RSPCA Campaign Against All Battery Cages For Laying Hens

EDM number 1068 in 2003-04, proposed by Lynne Jones on 28/04/2004.

That this House notes with concern that 21 million hens are currently condemned to a miserable existence in battery cages with almost no space to stretch their wings, move around or behave in a natural way; welcomes the proposed ban across Europe from 2012 of conventional battery cages; however notes that so-called enriched battery cages which allow only a little more room than conventional battery systems still do not meet the welfare needs of the hens; therefore supports the RSPCA call for an unconditional ban on all cages and for battery systems to be replaced with free-range and barn systems, which allow birds to move around and express normal behaviour; encourages egg producers to put into practice higher welfare alternative systems such as barn and free range prior to legislative changes; welcomes the recent introduction of compulsory labelling of eggs to provide consumers with relevant information about the farming method; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to follow the lead of Germany and bring forward the ban on all cages by 2012 at the very latest.

This motion has been signed by a total of 141 MPs.