Animal rights activists say it is the largest penalty in a farm animal abuse case in this country. Jack DeCoster, the owner of Maine Contract Farming LLC, formerly known as the DeCoster Egg Farm, in Turner has agreed to pay more than $130,000 in fines to settle a case involving ten counts of animal cruelty. The case was first brought to light by an undercover investigator from the Ohio-based group Mercy for Animals.

For two months last year, the undercover investigator from Mercy for Animals worked sided by side with other egg farm employees and documented what he saw with a hidden camera. And when the video was turned over to investigators with Maine's Animal Welfare Board, even they were shocked to see birds crammed into cages with inadequate food and water; birds left untreated for injuries and illnesses and live birds swung by the neck and thrown in the trash.

"That was, I mean, incredible video. I think it basically portrayed what we found the day of the search warrant," says Dr. Christine Fraser, a state veterinarian who worked on the case. "It was inexcusable. It wasn't just one bad day at the chicken farm. It was a chronic problem and it had just been allowed to slide to the point that it got to cruelty."

In fact, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson cited Maine Contract Farming with ten civil counts of animal cruelty for depriving hens of necessary sustenance and proper shelter. The farm agreed to pay $2,500 dollars in fines for each count; to reimburse the Animal Welfare Board more than $9,000 for the cost of its investigation; and to make a one-time payment of $100,000 to the Maine Department of Agriculture for ongoing monitoring of hen treatment at its facilities as well as those of other egg farms around the state.

Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy For Animals, says he hopes the landmark settlement will send a strong message to egg producers across the nation that animal abuse will not be tolerated.

"Our organization has conducted a number of investigations at battery caged egg facilities across the nation from coast to coast, and unfortunately what we have found is that animal abuse runs rampant in egg farms nationwide, and this settlement really lends credibility to the fact that animals are abused in cage egg production," Runkle says. "We hope that consumers will take notice and know that they can use their purchasing dollars to help boycott animal abuse by not buying eggs from facilities that mistreat their hens."

After Mercy For Animals released the results of its investigation and contacted the state Animal Welfare Board in February of last year, several supermarket chains announced they would no longer sell eggs associated with the former DeCoster Egg Farm, one of largest egg farms in the country.

For its part, the farm released a statement saying the charges stemmed from "an isolated incident of bird mistreatment" -- ten hens out of the farm's flock of five million birds. Jack DeCoster is quoted as saying the farm's commitment to the care of its birds has never been a greater priority.

Reached by telephone, farm spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell says corrective measures have been in place for several months. "The Department of Agriculture has been having unannounced, random inspections of the farm, and they've been closely monitoring bird health and care and we've been working very closely with them. We also brought in our own independent avian veterinarian, who is a national expert in hen well-being, Dr. Charles Hofacre of the University of Georgia, and he comes in regularly, reviews the flock, monitors animal care records and things like that."

As part of the settlement, Maine Contract Farming will provide training to farm workers twice a year about the care and treatment of farm animals. The district attorney's office also has the option of bringing criminal charges if any of the terms of settlement are violated over the next five years.

In the meantime, Nathan Runkle of Mercy for Animals say the case illustrates the need for undercover investigations, "because the government, in most cases is not regulating, not oversight of these facilities, so that's why it's important for watchdog organizations like Mercy for Animals to conduct these investigations."

Since 2009 Mercy For Animals has undertaken five additional undercover investigations, including one at an Ohio dairy farm where an investigation is still underway, and where one farmworker has been charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.

Runkle says the charges and penalties in these cases are part of a new trend in the country that reflects the public's concern for the humane treatment of all animals, not just family pets.