McDonald's denies eggs come from farms accused of cruelty

McDonald's Canada says it does not get any eggs from two Alberta farms seen in video that an animal rights group says shows "shocking animal cruelty."

The hidden-camera video filmed by Mercy for Animals Canada aired on the CTV show W5 last week.

It shows hens crowded in battery cages, and chicks being violently smashed by workers and thrown into garbage bags to suffocate.

The group says the footage was taken by an undercover investigator who was hired as a farm worker by Ku-Ku Farms and Creekside Grove Farms for 10 weeks in May.

Mercy For Animals Canada says Creekside Grove Farms provides chicks to Ku-Ku Farms.

It then supplies eggs to Ontario-based Burnbrae Farms, the primary egg supplier to McDonald's Canada.

But a statement from the fast food giant says that while it does get eggs from Burnbrae Farms along with many other Canadian companies, it says it does not source any eggs from farms in Alberta.

It also says the restaurant chain does not condone animal abuse by its suppliers and has strict policies in place concerning the treatment of animals by those suppliers.

Egg Farmers of Canada, a non-profit organization that inspects egg producers across the country, says the video shows an "aberration" from normal practices.