Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Source: SAFE NZ
In a new TV commercial launched this week, SAFE is telling politicians, “It’s time to put the chicken before the egg.”
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton said hens have been waiting for six years for colony cages to be banned.
“The Labour and the Green parties both made commitments to ban the caging of hens, which they are yet to follow through with,” said Ashton.
Conventional battery cages will be phased out by 2022 and replaced with colony cages, which are still highly confined systems. The increase of space amounts to the size of a credit card. In New Zealand, close to 3 million hens are kept in colony cages, small wire cages, where the conditions are so crowded, hens cannot spread their wings or exhibit other natural behaviours.
Colony cages are now being phased out in parts of Europe, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Walloon Region of Belgium and Austria. In the USA, seven states have banned the sale and production of cage eggs.
“We want all parties to commit to this goal by this year’s election,” said Ashton. “Hens deserve a life worth living.”
SAFE is New Zealand’s leading animal rights organisation.
We’re creating a future that ensures the rights of animals are respected. Our core work empowers society to make kinder choices for ourselves, animals and our planet.
– On 1 January 2023 battery cages will be illegal in New Zealand and will be replaced by colony cages.
– A 2020 Colmar Brunton poll found 76% of New Zealanders were opposed to colony cages.
– In 2014 the Labour Party committed to banning the caging of layer hens. The Green Party’s current policy is to phase out intensive farming, which includes the caging of hens.
– Colony cages only give a hen a living space of about the size of an A4 piece of paper. Up to 80 hens may live in each colony cage. The hens cannot move around freely, stretch their wings or perform innate and natural behaviours such as dustbathing, foraging or nesting.
– Hens are intelligent, curious and socially complex animals with a strong need to carry out their natural behaviour. When free to roam outdoors, a hen will spend her days scratching at the ground, searching for food, dust bathing, stretching her wings and basking in the sun.
– Colony cages are now being phased out in parts of Europe, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Walloon Region of Belgium and Austria. In the USA, seven states have banned the sale and production of cage eggs.
– SAFE’s cage-free campaign work will lead to over two thousand business locations no longer purchasing cage eggs. Over the next five to seven years we will see 650+ supermarket locations, 200+ café locations, 350+ hotels, 800+ restaurant locations, three leading foodservice groups and 300+ sites including rest homes, schools and university dorms ditch cage eggs. Some have already met their commitments.
– The Open Wing Alliance has collectively secured cage-free policies from around 2,000 companies from around the world.
