July 20, 2024 (Ramona) – A large barn fire broke out Thursday at Demler Brothers Egg Ranch, a factory egg farm in Ramona that confines approximately two million chickens and supplies eggs to Walmart, Smart & Final, and other chains. Tens of thousands of birds inside the impacted barn burned to death, and animal rights activists who went to the scene were told there were no plans to evacuate birds in the remaining barns, according to Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), an international animal rights group which says Animal Services was not present at the scene. Demler Brothers Egg Ranch was previously investigated by the San Diego chapter of DxE in 2019, when the group’s investigators found tens of thousands of animals in extreme confinement inside the facility, injured birds languishing in trash bins, and corpses on the floor.
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