in Norfolk.

The RSPCA’s Freedom Food scheme is sold to consumers as protecting the welfare of our feathered friends, it is unquestionably a big step up from the standard abuses of most factory farms; the thing that shocks me the most is that the RSPCA were so blasé about the whole affair and only yesterday removed their Freedom Food endorsement from the farm in question. Tell me if I’m wrong but aren’t the RSPCA supposed to be behind undercover investigations and the like, to prevent cruelty to animals?

Good job I wasn’t the undercover reporter or I may have failed to remove my foot from the farm owners’ behind! This kind of blatant mistreatment of animals – only uncovered through clandestine filming – happens daily throughout the nation. While it’s important for this case to be highlighted, I wouldn’t want people thinking that this is a one off thing, which it clearly isn’t – this is still a lot better than all the battery farms around the country. That should turn us all off eating eggs and chicken, at least.

Your ‘desperate to help chickens in need’ Matt

Yesterday’s Independent was all about the eggs. Should we eat them, shouldn’t we? No we shouldn’t. Should we care about battery farming? Yes we should.

On the same day in the same paper, another two articles appeared – Going to work on the egg and a comment piece by animal champion Joanna Lumley.

It’s great how factory farming has been getting such a decent amount of coverage over the past few months. Yeah free-range is better than battery, that’s a given, but what’s even better is avoiding them all together and going vegan. Why? Read on…

You have permission to scold me for that pretty awful pun. But it was all for a good reason, you see, as it’s Easter time! Traditionally a time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and dabble in all things egg-shaped, cute fluffy animals and chocolatey, here at PETA we have a special message for you.

While surrounded by Easter eggs this weekend, spare a thought for hens still languishing on battery farms until the 2012 ban comes into place. Even then, they will still be confined for their eggs and millions of chickens slaughtered every year for their flesh, so come on – let’s give our feathered friends our support and stop eating them and what comes out of their, ahem… bums.

On a lighter note, scoff one of the many vegan chocolate eggs that are floating around the UK at the moment, including Green & Blacks, Montezuma’s, Booja Booja and at ALotOfChocolate. If you can’t get one in time, there’s always next week, and the week after, and… Who needs an excuse to eat chocolate anyway?