National U-Turns: now admits cages for hens are cruel.

In a New Zealand first all major political parties have spoken out against the incarceration of layer hens in cages.

MPs from National, Labour, The Greens, New Zealand First and a candidate for the Internet Party have strongly condemned the keeping of hens in cages during a political debate on factory farming held in Wellington.

The Green party’s long-standing opposition to cages is now shared by the Labour party. Labour’s animal welfare spokes person Trevor Mallard says that Labour wants legislation in place by 2016 that will see both conventional cages and the new colony cages phased out. In a surprise announcement, National MP and Chairman of the Primary Production Committee, Shane Ardern called battery cage farming cruel and the space allocated to hens in colony cages unacceptable. “This is a departure from National’s previous stance that has seen the party introduce legislation allowing colony cages to become the standard by 2022,” says SAFE executive Director Hans Kriek.

SAFE welcomes National’s change of heart and now calls on the Government to follow through by putting an immediate moratorium in place to stop the establishment of any new colony cage farms. “It would be a travesty to force egg producers to invest millions of dollars into yet another cage system that is cruel to hens. Austria for instance, is phasing out colony cages by 2020, two years before these cages become mandatory in New Zealand,” says Mr Kriek.

A Horizon Research survey held in August shows that 71.8 percent of respondents believe that colony cages are not an acceptable alternative to current battery hen cages. This equates to nearly three million New Zealand adults.

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