PETA to White House: No more real eggs for Easter Egg Roll

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is calling on Jill Biden to egg-cercise some fowl-related restraint at this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll by ending the use of real chicken eggs.

In a Monday letter to the first lady, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote that she wanted to “respectfully urge [Biden] not to allow the use of real chicken eggs for the White House Easter Egg Roll but to choose instead reusable plastic or wooden eggs — or even lovely painted rocks or egg-shaped balls — all of which would last for years to come.”

Such a move, the animal rights organization’s president wrote, “would make the event eggstra special for chickens and inclusive of all children who attend, including those who don’t consume eggs for ethical, environmental, or health reasons.”

“We hope you’ll agree that while families are shelling out nearly 70 percent more for eggs amid the deadliest avian flu outbreak on record, now is a hopping good time to hatch an Easter tradition that is kind and doesn’t prop up the cruel egg industry,” Newkirk said.

A spokesperson for Biden declined ITK’s request for comment.

This year’s White House Easter Egg Roll is poised to be held on April 10, with a lottery for free tickets to the springtime event opening up on Thursday.

In past years, tens of thousands of chicken eggs have been donated by American farmers for various activities at the White House’s kid-filled bash, including for rolling, decorating and snacking. In 2019, more than 70,000 eggs were donated for the occasion, according to the American Egg Board.

Last year’s gathering on the South Lawn marked the first White House Easter Egg Roll in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 30,000 visitors were estimated to have taken part in the 2022 bash, the White House said.

It’s not the first time that PETA has clucked about the White House’s long-running Easter event. In 2016, the organization offered to donate plastic and dyeable ceramic eggs for the White House Easter Egg Roll, and said it would provide a vegan egg-free scramble for volunteers. Last year, the group urged President Biden and first lady Jill Biden to “adopt vegan Easter festivities” by sponsoring a pair of rescued birds at a sanctuary and naming them after the commander in chief and his wife.

—Updated at 6:44 p.m.