Charges have been laid against Maple Lodge Farms, but the company says it takes all reasonable measures to safeguard animal welfare
by SUSAN MANN
Clinton-area chicken farmer John Maaskant remembers a fierce winter storm when he was growing up in the 1960s, during which a truckload of chickens got stuck within sight of his family’s farm after leaving for the slaughter plant.
“In those days they really didn’t have adequate tarps,” says Maaskant, who emphasizes he is talking personally and not as a representative of any of the farm organizations he’s on. The truck was trapped in the storm for hours. By the time it got to town six hours later, he recalls, half of the chickens were dead.