The UK Government should follow the EU’s lead and introduce legislation to ban farm animals being locked in cages, says Caerphilly MP Chris Evans.
Mr Evans publicly gave his support for this pledge after meeting the ‘End the Cage Age’ campaign group in Parliament.
The ‘End the Cage Age’ campaign is a massive international push to ban the use of cages, crates, and pens for farmed animals (such as laying hens, mother pigs, calves, and rabbits). Backed by over 170 NGOs and 1.4 million European citizens, it is the first highly successful European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) focused on farmed animals.
The campaign demands an EU-wide and localized legislative ban on keeping farmed animals in severely confined spaces.
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A coalition of animal welfare and environmental organizations to gather over one million signatures across the EU.
Following massive citizen support, the European Commission positively responded to the ECI, pledging to introduce legislation phasing out cages by 2027.
Because the UK has left the EU, separate localized pressure is being applied to the UK government. Petitions are continuously being pushed to amend animal welfare regulations (such as the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations) to enforce a complete ban on cages countrywide.
As a result, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched formal public consultations aimed at phasing out enriched colony cages for laying hens by 2032.
Speaking at the Exhibition in Westminster, Mr Evans said: “I attended a great exhibition this week after being contacted by many constituents about the ‘End the Cage Age’ campaign.
“In the UK, over 7 million farmed animals endure cage farming each year. This needs to change and phasing out the use of enriched cages for laying hens is a key priority in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).”
A government minister said: “This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The use of cages and crates is an issue we are now considering very carefully.”