The owner and manager of a large Mount Joy egg farm on Friday were found not guilty on all animal cruelty charges stemming from video taken by an undercover animal rights activist.

In the potentially precedent-setting case attracting national attention, District Judge Jayne F. Duncan found Esbenshade Farms' owner and chief executive H. Glenn Esbenshade and farm manager Jay Musser not guilty on all charges of inhumane conditions at the egg-laying farm.

"I am pleased with the decision," Esbenshade said this morning soon after learning the verdict. "Our company has and will continue to be committed to animal welfare, food safety and environmental stewardship."

But those making the allegations against one of the state's largest egg-laying facilities say justice was not served.

"I think the fox is still guarding the hen house," said Johnna Seeton, the Humane Society police officer who filed the charges.

The case highlights the increasing conflict between farmers, who often must produce more and more food to remain profitable, and animal rights advocates concerned about animal care.

"The video footage of inside this factory farm reveals conditions were cruel and inhumane," said Erica Meier, executive director of Compassion Over Killing, a Washington-based animal-rights advocacy group.

Lancaster County poultry extension educator Gregory Martin, who testified in the case for the defense, said a different verdict could have set a precedent.

"It would have opened the door for more actions (against farmers)," he said.

Duncan's office faxed a one-sentence decision to the New Era on Friday. The judge declined comment today, saying she first wanted to talk to lawyers from both sides in the case.

John Brothers, described as a Compassion Over Killing investigator by Meier, reportedly took the videotape in December 2005 after obtaining a job maintaining some of the farm's chicken houses.

Meier and Seeton said the video showed chickens impaled and hung by cage wires, stuck in wires keeping them from accessing food and water, "mummified chickens in cages dead for about six weeks," and live birds in aisles left to die.

Esbenshade said his family business, which has operated since 1963, wouldn't survive if conditions of facilities were like the videotape.

Compassion Over Killing has reported developments of the case on its Web site, and the Associated Press and television affiliates also have spotlighted the story.

The group has gotten national attention for several of its campaigns, including recently one on how animal products are labeled.

But Esbenshade said the group "wants to change Americans' diet from animal protein-based to vegetable-based. They are against animal production or using any animals as food."

He blasted their "terrorist tactics" of using an "undercover, false" employee and video camera to try to promote their agenda.

Esbenshade also said that Brothers claimed he took two hours of video but presented only 20 minutes of it.

Martin added that the defense during trial questioned whether the birds shown in compromised positions were posed or not.

"Videotape was the problem in the case," Martin said, "the fact that the humane officer didn't physically see it."

He said if the officer had visited the poultry house with him and he could explain what is common practice, she might not have brought the charges.

"People need to recognize that with tens of thousands of animals, you'd expect to see some mortality," Martin said. "In most cases, it is under 5 percent over the life of the birds."

He testified that conditions at the farm were comparable to those at other farms of similar size he has visited.

Neither Martin nor Esbenshade said the video was not taken in the Esbenshade Farms' poultry house.

Esbenshade said his poultry houses are at three locations, with 600,000, 700,000 and 900,000 egg layers.

After spending a lot of money in the case to defend his business, he warned other farmers to be vigilant against a similar attack.

"We have to stay on guard," Esbenshade said. "It can happen again."

Meier contended that her organization is only interested in animal welfare.

"Our aim is to expose cruelty to farm animals and encourage people to choose compassion," she said.

"This ruling suggests agribusiness operates above the law and that it is OK in Pennsylvania for animals to live in horrific conditions," she said. "I am truly disappointed with the outcome."

Meier said if the chickens had been cats or dogs, the case's outcome would have been different.

Farm animals should receive the same considerations, she added.

Soon after learning the verdict, Meier said she did not know any prospects of an appeal in the case.

Martin said the case should remind farmers "to do the best possible job of taking care of our birds, and welfare is a matter of doing a good job everyday."

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