Battery Cage protests planned at supermarkets

Animal rights activists have begun a new phase in the campaign to ban the battery cage. The Campaign Against Factory Farming is asking Wellington supermarkets not to stock eggs produced on battery farms.

CAFF has written to every supermarket in the Wellington area, asking them to stop selling cruelly produced battery eggs, and activists plan to personally visit every supermarket in Wellington over the next few months

On Saturday June 5th, CAFF supporters will be protesting outside New World Supermarket in Wakefield St.

CAFF spokesperson Arthur Price said most New Zealanders agree that battery cages should be banned, but the government had failed to act. "2.8 million New Zealand hens continue to suffer in appalling conditions. An opinion poll showed 78% of New Zealanders are opposed to battery cage cruelty and want the battery cage abolished. We want supermarkets to respond to public demand and refuse to stock cruelly produced products".

"We are demanding that supermarkets immediately stop selling eggs from Mainland Poultry which is New Zealands biggest battery egg producer. We also want supermarkets to stop confusing customers with misleading labelling such as "Farm Fresh" and instead use labels stating "Battery Cage Eggs".

"Intensively raised hens that are raised for egg laying are imprisoned for life in a battery cage, where each bird's living space is less than a sheet of A4 paper. This extreme confinement denies a hen most of her natural behaviours. She can't walk, stretch her wings, peck and scratch or dust bathe".

"She is forced to stand on a sloping wire floor which causes considerable discomfort and often leads to foot injuries. She will suffer feather loss and skin damage due to constant rubbing against other birds and the wires of her cage" said Mr Price

The Campaign Against Factory Farming (CAFF) is an independent Wellington based organisation working for the abolition of cruel factory farming in New Zealand.

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