Compassion In World Farming Ireland

Campaign information: No cages for laying hens & clearer egg labelling

Compassion in World Farming is campaigning for eggs to be produced from hens which have more space and a better environment

Where we've got to

There was good news for hens in June 1999! Following a successful campaign by Compassion and other animal welfare groups across Europe, the EU decided to ban battery cages for egg-laying hens. Under this new legislation, the use of conventional battery cages is prohibited from 2012. No new battery cages may be built or brought into service from 1st January 2003. This ban is extremely welcome, depite its long lead-in time. Campaigning against battery cages for egg-laying hens has been a priority campaign since Compassion-Ireland was founded in 1992.

But we still have work to do because 1) there is a threat to the ban and 2) the egg industry has developed an alternative type of cage that will still be permissable. Read on ....

The on-going campaign

A major concern is that the EU legislation banning battery cages contains a review clause. The egg industry is trying to use this review as an opportunity to put the ban back by another 10 years. Compassion is opposing any change to the original ban, and is lobbying hard to ensure that it comes into place in 2012.

As part of Compassion's efforts to ensure that the agreed 2012 battery cage ban is not deferred, a demonstration outside the European Commission's offices in Brussels was held on 19th March 2007. Hosted by Compassion, animal welfare groups from all over the EU took part in this colourful event. Ireland was represented by Compassion-Ireland's Director, Mary-Anne Bartlett. (Read CIWF-Ireland's press release about the demonstration. )

Compassion is also very concerned that whilst all conventional battery cages will be banned by 2012, the Directive permits the use of so-called 'enriched cages'. The egg industry plans to introduce these as a substitute for conventional battery cages. The improvements in space and facilities in these 'enriched cages' are so minimal that there is no significant welfare advantages over battery cages. Enriched cages provide just a tiny bit more room for the hens, plus a nest, litter for dust-bathing, a claw-shortening device and a perch. Compassion-Ireland is calling on the Irish Government to prohibit the use of 'enriched cages'. To see photos of battery cages and enriched cages, visit our Irish Farmfacts page on egg-laying hens.

The current situation

There are about 2 million laying hens in the Republic of Ireland. About 68% of these are in battery cages. These are very small barren wire cages that hold 4 or 5 birds in an area so small that even a single bird cannot spread out her wings. For more information on how laying hens are kept in Ireland, visit our Irish Farmfacts page on egg-laying hens.

What we want

The EU-wide battery cage ban must remain intact, with no extension of the 2012 date for the ban to come into force.

In the longer term, Compassion wants to see all egg-laying hens kept in high welfare systems where they have adequate room and an environment in which they can carry out their natural behaviours. Ideally, all hens should have access to outdoors.

Further information

Ban on battery cages

The EU Laying Hens Directive, adopted in 1999, bans battery cages for egg-laying hens as from 2012. The Directive requires the ban to be reviewed before it comes into force,and EU egg producers are lobbying for the ban to be postponed.

Problems

Over 300 million hens are kept in battery cages in the EU. The battery cage system is inhumane. Hens are crammed into cages so tiny that they cannot even stretch their wings. Hens have strong instincts to lay their eggs in a nest, peck and scratch in the ground, dust-bathe and perch. None of these behaviours are possible in the battery cage. Moreover, the severe restriction of movement in the cage leads to high levels of osteoporosis – and so to many battery hens suffering from broken bones.

Scientific research fully backs the cage ban:

• A report by the European Food Safety Authority shows that battery cages pose a particularly severe threat to the welfare of hens.

• The Laywel report, prepared for the European Commission, concludes that the welfare of hens is “severely compromised” in battery cages.

Public oppose the battery cage

The cage ban reflects strong public opposition to this system. 58% of respondents to a Eurobarometer survey rated the welfare of laying hens as very or fairly bad. 76% of respondents to the Commission’s recent online consultation believe that the welfare of hens is poor or very poor.

‘Enriched’ cages are little better than battery cages

Compassion wants to see non-cage systems for egg production. We are opposed to the use of 'enriched' cages (which will be legal after the battery cage is banned in 2012). Hens kept in ‘enriched’ cages are, under the Directive, given just 50 cm2 more useable floor space per hen than those kept in battery cages. ‘Enriched’ cages provide perches, and a nest box and a littered area, which are largely inadequate to meet the hens’ behavioural needs.

Undercover film

Compassion's undercover film "A cage is still a cage" reveals that ‘enriched’ cages fail to overcome many of the welfare problems inherent in cage systems. Our film shows that ‘enriched’ cages are virtually no better than battery cages.

Compassion’s view

Compassion calls on the EU Agriculture Council to resist pressure to postpone the ban on battery cages - it must come into force in 2012, the date set by the Directive. We also urge the Agriculture Council to ban ‘enriched’ cages.

Clearer egg labelling

Compassion believes that consumers can only make informed choices about the eggs they buy if the eggs are clearly labelled. So the decision by the EU to bring in an EU egg labelling law on 1st January 2004 was very welcome. This law requires all egg boxes to be labelled on the outside with the method of production. Battery eggs must be labelled as "Eggs from caged hens". Other permissable labels are: "Free range eggs", "Barn eggs" and "Organic".

Some landmarks in our campaign on the issue of egg-laying hens and egg labelling

August 2004 Compassion-Ireland supermarket EGG SURVEY shows the majority of battery eggs still not labelled correctly as "Eggs from caged hens". Survey results published in a national newspaper.

January 2004 New EU law requires all eggs to be labelled with one of four labels. Battery eggs must carry the label "Eggs from caged hens".

July 2001 EU agreement on egg labelling that ensures all battery eggs are clearly labelled as "Eggs from caged hens" from 2004.

April 2001 Hetty, the giant ex-battery hen who is our campaign mascot, joins Compassion-Ireland supporters outside the Department of Agriculture in Dublin, urging Ireland to "Get Cracking over Egg Labelling!".

June 1999 CIWF-Ireland attends a demonstration outside the Agriculture Council meeting in Luxembourg and is present when the EU's decision to ban battery cages is announced.

June 1999 CIWF-Ireland supporters protest outside embassies in Dublin of EU countries opposing a battery cage ban.

May 1999 We launch the results of our National Opinion Poll, which found that 81% of respondents in Ireland believe battery cages should be banned in the EU.

March 1999 12,000 signatures collected in Ireland are handed in to Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, calling for a ban on battery hens.

March 1999 Hetty, our giant ex-battery hen, goes on an all-Ireland road trip, urging shoppers to get behind the campaign to ban battery cages. Dublin TD's Tony Gregory, John Gormley and Trevor Sargent lend support.

March 1999 Hetty and a chef with a giant fried egg join the Cork St Patrick's Day Parade urging people to "Make A Change, Go Free-Range"!

Spring 1996 We highlight the inhumane transport of egg-laying hens that are being taken to slaughter. Loaded onto a truck in small plastic boxes, the load contained dead and dying hens.

Winter 1995 We launch our campaign for clear egg labelling, again highlighted the welfare problems of the battery cage.

Autumn 1993 Hetty goes on a nation-wide tour in Ireland starting in Dublin where she enters the Dublin Marathon. After visiting Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Sligo, Hetty returns to Dublin where she meets the Lord Mayor of Dublin and hands in over 7,000 signatures to the Minister of Agriculture.

Please note that all photos are copyrighted and cannot be copied without permission from CIWF-Ireland - thank you.

Read our Irish Farmfacts page on egg-laying hens and egg labelling.