The libertarian argument, that customers should be allowed to choose what kind of eggs they want without government mandates, as put forward by Agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli, holds no water — few would choose to inflict extra cruelty on the animals we eat for dinner, but people buy factory-farmed chicken, beef and pork all the same. They have no choice, in most cases. But a system that treats living things with unnecessary suffering and cruelty needs to be changed. A good place to start is to phase in a ban on unnaturally limiting cages for egg-laying hens.